Flying cars ; why they will never exist for daily transportation ?

Question

I know LOTS of reasons but please add yours and if enough people read them maybe we can put more cracks in this Urban Myth. ( if i just list the reasons then it's not a ? now is it)

Answer 1

Reasons why they will never be a form of daily transportation:

1. Cost. There is absolutely no way to make a vehicle that can both drive on roads on the ground and fly in the air without it costing a tremendous amount of money in the initial cost, the cost to operate, and the cost of maintenance that would be required.

2. Inspection requirements. The fact is, airplanes have a substantial amount of routine maintenance and inspections that they are required to undergo. They also have to have various onboard systems and equipment completely overhauled after either certain periods of flying time have passed, or certain specific blocks of time have passed. People who own and/or operate airplanes are well used to this, however, you would have a real hard time making some Joe Shmoe on the street maintain his CarPlane to the minimum required standards and if he did, he would complain about the expense of it.

3. Weight. Cars have very stringent crash survivability requirements and airplanes, size for size, are way too light to have the minimum crash survivability standards that cars have. In order to make an aircraft have the minimum crash survivability standards to make it roadworthy, you would have to add a lot of weight; so much so that it wouldn't be able to fly.

4. Licensing requirements. You can't just simply let people take a powered vehicle into the air without a great deal of training, experience, and education. Very few people have what it takes to become pilots anyway, and now you are just going to toss the keys of a flying vehicle to some idiot so that he can go perform a task which is substantially more complex than driving an car?!? Oridnary people would never tolerate the expense, time, and dedication required to go through the training that would be required for licensing.

As a pilot I frequently hear other people tell me that they are also interested in becoming pilots. However, those same people never have any idea that one doesn't simply become a pilot without it becoming a major part of their life. To become a pilot requires tremendous dedication and it will become a very large part of your life. Most people who become student pilots aren't prepared for that. Certainly every day would-be customers of such CarPlanes wouldn't be ready for that.

Answer 2

First of all, the technology does not yet exist. You would need to have these cars lift and drop instantly without the use of air as is the current technology. I feel that the cars would have to be based on some sort of a magnet system.
I think that crashing into each other would not be a problem since there is technology out there for crash deterrents, but that would have to be incorporated into every car.
Can you imagine if you want to park in front of a store? Imagine the problems of descending to ground level! It's hard enough to find a space to park in large cities as it is without having to wait for people looking for parking spaces., now you have to wait for flying cars getting an aerial view of all available spaces.

Answer 3

It's already been done.. in 1968 by Moulton Taylor of Longview, WA. We have one on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It actually flew.. had detachable wings and tail and took about 15 minutes for configure. It was very expensive to manufacture. I've heard that Honda was interested in the design.. but so far, it's way too expensive to make.
Here's the write up from the Museum of Flight website.When you come to Seattle be sure to come by the Museum and look at it for yourself. We have a little video of it actually shows it flying. If you go to the Museum's website you can see photos of it. They didn't come through when I tried to copy and paste the write-up!

Aerocar III



Manufacturer: Aerocar
Model: III
Year: 1968
Registration: N100D
Serial No. 1
Location: Great Gallery
Viewable? Yes

Span: 34 feet
Length: 26 feet
Wing Area: 190 square feet
Empty Weight: 1,500 pounds
Gross Weight: 2,100 pounds
Cruise Speed (road): 60 mph
Cruise Speed (air): 135 mph
Service Ceiling: 12,000 feet
Range: 500 miles


A Plane in Every Garage
After World War II, many people envisioned an airplane in every garage in America's expanding suburbs. One of these visions took the form of Moulton Taylor's Aerocar. The Aerocar was a "roadable" airplane certified for use as both a plane and an automobile. The prototype was completed in 1949 but not certified by the Civil Aeronautics Administration until 1956. Taylor came close to producing his car with both Ling-Temco-Vought and Ford, but both deals fell through. The Museum's Aerocar III began as the sixth and final Aerocar I. In the late 1960s, Taylor bought it back after it had been damaged in a road accident. He updated and redesigned the car section, leaving the wings essentially unchanged. Thanks to its large airplane engine, the Aerocar was quite sporty and, by all accounts, it was also quite stable and pleasant to fly.
Moulton B. Taylor
Moulton "Molt" Taylor was born in Portland, Oregon in 1912. While growing up in Longview, Washington, he developed an interest in aviation. After graduating from the University of Washington with degrees in aeronautical engineering and business, Taylor became a Navy pilot. After working on a Navy missile program during World War II, he started his aircraft manufacturing business. The Aerocar was one of his many designs. Molt Taylor passed away in 1995.

A Flying Automobile
Of course, the most remarkable feature of the Aerocar is its ability to transform from automobile to aircraft—a process that takes about 15 minutes. On the ground, the Aerocar can either tow its wings and tail like a trailer, or simply leave them at the airport. To get ready for flight, the driver/pilot first connects the driveshaft (flip up the license plate to make the connection) in the tail. Then, the wings swing around into position and get pinned into place. The flight controls—movable steering wheel and rudder pedals—slide into place automatically. The engine cannot start unless every connection has been properly made—an ingenious safety device.

Flight Fact:The Aerocar III's brother, the Aerocar II, was not a car at all. It was built as a non-roadable, four-place airplane designed by Taylor

Answer 4

Drunk Flyers (drivers?); people can hardly handle driving as it is; no infrastructure; the first few generations of flying cars will be full of problems, fall out of the sky kill people, and scare the rest;

Answer 5

for one, most people drive like idiots on the ground. Imagine having so many idiots in the sky!!!

Answer 6

It is very possible!