Watching from the balcony of his villa, a young executive girl looks at the sky in front of the keys to his new Porsche itch in his hand. Entering into the garage it opens the door sits the driver inside, click on the excitation and listening to the four engine turbofan broken for the first time in my life. Separation SKYBRAKE, it is easy to Porsche, hovering just inches above the ground before he floors the gas pedal and the gas starts strong in the crimson sky.
The future of science fiction, and imagination in children who rasli between 1950 and 1980 is already here: we have a flat-screen TVs on the wall panel as a sheet, we have Dick Tracy personal communication devices (and we managed to squeeze librarians within them - we call IPHONES) them but we missed something. Popular Science, a journal that fed our imaginations of generations of technology that put better when he was asked in March 2006: " Where is my flying car dude? ".
Although she is still impossible to walk into your local dealer Chevy and fly with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) Camaro, which drives in all three dimensions is, engineers around the world dedicate their lives to make the dream possible. But the Jetsons-style flying car, which can be piloted as easily as a family sedan in addition all seems far away.
One company, which holds the flying car dream - for more than four decades - is Moller of Davis, California. In August 2007, its general director, Paul Moller, announced that the company has to offer for sale a flying car - sort of - with the price of $ 95 000 $ and 145 000 depending on options.
Moller M200G Volantor looks like three feet in diameter Frisbee containing eight double sofa, turbofan and a small tail. To circumvent the Office of the Federal Civil Aviation Authority (FAA) regulations governing aircraft, M200G can only fly at a height equivalent to its width (or three feet, nine feet), so it can qualify as a ground effect ships, rather than by plane.
Moeller argues that the production, finally, with the ability to mass-produced rotary engine Rotapower, which provide their own power.
The company is positioning as broneamfibiya M200G (ATV), capable of running water over snow, mud and crops, and not a transfer of the family VTOL.
Closer to the Jetsons ideal is Moller's M400 Skycar. It will be a four-sedan with four turbofan tilting capabilities provide true vertical takeoff and landing. Moller hopes that sales will be M200G credibility to the concept car, flying in and eventually make commercial production of M400 Skycar a reality.
Do not miss Imagine: 2020 Future Interview: Ross Lovegrove Clean Transport wheels: the future of electric cars, but those who expect to put a deposit on the 2010 model year Skycar may be disappointed. In 1997, the Moller said potential shareholders that 10,000 would Skycars into the air by the end of 2002. In 2003, Moller continued in federal court with the Securities and Exchange Commission after a violation of federal law on Securities Litigation. The company was found over-Hyped feasability of the Skycar in order to stimulate capital investment.
Competition for the Skycar comes in the form of X-Hawk. The brainchild of an Israeli-based Urban Aeronautics X-Hawk is a private personal concept of the rotor vertical takeoff and landing. However, to reach the stage of physical concept, the city of Aeronautics, nevertheless demonstrated the concept in the form of a simulator.
Ballooning City \ 'Janina Frankel-Yoeli said that the simulated X-Hawk is easier than to fly a helicopter, but recognizes that civil drivers license required pilot.
Frankel-Yoeli explains: "We believe that it will still be quite a long decade - - to fancy flying car man in the street reality." is
She estimates the cost will be equivalent to the same passenger helicopters (about $ 2 million in today's money), and therefore inaccessible to the consumer. And that average, before to understand the regulatory and air traffic management (ATM) infrastructure.
At the same time Aeronautics city is focusing its efforts on the development of X-Hawk as a complement to existing fleets of helicopters. The company hopes that the unmanned "mule" Flight of the prototype by 2009 year-end, with full-size X-Hawk demonstrator by the end of 2011.
Websites of both companies to confidently predict the future of flying cars. But the proof of technology work needed for these vehicles is the possibility of nature fragmentary at best. Video on the Web show Moller M200 hovering above the ground, but the safety wire is connected to the overhead crane. Although the video of "urban Aero \ 's Hummingbird" Flying private is inconclusive stop three seconds.
Unfortunately, true to style Jetson flying car is still far. Flight International reporter Rob Coppinger Technical says: "Personal air vehicles face a number of critical technological barriers."
Coppinger explains that flying machine must be easy to control as conventional cars, so that there is a decent enough for the market to bring down the cost of the car. He adds: "The maintenance of the vehicle cost, fuel and energy consumption costs should be cheaper for people to let their running costs.
"It will also require substantial advances in ATM systems, with the potential for thousands of hundreds of cars, flying at an altitude low close to each other and over populated areas. And where do you land? On special freeway ramp ON-OFF for take-off and landing at special sites or vertical takeoff and landing within urban areas? Where to buy avtolet?
potential "Because of the car in flight, at an ATM you have to choose a decentralized system relying on private car use computer systems with the use of" sense and avoid "technology, which knows about the other vehicles in adjacent airspace. And so, even though they may work individually, they can maneuver to avoid each other - and how birds can fly in flocks, and would not ". face