Terrafugia CEO Responds To "Flying Car" Criticism

waderoush writes "The majority of the comments on last week's Slashdot post It's Not a Flying Car — It's A Drivable Airplane were critical, even dismissive, of Terrafugia's work to build a two-passenger airplane with folding wings that's also certified for highway driving. We boiled down these criticisms to the dozen most commonly expressed points, and today we've published responses from Terrafugia CEO Carl Dietrich. While hybrid airplane-automobiles are an old (some would say laughable) idea, Dietrich argues that current materials and avionics technologies finally make the concept feasible."

Comments

frost piss

[Corwn of Amber]

yay

Re:frost piss

[Corwn of Amber]

And now I'll have a visible space to comment in. Go Me!

So. Flying cars? ABOUT GODDAMN TIME. Like it's harder to fly a car than drive one! People are trusted with two tons of plastic and steel, developing power of the order of 10 to 200 kW, and not fly light devices, because it's so dangerous? Gimme a break. And my flying car.

They've been promised for a century and the tech is good enough since 1960. There was that design of two propellers turning in opposite directions with opposed angles, so as to create a blowing air column that takes the "flying saucer" off the ground. Lean right and it goes right, left and it goes left, use gears and injection to control blowing power and thus height.

That's a flying car, and it's been developed and implemented and tested and MADE in the 50s or 60s. Now add a gyroscope to that and a second safety thing and a third, so it's impossible to get it upside-down (resulting in death), to descend too fast (death or broken limbs), or crash in an other flying device (don't go too near any signal all flying devices give off).

That's one possible design. It's not a car, but it's a flying personal transportation device. Near enough for me.

I predicted the demise of Tesla in 3 years

[Anonymous Coward]

The flying car will be dead in 4 years. Dudes: If it flies it requires FAA certification. You may return to your crack pipes now.

The U. S. has collapsed economically and Slashdot covers flying cars. Truly moronic.

Just another energy-wasting toy for the rich

[VampireByte]

Try solving some real problems that advance society. Building crap just because selfish rich people are wasteful enough to make you wealthy providing them with useless toys is nothing to be proud of.

Re:Just another energy-wasting toy for the rich

[Anonymous Coward]

And you dont have the balls to say any of that.

He did you pussy fuck. plus you are WRONG, he is RIGHT. and you hate it.

Gay Nigger Goatse

[Anonymous Coward]

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[Anonymous Coward]

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Re:landing places

[rcw-home]

what stops someone from landing on a country road somewhere

Gas stations and road signs. I'm sure they'll make a law just for you though.