• The flying Car
The idea of getting stuck in a jam annoys a lot of people, the rise in population can be blamed for all this. This may all change however with the introduction of the futuristic flying cars. The cars will be designed in that they would be able to provide aerial transportation from door to door e.g. from home to work, supermarket and other places. This will be without the use of roads, runaways and any other specially made operating areas. Unlike aircrafts, these cars will be able to manoeuvre through urban areas, along buildings, through people and obstructions along the way.
• History
Although the flying cars may be considered as a science fiction or fantasy, man has tried to make this work by creating prototypes that have paved way for technology advancements that will make the flying cars a reality sooner than later. Henry Ford in 1926 did make a prototype single seat aircraft called the �Sky Flivver’ that disappointingly crashed killing its pilot.
Using his ideas, the Moller Skycar M400 has since been invented as prototype with state of the art Wankel Rotary Engines and Satellite navigation. Although it’s not yet approved to test in urban areas (only runs from airports and heliports) it promises a lot to the development of the flying cars.
Recently on May 7, 2013, the Terrafugia Company did announce the TF-X. This is a plug-in hybrid vehicle with a tilt-rotor, it has a 500 miles per flight range running on batteries that are rechargeable. This is the first fully autonomous future flying car.
• The Engineering behind It
The car is expected to have a safe taking off, fly seamlessly, and capable of landing anywhere in the heavily populated urban areas. The vertical take-off and landing technology (VTOL) will be heavily relied upon, although no car has successfully been tested on this, it will soon be possible with the rapid technological advancements. The engines will also need to be silent to reduce the noise pollution, propulsion systems will be used to tackle this problem. The engines will need to be very powerful since they will be airborne most of the times.
• Costs
The propulsion system required will be both small yet powerful and hence the cost of producing a single unit car will be very high, although this will change with better technology. Its energy efficiency will also be lower than the traditional cars and aircraft, since they will be covering shorter distances at a higher frequency at lower speed and low altitude. The car is estimated to cost as much as $10 million!
• Safety and Challenges Expected
Statistics suggest that flying is much safer than driving since aircrafts are subjected to numerous checks as well as highly trained pilots, this may all change however with the introduction of flying cars. The flying cars will be available for everyone and this could cause serious accidents. It is almost a challenge to drive our normal cars, imagine how it will be to drive those flying cars. However, with the right driving instructions and driving theory test, we will be able to reduce such instances. Also expected will be mid-air collisions, possible mechanical failures, storms, fog and heavy rains that will challenge the flying car’s aerodynamics.