Slashdot Mirror
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?"
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Really how is this more efficient than leaving you car at the airport and renting one at the other end? For 400,000 dollars you get the worst of both worlds.
The grass is only greener, if you don't take care of your own lawn.
I saw the Lego block logo and for a minute thought someone had made an entire SUV out of legos.
The Skycar goes 350 mph, and yet still gets way better gas mileage than my escort.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!
ooohhh yueah oh yeah oh yeah yeha yeah yeah oh yeah oh yeah yeah
..stay up longer than the Taero web site!!!
Call me old fashioned, but I like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating - Bender
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Michael Sims, Domain Hijacking and Moral Equivalency by Jonathan Wallace jw@bway.net
How would you feel if your webmaster maliciously took your web-site offline, then, when you demanded its return, put up a site attacking your company at your old URL? It happened to a group I was involved in, the Censorware Project, currently at http://www.censorware.net. The purpose of this essay is to put the behavior on record, and to give you some impressions and inferences about it.
The Censorware Project was originally an informal collective of six people who collaborated online to fight censorware: Seth Finkelstein, Bennett Haselton, Jamie McCarthy, Mike Sims, Jim Tyre and myself. Several of us had never met or even spoken on the phone, yet for some time -- around two years as I recall -- we had a remarkably easy collaboration. There was no funding, no hierarchy, no titles, not even project managers. Someone would suggest a project and take the responsibility for a part of it, others would sign up for other elements, and proceeding this way we got a remarkable amount of work done, including reports on X-Stop, Cyberpatrol, Bess and other censorware products.
Even though two of us were attorneys -- Jim and myself -- we never incorporated the group or wrote a charter or any contracts among ourselves. Mike Sims was obliging enough to register the domain, just as other members paid for press releases and the other incidental expenses which came along. Mike also served as webmaster of the censorware.org site and did substantial work for the group, including writing contributions to several of the reports and lead authorship of at least one. Seth was the source of our decrypted censorware blacklists and managed many technical tasks, but later felt he had to leave the group because of the increasing prospects of a lawsuit, particularly under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). After Seth left the group, the remaining five continued.
Robert Frost said that "nothing gold can stay," and the Censorware Project was no exception. Over the summer of 2000, Mike Sims' reaction to a perceived slight from Jim Tyre was to take the site down for a week. He sent us mail at the time saying something like "The Censorware Project is now closed." I replied to him that, given that the group was a collective and we all had an interest in its work product, the domain, and the goodwill it had achieved, the decision was not his to make. Sims did not reply.
After Seth created a partial, text, mirror, Mike put the site back up a week later without explaining, let alone apologizing for, his actions. Given his continuing failure to answer any email from me (and I think from others) and the overall signs that Sims thought the group was exclusively his, I wrote him several emails requesting that he turn the domain over to Jamie or Bennett, as I felt we could no longer trust him to administer it. We also found out during that time that important email from people trying to contact us, including members of the press, was not being answered by Sims, nor being forwarded to other members.
I ultimately became exasperated that my name was listed as a principal on what had now become a "rogue" site I had no control over. Over about a five week period, I wrote Sims several more emails asking him to del
People seem to have trouble driving while using a cell phone - do you think most people are ready for complete 3D navigation? I guess thats why this thing needs a pilots license...
I really don't see whats so great about this. Seems like a homebuilt aircraft, as you still need all the normal things (pilots license, airport, etc).
this type of design is the most likley one for a personal home flying 'car'.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
did anyone else instantly think of the Canyonero?
Unexplained fires are a matter for the courts!!!!
xao
xao
http://TheHillforum.hopto.org
reminds me of the Tucker, no car yet (that I can tell, the site sucks) but they need to sell stock to get money to make a real prototype.
Is this the car of the future or another bust.
Most people can't handle a car that stays on the ground. I shudder to think what would happen if personal airplanes became common for commuting.
Fortunately, this looks more like a half-assed grab for investment money than anything else. I rather doubt we'll ever be seeing one of those things barrelling through the sky. The future of transportation is improved mass transit, not flying cars.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
All that cost just to solve the pilot's ground transportation problem. Sheesh.
Oooooh. Gahhh. I'm really paying for it this time.
I tell you, I've got to start being more careful. I'm not getting any younger.
I don't even remember: What exactly did I cram in my anus last night? It feels like I drove a Mack truck through there. Thank God for Bufferin.
I've never really thought of myself as a big-time anal crammer, or the kind of guy who can out-cram everyone else at a party. I'll usually stuff, you know, a couple of travel-size shampoos and maybe a harmonica in there, just to be social. And sure, on New Year's Eve or some special occasion, I might loosen up and put in a can of soup or some Beanie Babies. But I'm hardly a brass-colon daredevil like that guy in the Guinness book who crammed a washing machine.
Boy, I hope I can remember what I stuffed up there last night. I'm sure it'll make a great story on Monday. I'm pretty sure it was squarish in shape: There are eight distinct pain points that feel equidistant from each other. But what would cause that? A Rubik's Cube? A stack of 10 or so CDs? An alarm clock? I just don't know.
Obviously, heading into the evening, I didn't plan to cram anything terribly big up my ass. But who ever does? It's always the same, you know: You go to a party, they put out some cheese, a few fruit wedges--no problem. But then somebody hands you a broomstick, and you think, "Oh, what the hey!" Next thing you know, you're waking up the next morning wondering if you'll ever shit straight again.
Oh, sure, back in college, I could cram with the big boys. I was a fraternity man; how could I not? I remember this one mixer with the Tri-Delts. I crammed five bottles of Coors and won $80. The only reason I won, though, was that Big Rooney wasn't there that night. Whoa, that guy could cram things in his anus! I once saw him shove 16 pool balls in his ass and completely close his sphincter around them. He was a monster! Today, he's a broker for Schwab Insurance, the last thing any of us would have guessed, believe me.
Anyway, my point is, those days are far behind me. Nowadays, I'm lucky to get the collected works of T.S. Eliot up there--softbound!
I should note that I don't actually endorse this kind of behavior. I'm just telling you what goes on. I'm also trying not to be unrealistic. I realize that as long as there are anuses, there will be people cramming things up them. But I want to urge everyone reading this, especially young people, that if you're going to cram stuff up your anus, please do it responsibly.
Could it have been one of those Chinese tea tins? This is gonna drive me crazy. I hope I can figure it out without having to go around the house seeing what's missing.
I think last night will have to be my last great hurrah as an anal crammer. Next time someone offers me a Hickory Farms Deluxe Gift Basket, I'll just say no. Or if I do decide to do it, I'll be sure to slowly cram it one item at a time. After all, you can't help growing old, but you can do it gracefully, right? From now on, I'm setting some limits to my cramming, like a videocassette or two once a month and maybe a raccoon on my birthday. And, of course, the usual cup of spiced tea on Christmas morning with the rest of the family.
But definitely no more ironing boards. I'm pushing 35, for God's sake.
Dueling vaporware.
does not include assembly[!] or optional extras
Wait a second... you mean parachute is an extra???
"You mortals are so obtuse." -Q
I wonder what kind of FAA regulations there would be for such a vehicle. Even if you did have your own personal landing strip for the car/plane/thing, I can't think that you'd be able to fly it just anywhere anytime. There would be flightpaths from other (commercial) airports to worry about... would you have to file a flight plan anytime you wanted to take off?
They don't even know how long it's gonna take to change it from a plane into a car. It's just more losers speculating about a product that does not exist but which could be made available given jackasses with a half mill and a bunch of sucker investors.
I have already saw this before. And it didn't work out so good. So, yeah. I don't think so.
Flying cars. Still a dream. To be continued...
yeah, humans will fly.. when pigs fly lol. Hahaha! HELL, humans will fly when SUVS can fly@@! LOL.
.
.
.
Oh wait..
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This is cretanly not the first "flying car" project i'we read about. And like the others I never think this one is gettning off the ground (littary). This keeps me thinking, who founds this kind of projects ?
There are a couple video-interviews with the founder of Taero, Dr. Douglas Ikeler. It sounds like they have a substantial team of aviation engineers working on this project - and he is confident that there are no more potential show-stoppers - it's just a matter of finalizing the design & production at this point.
:-) And along the same lines, I wonder if you can switch on the jet engine (GE J85) while on the road?
Also, the FAQ indicates that you'll need to use aitports for takeoff & landing. I wonder if an old sideroad that doesn't get much traffic would work for takeoff?
you live in a fly-in community. Where people have aircraft hangars as a part of their houses, and a 3500 ft runway is their door to the world.
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
"If it's not (con)trail rated, it's not a Taero 4000..."
If one exists. /.'d already
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I for one, welcome our new high-flying SUV overlords.
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.
I've been following the Moller skycar for over 20 years.(I'm not kidding, he gets an articale in Popular Science every couple of years). We should have been expecting a flying prototype each year in the past 20 years, still nothing more than short hops and tethered jumps.
So these people are going to build a prototype next year sometime when they find facilties and have this thing working in a year or two? yea right, next...
That is one fine piece of Astroturf you've written there. You should get a weekly column.
Well, it tells you it will use Jet Fuel A, which is conveniently available at your nearby airport. While it does not give any indication as to fuel efficiency, we can be sure that it is abysmal.
I don't want to believe people would use such a wasteful mode of transport, but then again people commute every day in SUVs.
The only hope I can see is if using such a vehicle got associated in the public imagination with SDS - Small D**k Syndrome.
Information: "I want to be anthropomorphized"
I hear this vehicle is actually being funded by Moller as a way of building hype for skycars in general. Most of the technology is just rehashed from his own Skycar.
J
use this method of transportation.
Looks like something from Spaceballs.
What next? A tacky van with wings driven by a dog?
Darwin will finally take care of SUV owners!!
I stole this Sig
Makes it all the more fun, I guess.
Pelé!
I won't make the purchase unless I can lift off with a simple "go go gadget wings!"
There's a *real* jet that's going to take over the skies in the near future. Eclipse 500: A Million dollars and change www.eclipseaviation.com
What could be more annoying? The jetski of the sky, perhaps?
word.
In this case, they will have two engines and need to conform to two different sets of regulations. Also, the wing will need to retract for driving mode, but still be strong in flight. Also, they need to fly with all of the extra weight needed for land driving like big wheels and heavy drivetrain.
It will suck in the air and suck on the ground.
You will still need a Pilots certificate to fly it. They are not easy to get. I spent over a year to get mine.
There are a lot of good airplane makers with actual products that perform very well that have a hard time keeping the doors open.
The Moller skycar is trying to do something very different. They are trying to build a airplane that uses computer controlled fans to take off and land vertically, then use the body as a airfoil for high speed flight. There is no need for a runway or a airport.
It would be very cool if they could do it. But, dont hold your breath. Moller has been trying to build it for several decades and has burned a lot of money.
They are trying to build new engines, fly by wire control system and a new lift configuration. Big project. There might not be any one thing that is a show stopper, but getting there will take a lot of investment.
It's a new target for a slow and painful /.ing! Granted, it's already graphics-heavy, but it's crawling like a stunned yak. . .
You are not the customer.
At this time, general aviation aircraft do not have to file a flight plan - just stay out of certain volumes of the sky. I have a friend who has a hangar attached to his garage, and a runway out back.
Just last weekend the weather was unusually nice, and he said "Let's get Mr. Cessna's aluminum kite out" - so we hopped in the 182 and took off - buzzed another friend's farm, flew around, practiced stalling, and so on.
We just had to make sure we stayed out from the airbase's airspace.
So, this would be little different than owning a Cessna in that regard.
However, unlike a car, an aircraft has to go in once a year for its annual inspection, where they tear the thing down and make sure all is well. I would assume that this thing would be no different.
So the question is, can you do without your car for a couple of weeks of the year?
www.eFax.com are spammers
I once got a change to meet Francis Rogallo, the inventor of the hang glider. He told me that he envisioned it originally as a wing for cars that you'd deploy, fly where you needed to go, then stow it after you land and park the car.
VTOL, robotic piloting with GPS, fly point-to-point, etc.
y ri der/sr-index.htm
The thing that convinced me that they're on to something is that they drive the fans electrically from an inboard generator.
That saves the horifically complicated transmission that something like the Moller SkyCar needs to make all the engines drive all the fans.
http://www.macroindustries.com/website/files/sk
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
You suck. No one wants you here. Seriously.
Then join the newly formed American Airborne Automobile Association - the AAAA! We cover our members with exclusive services such as emergency flight planning, jet-engine jump start and in-flight wing repair.
In due course we will be securing the domain name aaaa.com for our activities, and offering a full range of services for our fly-drive members.
Arguably the funniest part of the site is What the experts say.
Among the massive pannel of international experts, you can choose from: The founder... uh, the founder... um, the founder... and, uh, the founder. Nope, that's about it. One expert. And that's the founder of the company.
They have, however discovered the secret of efficient flight: Vapour.
I get it - just like SUV owners never take their vehicles off-road, owners of these will never actually fly them.
"And this is my boy, Sherman. Speak, Sherman." "Hello." "Good boy."
I can't see soccer moms driving their kids to practice in one of these things!
http://www.engineeringsystem.co.jp/genh4_en/
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.
Dream on people...
Peak Oil is coming and we can't find better things than trying to figure out new ways to waste our remaining resources...
I guess we've probably been past Peak IQ for a while now...
For using all kinds of weirdo units: KPTAS, nm (thought it was a very short autonomy, if measured in nanometers), miles... *Sigh* It's _his_ project, he can make it out of bamboo if he wants. I reserve my respect for the next, though.
I'll avoid making a joke which would make some people who already suffered even sadder.
"What walk? You'll have the flying car..."
Kevin Smith's short film.
CC Licensed Serialized Story and Podcast: Ingenioustries
I can get a date with that snobby Judy Jetson, my "ground" car just wasn't good enough.
Correction, the future of transportation should be improved mass transit. The real future is bigger SUVs.
Now if we can get the price down to an affordable level like $40,000 we can have these clueless SUV drivers kill themselves before they hurt others.
You could buy several SUV's and leave them parked at airports across the country. Although I'd spend the extra cash on a better plane.
oh great, how am i supposed to pronounce this one? T-aero? Tae-ro? Ta-ero? Tee-ro? Taro? yum.
welcome our new flying suv overlords.
the pricks can stroke their egos with instead of spending it on World Hunger/AIDS/new school building/etc., ad nauseum...
Can't wait til I see one while driving around in my Honda Civic.
"Oops..was that one of those stabilizer thingey's I knocked off? Sorry!"
The ConVAIRCAR
this?
http://www.fordpinto.com/mitzar1.htm
What?
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."
... because having a web page from 1999 breeds trust.
The Boeing TiltRoter uses complex transmissions but the Moller SkyCar doesn't. It uses two motors in each nacelle that directly operate the ducted fans in that nacelle. The motors are all contolled by redundant computer systems. As far as I know, no transmissions are needed. If any motor fails, the others have the power to compensate for it, even in hover.
Compare this to SkyRider's approach with a single engine and no redundancy in the nacelles.
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).
to sell to you.
I sense the niche market of people with $400k burning a hole in their pocket. I will get a Doctorate degree from one of those e-mails I keep getting. Then, I will get a picture of a Geo or Yugo and strap a sheet of plywood across the back of it with duck tape (all DIY's love duck tape)and only charge $395k.
Naturally, this is only in pre-prototype and Photoshop, but hey, there has to be at least one taker out there who will pay me for the hour I used to set up the web site. Two takers will even buy me the Geo for the prototype and four would allow me to fill it with gas and move to Hawaii.
Only drawback is the wing does not fold but disattaches at 50 mph on the highway. Part of the "extras" kit is 100 mph tape (much better than duck tape, but much more expensive...at least when priced as an option for my G Aero).
Oh yeah, since it is not even in prototype yet, its specs are: air speed is supersonic, air range is to moon and back, on road it goes 55 mph and 350 miles on one tank of gas.
"...oh,no. Not again..."-D.A.
Found this:
http://www.milkfarm.net/lifext.htm
Yeah, this SkyCar thing sounds more legitimate every day. (sarcasm)
From the website
Dr. Douglas Ikeler
~ Highly Successful Business Entrepreneur - Multiple Veterinary Medical Practices, Substantial Real Estate Portfolio and International Training and Consulting
~ Student of Astrophysics, Human Factors Engineering, Systems Thinking and Business Innovation
~ Private Pilot
~ Doctor of Veterinary Medicine - Completing Additional Requirements for MD Degree
I think this is a BS product since the best testimonial they could come up with was a Veternarian
Did Glenn Beck rape and kill a girl in 1990? gb1990.com
The future of transportation is being brought to us by a Vet ...
Bark less. Wag more.
Same topic, different sky car, different URL: http://www.haynes-aero.com Cheers Simon
Hal Spacejock: Science Fiction with Nuts
If ADSB really takes off we could see this become pratical.
With ADSB and GPS, many people in avaition are starting to question the need/benifit of positive controled airspace.
If ADSB gets widely deployed pilots will have 10x more information avaiable to them about traffic around them then todays air controllers.
The concept of "Open Skies" is getting lots of talk these days about being the future. Many people envision a world where the pilot does his own navigaion from point a to point b, and only needs air traffic controllers during entry and exit of congested airports... during regular cross-country nagivation, no air traffic control is needed.
There are already so many commerical flights in the air today that the existing way of doing things (eg only traveling over pre-determined routes on nav charts, basically "highways in the sky), is starting to be a problem with not enough highway and too much traffic. Open Skies would make pilots able to take any road they wanted and not be required to stick to the current few paths allowed between locations.
This would also make it much simpler for individuals and the general public to take on aviation modes of transportation.
-- Given enough time and money, Microsoft will eventualy invent UNIX.
So, Moller's got eight Wankel rotary engines?
I've got to say I'm much more optimistic about the reliability of a single turbine generator, than I am about eight separate rotary engines.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
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
if it requires a pilot's license, and an airport, it's not a car. we already have a word for what it is: airplane.
The least that they could do is add AM-FM radio. Good grief!
testing out my trending skills
Don't get the idea that any joe can just pony up the $400 grand and use the car to take off on I-25 on their way to grandma's house. You'd be breaking all sorts of laws. First of all, this car not a propeller driven junker, it's a jet. You're got to be licensed and qualified to fly the thing. That means you have to obtain (a) a medical certificate from an FAA licensed doctor, (b) a private pilots license, (c) IFR rating, (d) commercial rating, and (probably) (e) type-specific rating. The minimum you can expect is some 250-300 hours flight time under your belt before you're allowed to take this car into the air; probably much more.
Next, once you can fly the plane, you still have to follow all the same rules that normal planes have to follow. You can only take off and land on airport runways. You must maintain contact with ATC when you're within controlled airspace, and you have to file a flight plan and remain in constant contact with ATC if you intend to fly at or above 18000 feet, or in weather with low visibility.
What sets this craft apart is.. or rather, what Taero hopes will set this craft apart is:
(a) price. A light jet for under $1 million new? Still yet to be done. Granted, it is a kit plane--that brings the price down quite a bit. You sacrifice reliability to get an uncertified aircraft that you get to assemble yourself. No guarantees. Hope you didn't forget that last screw.
(b) freedom. Drive to the airport, fly your car to your destination, then drive you plane to the hotel.
(c) novelty. Let's face it, if you can afford to own (and pay insurance on) a jet, you can afford to rent a car when you get to grandma's house. It's really the novelty factor that would attract most customers. "Wow, a flying car!"
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is not necessarily a good idea...."
RFC 1925
What the hell is michael smoking today that he'd actually post this, then actually allow a comparison. To wit, the Taero is a non-existent vaporware ford-focus with a surfboard wing wannabe. The Moller Sky Car actually flies, exists, and has existed for years.
The Taero is a pipe dream at least - deceitful vaporware at best, and most likely a venture capital scam in progress. There is no reason this story should be on slashdot - except for the probably lameness of slashdot. The Jihad is right.
I sent them a link to an article about Honda's new jet actually *flying* and at the same time they get a post about a sky car. No doubt after much deliberation, they decide a sky car is a much more valuable topic than a new mini-jet from Honda.
I've now placed my ranking of 'future' articles from Slashdot down a few notches. Clunk, clunk, clunk.
Duck Tape!? :o}
;o)
Perchance you mean Duct Tape?
If they hire Burt Rutan, call me. If they ship it, call me. Otherwise, I wish everyone would just give the vaporware marketing a rest.
Look! We're gonna make a hybrid-electric hydrogen-powered helium filled flourescent green motorcycle with a couple of things that look like wings slapped on it! Can you give us some money?
Man, that is one ugly vehicle. Well, I guess it is better than the aztek, but it looks like an cougar with wings strapped on.
today is spelling optional day.
Is anyone else very, very afraid?
free speach
Did you mean: free speech
Did anyone else see this on the website?
Maximum range: Air - 1200 nm
1200 nanometer?
So you have $400k to spend, so instead of having a modest limo service meet you at the airport, you're going to drive this awkward liability around the highway, where the lightest fender bender requires a full airworthiness re-inspection.
If I recall back when I got my private license, it seemed like the rental car companies were dropping off cars for lots of people, even out there in the middle of nowhere. What is broken here?
Travolta's New House.
No, he means Duck Tape. Do a quick web search and find out what it was called when invented (WW2).
If it comes with ejector seats, will they work on the ground too?!
This is the stupidest thing _ever_ on Slashdot. So, if I put up a cheap-ass website detailing my plans to sell "personal rocketships" (travel NYC to Tokyo in just 2 hours!),and I cobble together some bad photoshop artwork that shows my "prototype concept", can I also get a posting on Slashdot?
Because if so, I'll start making that illustration now. Hey it doesn't have to work, or be aerodynamic, or even be based on a shred of reality. If it's on the web, it must be real!
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
This is from the FAQ section of their site. Takes a bit more than a private pilot ticket. Come on, it's a personal jet, and therefore would require a type rating. It would obviously be a lot more involved transitioning up to something that flies this fast from a Cessna 172 or Piper.
This definately isn't a vehicle for a non-career private pilot.
What are the licensing, training and assembly, and insuring requirements of owning a TAERO?
Those who proceed with acquisition of the TAERO will be provided with a complete licensing and/or rating enhancements training program as well as a complete ownership and assembly orientation and training program - all in an engaging, interactive, technically supported and resort-like environment. As a bimodal craft intended for operation within the U.S., licensing will require a private pilot license with instrument and multiengine ratings including a Type Rating to act as Pilot-in-Command, as well as a private Driver License, Class R, for motor vehicle operation. High altitude right-seat jet time will also be beneficial. Orientation and training, and active involvement in actual assembly will meet the highest standards of care and will be fully consistent with FAA and DOT requirements. Research is currently underway regarding insurance underwriting for the TAERO, to address liability, property and casualty protection. More information on licensing, training and insurance will be made available to TAERO First Members as these programs develop.
What are the licensing, training and assembly, and insuring requirements of owning a TAERO?
Those who proceed with acquisition of the TAERO will be provided with a complete licensing and/or rating enhancements training program as well as a complete ownership and assembly orientation and training program - all in an engaging, interactive, technically supported and resort-like environment. As a bimodal craft intended for operation within the U.S., licensing will require a private pilot license with instrument and multiengine ratings including a Type Rating to act as Pilot-in-Command, as well as a private Driver License, Class R, for motor vehicle operation. High altitude right-seat jet time will also be beneficial. Orientation and training, and active involvement in actual assembly will meet the highest standards of care and will be fully consistent with FAA and DOT requirements. Research is currently underway regarding insurance underwriting for the TAERO, to address liability, property and casualty protection. More information on licensing, training and insurance will be made available to TAERO First Members as these programs develop.
Reading through the FAQ, it seems this thing is going to use a common fuel, "Jet A" for both the aircraft engine and the automotive engine. Uh, how many gas stations carry "Jet A"? One could buy a very nice aircraft and a dozen road vehicles, each stationed at a variety of airports for the amount of money this thing will cost. $400K? Don't think so, this thing will probably be closer to a million by the time it's ready. One thing for sure, if they do manage to get one running we'll see it in an upcoming James Bond movie. And just like most gadgets in Bond movies, it will be the first, last and only time we'll ever see it. BTW, Moller's Sky Car has been advertising for venture investors for over 20 years now, still not a single working prototype has been built. I remember seeing the magazine ad's begging for money in an issue of Popular Science in the early 80's.
I looked, and what I've found is that 'Duck' tape is a registered trademark. And the people selling 'Duck' tape have this story they want to tell you about why you shouldn't use the non-trademarked name for it.
A Good Intro to NetBS
This thing doesn't look safe at all. Very heavy also. I don't trust Kits . The website is sparse like it was made by one person company. No one should faith in what that website is saying . Seems like alot of exagerations .
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 guess people will have to alter their driving etiquette, and keep a bit more than 2-1/2 car lengths separation when they pull in behind one of these things!
This thing looks far more like a pipedream than the Moller air car. Moller's would work, if he could just get the money to get production going in high volume. This flying turd seems like a dream on paper. Just from a basic weight vs. power vs. available lift (wing size), the numbers don't seem to add up.
The lesson of the day: slapping a jet engine on the back doesn't always fix the problem!
Need a simple, easy to use data tier generator? http://www.gryphinsoftware.com/
I think the Moller Skycar (or equivalent) has a brighter future than this. This is just a car-plane hybrid, nothing new here; all they did was stick two wings on a car. Bah.
Does anyone else find this idea of holding some nebulous "them" up to the promises of "tomorrow"? WHO made these "promises"? And WHO was fool enough to believe that they were actual promises? Why do journalists abuse this word in this fashion, all the time, everytime an "invention of the future" is mentioned?
Get a clue! No one promised you squat! Get over it!
The next remark is false. The previous remark is true.
I remeber how hot the Twin Towers burned from the Jet Fuel of the airplanes. Wouldn't it be the same if a Taero get's in an accident on the ground?
Even if this scheme were possible, you'd be crazy to drive a $400,000(+ assembly) car on the open road.
I've got an idle question for any people knowledgable in the area. Would flying be more energy efficient then ground transportation?
Sangloth
I'd appreciate any comment with a logical basis...it doesn't even have to agree with me.
"I wonder what kind of FAA regulations there would be for such a vehicle"
Simple... Grounded!
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
Stupid.Useless.Vehicle. Yet another way for Americans to show their greed and amazing materialism...
...we are from the government - we are here to help...
Does ANYONE remember the Bond movie: "The Man with the Golden Gun"? Although Scaramanga's Flying Pinto was SFX,
that car
that concept did already exist, but was not in mass-production!
Why "drag" the wing around when you're not actually flying?
I STILL prefer wing-less designs!
.
(David Bowman, EVA near HUGE Monolithic Win-PC in orbit around Jupiter) "My God - its full of Malware!"
I think there is a market for maybe 5 flying cars in the world.
Nobody needs a flying car in their garage.
The flying car is dead.
50 years from now, you will be able to look at a flying car for 30 minutes, and 70% of the time not be able to tell if it's an airplane, or it's a car.
100 years from now flying cars will be twice as fast, 10,000 times bigger, and cost so much only the richest kings in Europe can afford them.
It's much better because a website advocating use of an existing car/airplane solution deals with "real" money. As we all know, "real" money has issues with not being all profit and is therefore less desirable. The imaginary carplane idea doesn't exist in real life, so it deals in "fake" or "investor" money. People give you money thinking that you'll give them more money back later once you're selling your product. What they don't know is that you've stuck a clause in the contract that states that they might not get all their money back if the idea doesn't pan out. You've known all along that a carplane could never exist because of the post-9/11 temptation to fly it into a building, not to mention the technical details.
Your investors (that you call "suckers" when they aren't around) like the pretty concept art that you send them from time to time, and keep giving you money until finally you break the bad news to them and refer them to the fine print that allows you to keep a portion of their money no matter what. Alternatively, they can find that they can no longer get in contact with you because you have relocated to some single-digit latitude island to spend your hard-earned cash. People with too much money still like to invest in pretty pictures of impossible ideas, so I recommend the latter method of profiting from this "fake money" that you have "borrowed" (as in from the ten's column).
No way will this thing fly, I guarantee you. It is a trap for sucker investors.
what would Jesus fly?
because transportation is a moral issue...
(especially to some people)
*scoove*
I'd rather get a Cirrus SR-22, and just buy an SUV. A car cannot be an airplane, and vice versa, I'd much rather have two vehicles which do what they werre designed to do very well than one vehicle that does two things poorly.
Not to mention the absurdity of trying to design avionics that work for both ground and air navigation... Imagine your car yelling at you for busting class B airspace when you drive past an international airport.
Make me a friend and I'll mod you up
This isn't new. It looks way too much like the car from the James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun. The car used was the AMC Matador, a hideous vehicle from the 70's that looks far too similar to this new flying car for my tastes.
I laugh every time I read his name on Slashdot.
:03 video on the website now. And pictures.
I heard Moller himself hype his Skycar 400 (the Batmobile one) six years ago when Art Bell was still interviewing kooks on the air late at night.
Six years later and it's still as much vaporware as ever. Oh wait, there's a
I highly suspect Moller of being yet another pseudoscientist existing solely on the gullibility of venture capitalists. Support the Taero, it looks like something real...