Flying Cars May No Longer be Just Science Fiction

A team of MIT alumni have developed a prototype of a flying car, the TF-X that should be available in the next 10 years.


Its pretty expensive, not surprising, at about $280K!

To start with, the four-seater would be capable of vertical takeoffs and landings. And since it would largely be controlled by a central computer network, the TF-X would, claims a Terrafugia promotional video, require a pilot/driver to have as little as five hours of training, a slight fraction of what it now takes to get the most basic private pilot's license

Less than 20 feet long, it was designed to fit inside a typical suburban garage once its 27-foot wingspan was folded up, allowing it to drive on any conventional road.

The TF-X is a four seat hybrid with wings, you tell it where you would like to go and it will fly for you.

"Don't think of it as a car that flies," said Carl Dietrich, one of the MIT students now serving as Terrafugia's CEO. "Think of it as a plane that drives."

Flying cars may no longer be just science fiction

Is this what the future will look like? Do we really need flying cars? It may be convenient but I dont want to look up at the sky in 20 years and see a highway of cars. How will this impact the animals and birds? Of course it's so expensive that the rich will be the only people able to purchase this car at $280K. What do you guys think, do we need flying cars?

They're already here...no science fiction...pal-v.com

a reply to: Jennyfrenzy

The only part that scares me with this technology is the human factor.
The though of a drunken flyer crashing into the second floor of my house as I sleep doesn't sit too well with me. But hopefully they can automate this enough to take those issues off the table.

a reply to: AnteBellum

That's a scary thought, drunk driving/flying.

The thought of a freeway in the sky scares the heck out of me.

a reply to: AnteBellum

Doesn't need to be drunk, accidents happens, In reality it's just a plane or heli(Osprey)

What is the fuel consumption on this as it needs a lot of energy to move i would imagine.

They are already here, although rare. I believe TPTB are treating them as small private planes. A lot of major cities already have rules up saying they aren't allowed to be flown near them. So sadly that future photo where everyone has a flying car doesn't seem like it'll be happening, they'll be regulated into non-existence.

I suspect the flying car will really take off when we have flawless robot pilots/drivers, the direction Google has been taking for several years now. Optimistically, we could then see automotive accidents be a thing of the past and THEN we can breathe easy knowing that Joe Neighbor has a personal jetcar in his garage.

But then if you remove the human factor from driving/piloting, the companies that make the vehicles become liable for any accidents that may or may not happen.
The future will be weird.

I love the idea.

How hard is this going to be to implement into our current transportation infrastructure? I can't imagine this is going to be easy to do.

Also the possibility of another 9/11 but on steroids.

a reply to: Jennyfrenzy

Why mix planes and cars together... If this was a good idea we would have flying cars ages ago. Noone is gonna allow this anyways on a mass scale. Just another research money dump.

a reply to: Snellius

That looks like a helicopter with wheels, it's ugly. Lol.

The TF-X is pretty ugly too, it resembles a car more than the Pal-V.

originally posted by: AnteBellum
The only part that scares me with this technology is the human factor.

My two biggest concerns are noise and fuel consumption. Mostly noise, though, because I'm never going to own one to find out how many miles it gets to the gallon. But you can bet I won't be too thrilled to have one of those things take off next to my house when I'm asleep.

I still give it a better chance than Moeller's, but its still highly unlikely in the next 10 years simply because of the huge $ impacts in the auto industry, airline industry, highway construction industry, and of course oil industry due to less fuel consumption.

originally posted by: cleverhans
I still give it a better chance than Moeller's, but its still highly unlikely in the next 10 years simply because of the huge $ impacts in the auto industry, airline industry, highway construction industry, and of course oil industry due to less fuel consumption.

I'm convinced that Moeller's multi-decade project was nothing but a scam all along.

I just can't imagine that large number of flying cars in the air :/
Being on the ground would become much scarier!

Wow! They look amazing and faster than traveling on the ground.

My only concern is mid air collisions and cars or pieces of cars falling on people without any warning (obviously).

Never going to happen. Imagine what would happen if/when one of these fell out of the sky onto a building or whatever via mechanical failure.

On top of that, what's to stop someone with bad intentions deliberately packing a few of them with explosives & using them to take out many targets within a city. Even if they had autopilot by default, for safety reasons it will need to have some form of manual control.

a reply to: big_BHOY

I wouldn't say NEVER going to happen. It is inevitable imo. Yes, there are dangers, but evil people bent on destruction wii always find a way to achieve their goals.

Reminds me of Back to the Future with Michael J. Fox.

Life imitating art again.
I think it looks great.
Accidents happen on the ground all the time too, so that's not an excuse for not having these IMO.
Also, everything is expensive in the beginning , when it comes out for the first time, but once a little time passes, and more demand comes, it will be affordable to everyone, just like how the cellphones were so expensive in the beginning, and now everyone has one.

Thanks for sharing this cool story.

How about something like this:


Surprised noone bought this up LOL

They've had technology for advanced vehicles like the jetson world since before the 40's.

Anyhoo...they don't run on gas!

These do?

Its not my beamship or even the vehicle I want, will pass. Until they come out with the real tech for all without price tags, even just DIY, then buying an old diesel truck and learning how to make it a hybrid that runs on H2O is my goal future goal when other domino's fall in place. Also when things finally are unblocked that way, intend to explore my own friction heating and cavitation type energies.