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Personal SUV of the Sky
BoomZilla writes "While
we're all waiting for the personal jet packs we were promised in the magazines
of our youth, another 'personal flying car' has entered the fray. The Taero 4000 will exist in the car/plane category, but will require a pilot's license and will operate from airports (...no lifting off from the back yard). The Taero has an interesting folding wing concept: '[the] wing fold system will enable automatic transformation from air to land travel with the wings folding to a position parallel with the fuselage'. The target base price for the Taero 4000, in assembly kit form, is $400,000 U.S. dollars (does not include assembly[!] or optional extras).
According to the site, 'Taero is scheduled for first delivery in 2007'. The
FAQ makes interesting reading. Competition for
Moller International's SkyCar?"
How will the TAERO perform in flight and on the road?
....Air - 1,200 nm
....Land - 350 miles
....Manufacturer - General Electric
....Model - CJ610/J85
......(Base Price Assumes J85 Refurbished)
....Manufacturer - To Be Determined
....Model - IC - Front Wheel Drive
The TAERO 4000 is currently in prototype design development for initial introduction as an experimental owner-operator assembly craft. The following represent the most current target specifications to which the design team is committed. Refinements in performance specifications will be posted as design development proceeds.
PERFORMANCE - Tearo 4000
Takeoff - 1,050 ft
Takeoff (50' object) - 1,475 ft
Max rate of climb - 2500 Ft/min
Cruise speed @ 75% power - 350 KTAS (402.5 MPTA)
Stall speed w/flaps - 61 KIAS
Maximum range:
Landing (ground roll) - 850 ft
Landing (50' object) - 2,030 ft
ENGINE
Air Power:
Land Power:
DIMENSIONS
Length - 27'
Height - 7'11"
Wingspan - 36'
Wing Area - 140 sq ft
Cabin Length - 132"
Cabin Width - 60"
Cabin Height - 55"
Landing Gear - 4 wheel
DESIGN WEIGHT & LOADING
Max Gross Wt - 4,000 lbs
Std Empty Wt - 2,800 lbs
Maximum Useful Load - 1,200 lbs
Fuel Capacity (Usable) - To Be Determined
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A private pilots license, is required for operation of the TAERO. In addition, a current drivers license is required.
The occupancy of the TAERO 4000 is four passengers, while the TAERO 8000 is slated to accommodate eight passengers.
The estimated target base price of the TAERO 4000 as an assembly craft is $400,000.
The TAERO 4000 and 8000 are being designed for take-off and landing form private, general aviation and commercial airports, and will be subject to all FAA, DOT, and local regulations.
At this time, the target date for TAERO availability as an assemble craft is 2007, subject to change in the course of prototype development.
Flight plans are not required for VFR (Visual Flight Rules) flight.
.4 million dollars plus assembly, They would be easier to afford.
Most airspace below 18,000 ft is uncontrolled, and as long as you avoid airports there is really a lot of sky out there with relativly few planes filling it.
Of course, It's still really easy to hit something.. notably the ground. That's why you need a license to fly this.
Personally I'd rather have an actual DeLorean and a small jet then this thing... and for
Diesel fuel can actually give you a higher fuel eficiency than POUG (plain old unleaded gasoline).
According to this article, the volkswagon 4-door Jetta with a volkswagon turbo diesel engine gets ~50 mpg.
This site discusses what makes a good diesel vehicle a good diesel vehicle - and when a POUG engine is better. With the correct differential, todays diesel engine will have a 10%-30% higher fuel efficiency. Of course, modern diesel engines have a higher intial cost, but the A4000 is already $400,000, so I don't think an extra $5K-$10K for an efficient diesel engine is an issue.
That's why it's way harder to get a pilot's license than a drivers license. I just got my private pilot certificate. I logged almost 60 hours of flying time, over 40 with an instructor, before I could get certified. It was over a period of about 6 months. I don't think most people have enough motivation to go through the process just to be able to commute through the air.
Looks awfully similar to the "aerocar" of 1968:s play.html?ID=3
http://www.museumofflight.org/collections/craftdi
Manufacturer: Aerocar
Model: Model III
Year: 1968
Serial No.: 1
Location: Museum of Flight
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
The virtual highway in the sky sounds pretty cool.
dude...
... where's my air car?
:-)
... there's no way "roadless" travel is going to happen in a flying car. there will be air corridors that you are restricted to, otherwise it's going to be mass pandemonium.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
True, but with a car, you're physically restricted from certain terrain; even SUVs can't just drive anywhere. In a plane, you can deviate from those air corridors if you choose to.
Of course, we'll need a force of tech-savvy, anti-government people who can bypass the inevitable federally-required tracking devices. If only there was some way, maybe an electronic forum, where such brave individuals could communicate....
Five percent of one year's DoD budget puts us on Mars.
Since this is a kit plane it will be in the experimental class. Unfortunatly this means that you wouldn't be able to fly it over built up areas making pretty restrictive for a $400k general purpose vehicle :(
-- "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
Not only is there an annual, but there is a 100 hour inspection. 100 hours can get eaten up pretty fast when you also use this as ground transport. Most pilots I know have problems changing sparkplugs in accordance with the FARs, and catch hell from mechanics and inspectors like my father ( Pilot, A&P Mechanic, and IA). Who is going to sign the logbook that this is air-worthy after a minor fender-bender? I live 5 miles from the local airport, 30 miles from the controlled airport. It is faster to drive the 30 miles than to spend the hour+ to properly preflight my dad's Cessna 172, file a VFR approach into the controlled airspace, and get a place in the pattern behind a passenger jet. It is a toss up between flying or driving to the mid-sized regional airport for the FAA seminars; if the weather is nice the seminar doesn't start too early, we fly, if not, we drive. General Aviation flying is fun, but if you want to get there with the minimal effort and maximum effeciency, either drive or fly commercial.
This Taero 4000 reminds me of the Sokol A400 Flying Car. I haven't looked deeply, but I'll bet some of the same people are involved.
It's ashame that the Solotrek died so fast (see more about it here).
IAAAE (I AM an aero engineer)...
It's impossible to state the range (1200nm), and then later in the same paragraph, to state that the usable fuel capacity is "to be determined". Fuel capacity determines the range. (Gee, thanks, Sherlock... that's true of any vehicle.) But in an airplane, it's even more critical, because fuel capacity determines structural weight (more fuel requires more structure, which in turn demands more fuel to move it, which demands more structure, etc.). Until they've nailed down the fuel load, this thing is hardly an aerodynamically developed system.
This thing is a pipe dream - if you read the FAQs, there are far more "to be determined" than details.
--Brandon / Split Infinity Music
This new guy is worse.
The numbers on this thing are amusing. It's way overpowered. Unlike Moller, this thing uses a jet engine. Hanging a CJ610, with about 3000 pounds of thrust, on a 4000 pound aircraft is overkill. Two of those engines power a 20,000 pound Learjet. CJ610 engines cost about $250,000 used and overhauled.
It's unclear why the takeoff distance is so long.
I think nm is Nautical Miles. Gotta love it when they mix metric and imperial measurements, then make up abreviations and assume everyone knows WTF they're talking about. I think NASA had the same problem.