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Will This Flying Car Get Crowdfunded?
cartechboy (2660665) writes "We all just have too much money on our hands, and we really want a flying car, right? Well that's what Skylys thinks, as it's trying to crowdfund a flying car. According to its website, 'In detail we aim to create an urban dual-mode, hybrid flight and electric drive motorized vehicle that fits into sustainable mobility.' How much money does it need? Oh about $3,111,075. Apparently the company has run out of money and needs more to 'start construction on our two prototypes to confirm our technical specifications; pay the chaps in the legal department; industrial engineers and take up occupancy of our future offices in Silicon Valley, where our backers can of course pay us a visit.'"
They had me until "paying the lawyers."
Perhaps if they posted about their product on well know tech blogs with links to contribute then maybe it will work.
Does it have gattling guns? Can it be used for urban pacification? Does it have stealth technology?
If not ... well, you're just another in a long line of people hoping to create a flying car.
Many of us have long since relegated the idea into the long-since cliche bucket. And since I don't trust most people to drive in the mostly 2 dimensions offered by cars ... I really don't trust most people with a z axis.
If you want to save money, here's a hint ... don't get offices in Silicon Valley before you've got a product.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
In bigger cities, such a contraption would have to be computer-controlled to reduce the risk of human error to an acceptable level. But perhaps if something gets going in a rural area, investments in city-friendly control infrastructure will follow. Thus, it doesn't have to start out being city-ready; it just has to start out (and gain usage).
Something like NASA's vertical-takeoff Puffin design sounds like the way to go for those without big yards or landing spots. Although, that's not really a "car". But "mass commuter planes" is close enough. 2D traffic sucks here; time to up-grade.
Table-ized A.I.
I mean them Duke boys won't have enough breath left, it would be all "Yeeeeeeeee" and no "Haw"
And what then I ask you what. then.
Current status: "€140 raised of €2,250,000 goal".
The thing is, it's quite possible to build a flying car. The prototypes of the 1950s make that clear. The world needs some good small VTOL craft. But none of the people doing it seem to be able to bring it off.
Small jet engines cost too much but can make VTOL work. Wankel engines (the Moller embarassment) or electric motors and batteries (this thing) don'tt have the power/weight ratio needed to do it well. It's probably quite possible to build a battery powered VTOL today, but the flight time will be a few minutes, like quadcopters.
Right question: "Will This Flying Car Get Off the Ground?" As in, "Will This Flying Car Ever Make a Profit?"
Just like all others before it, no.
Well, they are good for a laugh sometimes at least.
That they are looking for 'cool offices' in silicone valley tells me they are probably not going to spend any money they get all that wisely... which might be why they do not have enough.
It doesn't matter if it gets funded because it won't get built. If it flies, it's controlled by the FAA, and you'll be required to have a pilot's license to fly it. Not only that, but even if it has vertical take off you'll still have to take off from an airport or other helicopter pad or some other designated area. Your neighbours aren't going to stand for the sound of propellers spinning up every morning so you can fly off to work. And spinning props aren't very safe with kids and pets around. If you have to go to the airport and fly from there, and land at another airport, you might as well just drive to the airport, get in a real plane (rented most likely to save money), and then rent a car at your destination. There is simply no reason for a flying car to ever happen.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Are you saying this project can't get off the ground?
Table-ized A.I.
A hovering car certainly has applications. It would require less expensive roads and would be, in principle, much more self driving than a car on wheels. It would have to be as it will likely be difficult to control purely by human means. But a flying car. We essential have those. You just need a pilots license and have begin and end locations near an airfield for takeoff and landings. Of course air fields are not nearly as prolific as they used to be.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
3) More like a helicopter than an aeroplane? Nope. Airplanes are MUCH easier to fly than a helicopter; the average person cannot do this.
Perhaps they're thinking of a Gyrocopter (or Autogyro). That has the advantage of small size (No need for large fixed wings) without the complication of dealing with a collective stick system.
Personally, I was always interested in the "Land Shark" project (Archive.org link, as the original has since disappeared). The idea was to have a tadpole-style trike that, when on water, would use it's turbine-shaped rear wheel hub to propel it as it hydroplaned on the front wheel's lowered mudguards. Simple, and effective, but unfortunately it never got off the ground. A shame, really.
When the material sciences are to the point where a lightweight container can sustain Earth atmospheric pressure from crushing down on it, we'll have a practical way to take off vertically without prompting your neighbours to invest in surface to air missiles when you crank the engine on one of these in the morning on your daily commute.
government vehicles only with highly trained operators, so EMTs, Police, Firemen, etc.
Highly trained? Have you seen the way cops drive? They can't even be bothered to use turn signals.
Nope.
Dreamers risked their lives to build the first airplane, risked their career on the first microcomputers
Dreamers also risked their lives on a million other products that failed. But Business Week never writes stories about them.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
Ok, you get all the issues resolved. Then comes the physics and economics... so you get your Mr. Fusion to power all these flying cars from bits of trash thrown into the affordable reaction chamber, then you have to find a way to transform all that waste heat the things are going to give off in huge amounts times the number of cars. Remember, nothing is going to be 100% efficient and anything using propellers... Then you have the majority of horizontal movement energy wasted because after 60mph most of that is put into pushing against the wind...
All this so you can save some money and time on roads? It takes almost nothing by comparison to roll you around on the ground at slower speeds. We have troubles funding the cheap individual vehicles today... or at least people complain a whole lot about the costs and it's not so bad that we are driving at half speed to save on gas which costs less than bottled water.... but the energy costs for flying are just much greater.
Insurance... imagine the insurance... and all the GM recalls not performed...because the death toll doesn't cost them enough $ (and the likely continuation of tort reform means they can afford even more damage.)
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
If you think it costs a lot to develop and build a flying car, wait until you find out how much it costs to change the FAA regulations.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
I'll believe in this when the car flys.
So, Indiegogo flexible funding campaign? I.e. they get money even if the campaign doesn't meet the goals? 4 years in development and nothing to show on the project page apart from a few renders that any kid can do in a day in 3DS Max or Blender? They throw big names like DASSAULT or Airbus around, ostensibly as being interested, but they need a few millions on Indiegogo? The perks are an obvious joke (40k euro for an old Renault Espace? You got to be kidding ...).
Mr. Chorostecki appears to be an economic consultant (nothing to do with aerospace whatsoever: http://www.figxy.com/ )
Mr. Buron is a design/creative consultant (with http://buron.phpnet.org/fre/ag... )
And the third founder Desauvage is, surprise, "creative director".
I wonder whether "inventor and designer" means "I have drawn something in Photoshop and now I only need someone to build it for me", because none of these guys has any relevant engineering qualifications whatsoever.
Oh and it seems they weren't very welcome in France for whatever reason in 2013 ( http://www.ladepeche.fr/articl... ), so that's why they want to go to Silicon Valley ... The article also mentions that the vehicle was to be all-electric (yeah right, pipe dreams ...).
The probability that any backers, who would put actually money into this, will see anything from this project, is pretty much zero, IMO.
Sky lice?
Skylz?
Sky lees?
If you want a flying car, check out e-volo. They've flown their prototypes, they've got the cooperation of the German government, and apparently adequate funding to bring it to market.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Agreed. hence the emphasis hghly trained. They would need a lot more certification to have flying pursuit vehicles.
When people want a flying car, they want this:
http://justacarguy.blogspot.co...
No props, no fans, not load noise.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
your one stop scammer shop.
You can also find magical medical 'devices' and perpetual motion machines.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
but the first controlled flight was built upon decades of trial; and error, and by 1000's of people.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
It"s about risks. It was a fair comparison.
Unlike your comparison, which is not.Near as I can tell, skylys ahs done nothing. Obama on the other hand has done a lot. Here is a short list of his accomplishments:
Legislative Prowess.
Despite the characterizations of some, Obama’s success rate in winning congressional votes on issues was an unprecedented 96.7% for his first year in office. Though he is often cited as superior to Obama, President Lyndon Johnson’s success rate in 1965 was only 93%. http://n.pr/i3d7cY
Fiscal Responsibility.
Within days after taking office, Obama signed an Executive Order ordering an audit of government contracts, and combating waste and abuse. http://1.usa.gov/dUvbu5
Created the post of Chief Performance Officer, whose job it is to make operations more efficient to save the federal government money. http://n.pr/hcgBn1
On his first full day, he froze White House salaries. http://on.msnbc.com/ewJUIx
He appointed the first Federal Chief Information Officer to oversee federal IT spending. http://www.cio.gov/
He committed to phasing out unnecessary and outdated weapons systems, and also signed the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act to stop waste, fraud and abuse in the defense procurement and contracting system. http://bit.ly/hOw1t1 http://bit.ly/fz8GAd
Through an executive order, he created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. http://bit.ly/hwKhKa
Improving the Economy, Preventing Depression.
Obama pushed through and signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as “the stimulus package,” despite the fact that not one Republican voted for that bill. In addition, he launched recovery.gov, so that taxpayers could track spending from the Act. http://1.usa.gov/ibiFSs http://1.usa.gov/e3BJMk
In his first year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created and sustained 2.1 million jobs and stimulated the economy 3.5%. http://reut.rs/i46CEE
Obama completed the massive TARP financial and banking rescue plan, and recovered virtually all of its costs. http://1.usa.gov/eA5jVS http://bit.ly/eCNrD6
He created the Making Home Affordable home refinancing plan. http://1.usa.gov/goy6zl
Obama oversaw the creation of more jobs in 2010 alone than Bush did in eight years. http://bit.ly/hrrnjY
He oversaw a bailout of General Motors that saved at least 1.4 million jobs, and put pressure on the company to change its practices, resulting in GM returning to its place as the top car company in the world. http://lat.ms/zIJuQx
Obama also doubled funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership which is designed to improve manufacturing efficiency. http://bit.ly/eYD4nf
He signed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act giving the federal government more tools to investigate and prosecute fraud in every corner of the financial system. It also created a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial fraud that led to the economic meltdown. http://abcn.ws/g18Fe7
Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, which was designed to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive credit card practices. http://1.usa.gov/gIaNcS
He increased infrastructure spending after years
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I'm not sure your traffic control people should be in the air, maybe they could be in a kind of tower high enough to at least see both ends of the asphalt strips. One problem is that the drivers of these flying cars might anthropomorphize the tower and start addressing it as "tower" when talking over a radio to the traffic control people in the tower. Another would be the difficulty in seeing the license plates on the flying cars, maybe bigger numbers could be painted on the sides of the vehicle toward the tail end.
No one needs a flying car, that's why it's still fantasy and these jag offs want you to pay for the next few years of high life for them.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
but the first controlled flight was built upon decades of trial; and error, and by 1000's of people.
In other words, the Wright Bros.* flew on the backs of giants. Just in case you wondered how they got off the ground and stayed afloat.
*Yeah; Wright Bros.' claim to first controlled flight is just as strong as their claim to first successful bike repair shop; don't let it detract you from the joke.
5 year old girls want a pony with sparkles - or maybe a unicorn, but they can't have one. Commuters want a flying car but they can't have one either.
Aircraft fly by moving a lot of air downward in order to counteract gravity. If they move less air quickly the total power the need goes up (force goes as mass/second * velocity, power goes as mass/second * velocity SQUARED). So, in order to be efficient they need to have very big wings, or very big helicopter rotors, or very big low density volumes.
Look at all conventional aircraft, they have BIG wings. Those wings will not fit on roads. So if you want a flying car you are left with a clunky folding wing contraption that is a terrible car AND a terrible airplane. No matter how pretty the CGI or fiberglass mock-up design it just isn't going to work.
Despite the fact that most flexible funding indiegogo projects are scams and unless you donate huge amounts of money you get nothing of value back?
If you're going to re-post someone else's extensive work, A) don't falsely suggest it's "a short list" when it's clearly an exhaustive list, and B) link to your source material so that the original author can get some recognition for their efforts, rather than implicitly claiming it as your own by not providing attribution.
Second, I never suggested he had failed to accomplish anything, though I can see why you might infer that from my post. To clarify, I was attacking the previous poster's notion that Obama was a "dreamer" of sufficient merit to be mentioned in the same breath with the Wright brothers and Woz. To me, that seems like a poor characterization, particularly given his recent track record (none of which is in your copypasta, since your post is outdated by a couple of years), most of which has demonstrated that he's simply more of the same as his predecessor.
"'In detail we aim to create an urban dual-mode, hybrid flight and electric drive motorized vehicle that fits into sustainable mobility."
Yeah, good luck with that.
Sorry, but I just can't see the feasibility of flying cars unless they're entirely autonomous. Getting a pilot's license is difficult for good reason, and is also part of why flying is so safe. I can't see how well it would work to teach everyone how to fly given that.
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"
geekoid is Rick Hamell reposting his own list, you insensitive clod!
No no no. Like I said, the computer does the actual steering (for non-rural usage).
Table-ized A.I.
When the material sciences are to the point where a lightweight container can sustain Earth atmospheric pressure from crushing down on it, we'll have a practical way to take off vertically without prompting your neighbours to invest in surface to air missiles when you crank the engine on one of these in the morning on your daily commute.
Except that the density of air is ~ 1.2kg/m^3, so to produce 100 kg of lift (average weight of an adult male American: 90kg) you'd need a balloon with a volume of 100/1.2 = 83.333.. m^3.
If your balloon is a sphere, the diameter should be 2 * (83.333 / (4*pi/3))^(1/3) = 5.42 meters. Google tells me that's about 18 feet.
I suppose it would be feasible for recreational activities. Commuting into a city? Don't think so.
More like a helicopter than an aeroplane? Nope. Airplanes are MUCH easier to fly than a helicopter; the average person cannot do this.
More like a large manned quadcopter. They are stable, and with some computer control, easily flyable.
Flying cars? No. Never ever ever will the FAA allow such a thing.
They already do. You just must build it yourself as a kit. There are videos out there of driving helicopter with stowable rotors and other such "flying cars" that are 100% legal. Now, making it legal to sell as a full aircraft is something different. and 3.1 million dollars wouldn't get them past some introductory flights.
Learn to love Alaska
And this is the issue with every single "flying car" prototype. The efficiency of a rotorcraft is determined by its disc loading. All of the VTOL "flying car" designs have a comparatively tiny disc area, and thus a ridiculous disc loading. With enough power you can make something like that, but in terms of engineering complexity, cost, and reliability it'll be far closer to a Harrier Jump Jet than it will to the Jetsons' car. That SkyTran thing seems pretty cool. Basically an autonomous pod transport system a la every sci-fi metropolis ever.
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
It may not produce many flying cars, but it may pay for a few rounds of drinks! And thankfully they use flexible funding, so they'll get their bar bill covered even if only four people have donated so far.
From the page:
"This campaign will receive all funds raised even if it does not reach its goal. Funding duration: March 31, 2014 - May 15, 2014 (11:59pm PT)."
So lets see... Indiegogo (because kickstarter doesn't allow vapourware projects) check! Flexible funding (so they can just runoff with whatever money people give without ever delivering anything) check! Zero actual photographs of anything real (and lots of impractical looking CG images) check!
How do you get from the strip of asphalt to where you want to end up? Taxis aren't really the most economical means to get from A to B, or the most convenient, apparently, for a lot of smaller airports.