
AeroMobil: Flying car - houseofshards
http://www.aeromobil.com/
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dm2
Flying car prototypes have been around for a while, this one is nothing
special.

They're basically a street legal airplane, they are not good cars and they are
not good airplanes. It's like combining a mouse and keyboard, the end result
is an overpriced inferior product.

How much do these things cost? A lot, more than a small airplane and a car
combined.

When will they be available for purchase? Unknown, they're all in the
prototype stages, probably not within the next 10 years because of lack of
demand.

Autonomous vehicles will be cheaper, require zero skill to drive, will be
safer, will be more fuel efficient, much quieter, and will become very common
very soon, flying cars will not unless there is a major breakthrough in
propulsion.

I'm glad people are tying the flying car idea, but it just doesn't seem
practical in the near future.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_car_(aircraft)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_car_\(aircraft\))

[https://www.google.com/search?q=flying+car&tbm=isch](https://www.google.com/search?q=flying+car&tbm=isch)

[http://www.terrafugia.com/](http://www.terrafugia.com/)

[http://moller.com/dev/](http://moller.com/dev/)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_Reconfigurable_Embedded_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_Reconfigurable_Embedded_System)

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jacobolus
> _It 's like combining a mouse and keyboard, the end result is an overpriced
> inferior product._

You’re in luck! Someone is making one of these:

[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/70308014/kings-
assembly...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/70308014/kings-assembly-a-
computer-mouse-full-of-awesome)

~~~
dm2
That actually looks pretty interesting and well thought out, I kind of want to
try one.

The finger position looks weird though, much more curled fingers than my
normal finger position on a keyboard.

Spaceship keyboard:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSrdlacQIe4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSrdlacQIe4)

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wsr
It's very impressive that they are able to keep the entire car under 450kg.

As a comparison, SMART, one of the smallest car we have on the road today is
750kg. This is the car that people make fun of, and tip over for fun:
[http://jalopnik.com/vandals-are-flipping-over-smart-cars-
in-...](http://jalopnik.com/vandals-are-flipping-over-smart-cars-in-san-
francisco-1560004013)

~~~
dm2
This trend started in Europe by people flipping them over into canals.

The media hesitated on reporting it because they didn't want copy-cats.

I wonder if insurance for Smart cars is higher in some areas than it should be
because they take into account the higher risk of it being vandalized or
destroyed.

They should put a camera on the bottom that takes a picture when the vehicle
is turned over, destroying someones car isn't funny.

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jval
Wow, when did HN get overtaken by haters? Ok, it is just a prototype, but I
don't see anyone here making their own flying car.

I for one think it is pretty cool, even if it is just a concept. Obviously
serves a very specific use case but if it had the range I could definitely see
lots of people buying this to get around in Australia. The Sydney-Melbourne
air corridor is one of the busiest in the world, and if little plane cars like
this could land in small airports without making a lot of sound... who knows.
I could see a lot of businessmen forking out even a million dollars for one of
these given a lot of them are spending close to that on their Ferraris. Here's
to innovation. And even if this never goes anywhere - here's to someone having
the audacity to create something like this.

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mk3
The concept is flawed for this one. As you need to combine two different
things in one. Also on their demo video you can see that it's quite unstable.
Most of the guys who are actively flying wouldn't consider this "plane" as a
good investment. Also as someone pointed out there was such thing before. And
I really expected someone released VTOL airship, which is basically combining
helicopter and plane, you are getting the possibility to land in your yard,
but also speeds of plane while flying.

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bananas
Flying car means flying idiots. Idiots are bad enough when they are attached
to the ground.

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danellis
Why do flying cars mean flying idiots any more than light aircraft currently
do?

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primitivesuave
There is a relatively idiot-proof licensing method for preventing idiots from
entering the airspace.

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danellis
Exactly. The FAA isn't going to just start handing out PPLs to anyone with a
driver's license.

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swatkat
I've been following Moller Skycar since 90s. It's getting nowhere. Good to see
more companies experimenting in this segment. Hoping they would come out of
perpetual prototype phase :) By the way, Moller's design looks more SciFi-
esque, without those folding wings :)

~~~
brc
I think by now we can safely classify the Moller Skycar as vaporware designed
to pull in cash from suckers.

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neverminder
This will never hit the market until way more efficient propulsion
technologies are developed allowing for a hovering car so to speak.
Unfortunately invention of such a technology would be a feat equivalent to
discovering electricity.

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aquanext
We still don't understand what exactly gravity is -- we just know that it's a
thing that does stuff... if we can figure that out, then we'll be somewhere.
You're right though.

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subb
"Turning off" gravity is not a good idea. You'll smash yourself in the nearest
object as the earth continue to spin and move through space without you.

~~~
watson
Interesting thought... but wouldn't your body already have the same speed and
direction as before the switch-off? The switch-off would only stop external
forces from altering your speed and direction. So I would estimate that you
have plenty of time to steer clear of stuff after you turned off the gravity
effect. It kind of similar to switching off the autopilot in an airplane.
After doing so you have to take manually control of your position in space,
but you don't instantaneously stop flying.

~~~
subb
Mmm, well, more or less. You will indeed keep your speed, but you also keep
your direction, so you will basically be "slingshotted" toward space. The
effect is similar to a hammer throw at the Olympics. In fact, you will
probably be limited by your terminal velocity because of air friction.

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cottonseed
What's a pre-prototype?

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Aardwolf
Pretty cool, though I think something only counts as a "science fiction"
flying car if it doesn't have large wings or large rotors. Only small rotors,
jet engines, anti-gravity, etc... :)

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enscr
Safe air corridors is an innovation that should predate flying cars. Safe for
occupants & safe for surroundings. Fender bender in air can cause a lot more
damage with gravitational force.

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com2kid
Pardon me if a 124MPH airplane seems unimpressive. I seriously question the
overall difference in transit time given one would have to drive to and from a
regional airport.

I wonder what the cruising speed is? Presumably below the top speed. A 100mph
cruising speed is sort of meh compared to a 70mph (or 80MPH realistically)
cruising speed in a car over long distances on the interstate.

Of course being able to fly in a straight line makes a huge difference, but
again, I wonder what the overall savings is when factoring in airport travel
time.

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risratorn
I for one wouldn't mind skipping the daily traffic jams and flying to a
regional airport instead of sitting in my car 1h30m twice a day. Ofcourse
everything depends on the actual location of the airport but I can imagine for
some people this might save them some time.

Then again if everybody will start to use flying cars, we'll have traffic jams
towards the airport and a whole slew of other logistical problems. Imho this
will never become mainstream but has the potential to attract a small number
of users.

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spada
Jesus. You burn 3hrs a day in commuting? How long have you been doing this?

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primitivesuave
One big problem with flying cars is that the potential to wreak havoc is
enormous.

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EGreg
How does this happen without jet engines?

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dm2
It has a propeller on the back attached to the engine:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotax_912](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotax_912)

I'm guessing the drive-shaft can be switched to power the propeller or the
wheels.

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dalerus
I was hoping for a hovercraft.

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nashequilibrium
lol, i just tweeted this, we were not expecting a car-aeroplane.

