DARPA Looks to Make a Flying Car

Found this very interesting story today...
DARPA Looks to make flying car

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has asked the Pentagon for additional funds to help develop the Transformer (TX) vehicle for use with military personnel in combat situations. For those unfamiliar with DARPA, it is an office in the Department of Defense that is responsible for attempting to create pretty much everything you have ever seen in a sci-fi movie that has some military applications. Artificial Intelligence, cyborg limbs and laser guns are all listed in its 2011 budget. Seriously.

Code named The Transformer TX, this flying car would be designed to carry four troops with full gear, and have a range of 250 miles on a single tank of fuel. It is being designed with combat in hostile terrains in mind – especially places where roadside IED mines have become a real threat.

no photos or real details were released, only that DARPA will put their flying car into service by 2015... something tells me they already have a working prototype if their that sure about release dates..

Wounder how long before GM offers up a civilian version?

I wonder if it will be black and triangular shaped, or silver and disk shaped? Or are they still holding out on us?

Still not much use in todays world, i can see a need for one day having a knight rider type car, but i cannot see why a flying car would be practical in society at the mo.

Automated cars may have be practical especially with all those stup1d satelittes up there.

reply to post by Larryman


With no real info I'm gonna guess this will not be that radical...
Maybe a mod of a typical hovercraft rather than luke skywalker's landspeeder... but ya never know

reply to post by DaddyBare


In my opinion... Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder could have been another spinoff product from space exploration, for Detroit production. If NASA would ever stop worshiping Von Braun and kissing rocket manufacturing corporations posteriors; and start spinning super-conductor magnets and mercury plasmas. In other words... develop anti-gravity lift and propulsion.

But if it comes from the military, as did the Humvee... then so be it.

As to andy1033's "but i cannot see why a flying car would be practical in society at the mo"... think of no more paved/concrete roads everywhere.

Looked at the headline and went "let me guess. Powered by a noisy, wasteful, 100 year old, dinosaur technology?

DARPA of all people! Hahaha.

As Honda Chairman Takeo Fukui reminds us, "Even the best internal-combustion engines still waste more than 80% of the energy created by burning gasoline."

—Reported in Wall Street Journal
July 25th, 2005

willthomasonline.net...
www.cheniere.org...

I may be incorrect, but don't the mililtary have that new-fangled invention called a helicopter?
I have heard that some versions can even transport heavy cargo...

[edit on 22/4/2010 by deltaalphanovember]

Flying cars, specifically ones that Transform from road to plane mode, already exist. They don't seem very practical though.

while looking at some working concepts I found this video of a flying car created by students at MIT
Named the Terrafugia they already have a company set up to start making these things... once again while pretty cool its not a radical leap forward ...maybe this is what DARPA is thinking about???

It is suppose to look like this:

www.popularmechanics.com...

or this:

www.aviationweek.com... 9aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3a024f7059-aadc-4ae7-a878-62f593d12bad&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDes t

I think, the first one, look better, but I think it is ridiculous none the less (you are now force to use a pilot to drive a truck).

I don't think, this is serious, except to burn Darpa extra money, basically a blatant pork.

Edited to correct link.

[edit on 2-8-2010 by PopeyeFAFL]

reply to post by PopeyeFAFL


Thanks for the link and photos...
Looks like their thinking of an Autogyro design ...
don't laugh they work quite well... and have several advantages over both a fixed wing and rotorcraft
check out the vid for a really cool civie autogyro version


[edit on 12-8-2010 by DaddyBare]

Looks like their thinking of an Autogyro design ...
don't laugh they work quite well... and have several advantages over both a fixed wing and rotorcraft
check out the vid for a really cool civie autogyro version

[edit on 12-8-2010 by DaddyBare]

I'm not disputing that an autogyro could have advantages over fixed and rotorcraft, I'm disputing the fact that if the army is afraid that an Humvee could explode over a road side bomb (obviously not knowing where it is hidden) and plan to just leap frog it, it is ridiculous.

Also you used to have the Humvee driven by basically a "truck driver", now you will need "a pilot" (not the best use of your resources).

Maybe the proposed Kiowa upgrade:

www.flightglobal.com...

www.avxaircraft.com...

I fear the flying car.

People can't drive the ones on the ground without breaking all the rules and smashing into each other causing untold carnage.

Imagine the damage they could do with flying ones!

Flying cars?
Oh hell no!!