posted on Jan, 14 2008 @ 11:25 PM
Short answer: no.
Long answer: No, because trying to combine a set of wheels and a set of wings has never been proven good to live with for any long amount of time as a
stable commuter one-size-fits-all vehicle. Trying to bridge the gap between a flying and a driving machine usually results in unacceptable
compromising of either the roadworthiness of an automobile or the airworthiness of an aircraft, in most cases both.
The Skycar project is an exception (along with maybe a few pocket aviation projects I've not heard of yet) because its goal is not to replace the car
or be a car and a flying machine, rather, it is meant to be a new way of thinking about aircraft as personal transport.
Also, the tech specs of this "flying car" scare me. 10-15 feet in the air isn't flying, it's hovering very, very high. Tell me, when's the last
time you saw a private pilot flying 10 feet over highways and populated areas from one end of the state to the other?
Stability issues? Only if I'm flying a hot-rodded fighter with fly-by-wire. Relaxed stability is the realm of the Viper and the Typhoon, not this
supposed flying car.
I am, however, a believer in the concept of the truly personal aircraft. I'm talking something you could drag behind you like a boat or have at a
private location, roll to an airfield, and take off in, get to your location, land on a public road and park in a garage if you have to, and fly back.
But to try to make a car out of an airplane, or vice-versa, and ask it to do both jobs, is biting off more than engineers and common sense can
do...well, at least nowadays.
[edit on 1/14/2008 by Reverie Planetarian]