Where are the flying cars?

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auntblabby
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15 Dec 2010, 11:06 pm

screw flying cars, i wanna waveform discriminator

greengeek
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15 Dec 2010, 11:22 pm

LordoftheMonkeys wrote:

We do have flying cars. They're called airplanes.

Yes it would be easier to make a flying car out of an airplane and not a car. Like it would be easier to build an amphibious car out of a boat and not a car, as the boat floats better and the plane flies better than a car.

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Sand
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16 Dec 2010, 3:41 am

See http://www.roadabletimes.com/

ruveyn
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16 Dec 2010, 3:55 am

LordoftheMonkeys wrote:

We do have flying cars. They're called airplanes.

Most airplanes function very badly on the ground. They need too much room to roll about. Look how airports and airfields are spread out.

ruveyn

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16 Dec 2010, 9:39 am

ruveyn wrote:

LordoftheMonkeys wrote:

We do have flying cars. They're called airplanes.

Most airplanes function very badly on the ground.

My father used to fly, and I once commented about the badly-worn tires on his airplane ... and he told me the craft was intended for flying, not driving!

My brother owns a house in the Florida Keys where the streets around the airstrip in front of his house actually used to be considered taxiways where autos had to yield right-of-way to aircraft.

On TV, I recently saw a new combo auto-aircraft that was actually quite impressive. Hydraulics could fold the wings back (kind of like a grasshopper) so it could be driven around as an auto ... but I would not want to be in it either on the ground or in the air during high wind.

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Xeno
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16 Dec 2010, 3:27 pm

When I was a kid it was exciting to imagine what it might be like in the 21st Century. Would I grow up to see flying cars? Skies full of holograms? Technology to help people live longer and age better? Nah... mostly just a bunch of cholesterol-devouring redneck mutants, like before.

bearshady
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16 Dec 2010, 4:23 pm

(Note: I am a professional truck driver)

Until the masses (talking about people in general, not pointing fingers at anyone) learn to control GROUND-BASED vehicles with more skill than presently displayed, Goddess save us if they see fit to operate an airborne vehicle. Flying vehicles DO have their advantages (not having to stick to paved roadways, higher speeds). BUT...when 2 or more of those try to occupy the same spot in the air.... it's not just OOPS!....when you hit the ground, you stop NOW. The human body can't take an infinity G-force stop.

I'll save the gory details.

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LordoftheMonkeys
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16 Dec 2010, 4:45 pm

Xeno wrote:

So you don't consider smart phones, hybrid cars, 3D movies, and the internet to be technological advancements? Wow, you're hard to please.

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Xeno
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16 Dec 2010, 5:31 pm

LordoftheMonkeys wrote:

Xeno wrote:

So you don't consider smart phones, hybrid cars, 3D movies, and the internet to be technological advancements? Wow, you're hard to please.

Yeah, I do. I was just in a cynical mood, I guess, heh.

Sand
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16 Dec 2010, 11:51 pm

bearshady wrote:

I have a pilot's license and have experience in small aircraft. No doubt imbeciles can and will kill themselves and others with their vehicles but in general, with reasonable care, the danger in flying is for the pilot and passengers whereas, although vehicle to vehicle accidents do happen they are a rarity in the air in contrast to the daily occurrence in ground vehicles. There is still an awful lot of room up there and I found flying much safer than driving. The problem is on the ground in getting to and from airports.

greengeek
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16 Dec 2010, 11:55 pm

Sand wrote:

bearshady wrote:

Also drunk pilots are also a problem, which maybe why a lot of small planes crash.

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Sand
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17 Dec 2010, 7:13 am

greengeek wrote:

Sand wrote:

bearshady wrote:

Also drunk pilots are also a problem, which maybe why a lot of small planes crash.

They're not a problem for long. Landings require reasonably fast reflexes and so they disappear fast. Anybody stupid enough to drink and fly will have no problems of being pulled over for a breath test.

Bleu
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17 Dec 2010, 12:14 pm

When I was a kid I thought the year 2000 will be full of magical sci-fi-like stuff like holograms, jetpacks and most importantly TELEPORTS, but alas Not that techology hasn't advanced, I'm just saying having a replicator/nifty stuff would be very nice.

leejosepho
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17 Dec 2010, 2:53 pm

greengeek wrote:

Somebody did build a flying 1971 Ford Pinto in 1973 but the wings came off and it fell out of the sky and crashed into the ground.

http://www.cookieboystoys.com/mizar.htm
http://www.flixxy.com/mizar-air-car.htm

Definitely an interesting project, and its attached parachute was *supposed* to make it possible for the entire craft to come down safely!

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Jono
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17 Dec 2010, 3:07 pm

leejosepho wrote:

greengeek wrote:

Somebody did build a flying 1971 Ford Pinto in 1973 but the wings came off and it fell out of the sky and crashed into the ground.

That looks like something out of a James Bond movie.

naturalplastic
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27 Dec 2010, 9:31 pm

richie wrote:

We don't have flying cars for the simple reason that we don't need them. Same goes for jet-packs.
Check out the most recent edition of Wired Magazine: "The Future That Wasn't".

For real.
We need rail mass transit, and electric, or hybrid, ground bound cars.

Not flying cars.

Imagine drunk driving, texting, road rage, and car jacking in a world of flying cars.

The energy needed to power flying cars would be dozens of times that of a conventional gas guzzling cady or SUV.

America would be even more enslaved by oil exporting countries than we are now.
No need to lament the nonexistence of flying cars.

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