Flying Cars Ready To Take Off

Ant writes "CBS News has an article, images, and a free streaming video clip of Elwood (Woody) Norris' invention of a working flying machine, AirScooter. He asked one of his test pilots to demonstrate it for 60 Minutes on a hilltop outside San Diego, California. It can fly for 2 hours at 55 mph, and go up to 10,000 feet above sea level. This week, he will receive America's top prize for invention. It's called the Lemelson-MIT award -- a half-million dollar cash prize to honor his life's work, which includes a brand new personal flying machine. Woody Norris' and others' inventions are for NASA's 'The Highway in the Sky.' It is a computer system designed to let millions of people fly whenever they please, and take off and land from wherever they please, in their very own vehicles."

Comments

Re:Energy requirements

[johannesg]

Conserving energy is an absurd notion

Perhaps you can explain where the infinite amount of oil this attitude requires is going to come from? Or is this more a case of "it will last my lifetime, and the next generation be damned"?

I've heard this same tired story before.

[i41Overlord]

Flying cars have been "right around the corner" for the last 50 years. And yet in 2005 we aren't much closer.

Re:Just what the world needs

[loganjw]

I haven't been current in years either. Not since I flew too low over my high school one too many times. I got my license suspended for 210 days and then I went off to college and just haven't had the money to get current again.