The Flying Cars

A flying car is a type of personal air vehicle that provides door-to-door transportation by both road and air. many prototypes have been built since the first years of the twentieth century, but production status has still yet to be reached.flying cars are very much a reality, and every day we get another step closer to full-scale adoption and application of this technology. That may come as a surprise to some,there’s a lot of misinformation out there. That’s why, in this post, I’m going to provide a working definition of what flying cars actually are and an explanation of how they cleverly make use of features from helicopters and airplanes.

FLYING CARS: 

                           “A flying car is a hybrid vehicle that combines fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft capabilities.”

Another way to understand this, is to think of a flying car as being part helicopter, and part airplane.

This is essentially a “mechanical” definition, but there is more to the flying car story than just mechanics. Software development in the field of autonomous systems is a crucial component in making these vehicles not just an interesting research project, but also an appealing business solution for transportation needs. In short, combined wing capabilities make flying cars possible, and autonomy makes them viable.

How Flying Cars Will Work:

                                                  Wouldn't it be great to be able to pack a few bags, grab your friends and fly anywhere in the world in your own personal jet anytime you want? The folks behind start-up "Terrafugia" hope to make your dreams come true by 2009 or 2010. Well, sort of. Change the dream to 'friend' and imagine the flight plan being somewhat limited.

The Terrafugia team is currently working on a personal air vehicle (known as the "Transition") that pretty much looks like an SUV with retractable wings. The Transition won't be able to whisk you off on a non-stop flight to any destination, but you will be able to get as far as 500 miles in one "jump." And, amazingly, the designers hope it will do it on a single tank of premium unleaded gas. Oh, and don't worry about having to rent a car once you reach your getaway -- as hinted at in its name, the Transition gets decent mileage on the road, too! (Planned vehicle specs: In flight, the Transition will fly up to 120 miles per hour and get 30 mpg. On the highway, it will get 40 mpg and around town, it will get 30 mpg.)

A full-size prototype is planned, but for now the designers are working with a one-fifth scale model in the wind tunnel and relying on computer simulations for development

History Of Flying Cars: 

                                          Just a decade and a half after the Wright Brothers took off in their airplane over the plains of Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903, other pioneering men began chasing the dream of a flying car. There was even one attempt in the 18th century to develop a gliding horse cart, which, to no great surprise, failed. There are nearly 80 patents on file at the United States Patent and Trademark Office for various kinds of flying cars. Some of these have actually flown. Most have not. And all have come up short of reaching the goal of the mass-produced flying car. Here's a look back at a few of the flying cars that distinguished themselves from the pack:

Curtiss Autoplane - In 1917, Glenn Curtiss, who could be called the father of the flying car, unveiled the first attempt at such a vehicle. His aluminum Autoplane sported three wings that spanned 40 feet (12.2 meters). The car's motor drove a four-bladed propeller at the rear of the car. The Autoplane never truly flew, but it did manage a few short hops.

Arrowbile - Developed by Waldo Waterman in 1937, the Arrowbile was a hybrid Studebaker-aircraft. Like the Autoplane, it too had a propeller attached to the rear of the vehicle. The three-wheeled car was powered by a typical 100-horsepower Studebaker engine. The wings detached for storage. A lack of funding killed the project.

Airphibian - Robert Fulton, who was a distant relative of the steam engine inventor, developed the Airphibian in 1946. Instead of adapting a car for flying, Fulton adapted a plane for the road. The wings and tail section of the plane could be removed to accommodate road travel, and the propeller could be stored inside the plane's fuselage. It took only five minutes to convert the plane into a car. The Airphibian was the first flying car to be certified by the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the predecessor of the the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It had a 150-horsepower, six-cylinder engine and could fly 120 miles per hour and drive at 50 mph. Despite his success, Fulton couldn't find a reliable financial backer for the Airphibian.

ConvAirCar - In the 1940s, Consolidated-Vultee developed a two-door sedan equipped with a detachable airplane unit. The ConvAirCar debuted in 1947, and offered one hour of flight and a gas mileage of 45 miles (72 kilometers) per gallon. Plans to market the car ended when it crashed on its third flight.

Avrocar - The first flying car designed for military use was the Avrocar, developed in a joint effort between Canadian and British military. The flying-saucer-like vehicle was supposed to be a lightweight air carrier that would move troops to the battlefield.

Aerocar - Inspired by the Airphibian and Robert Fulton, whom he had met years before, Moulton "Molt" Taylor created perhaps the most well-known and most successful flying car to date.

The Aerocar was designed to drive, fly and then drive again without interruption. Taylor covered his car with a fiberglass shell. A 10-foot-long (3-meter) drive shaft connected the engine to a pusher propeller. It cruised at 120 mph (193 kph) in the air and was the second and last roadable aircraft to receive FAA approval. In 1970, Ford Motor Co. even considered marketing the vehicle, but the decade's oil crisis dashed those plans.

These pioneers never managed to develop a viable flying car, and some even died testing their inventions. However, they proved that a car could be built to fly, and inspired a new group of roadable aircraft enthusiasts. With advances in lightweight material, computer modeling and computer-controlled aircraft, the dream is very close to becoming reality. In the next section, we will look at the flying cars being developed today that eventually could be in our garages.

But finally the dream of a flying cars is going to be real there has a company who design a car which can fly

AeroMobil: Flying Car

AeroMobil is an exceptional vehicle. It‘s a real flying car, with all that a car and an aeroplane have to offer. Because of its true flexibility, you have a choice: road or air. The choice is ultimately up to you, but, whether you choose to be aerial or earthbound, AeroMobil will always turn heads.The inspiration for the AeroMobil design was a perfectly aerodynamic teardrop shape. Like petals opening, the wings gradually separate, as does the retractable landing gear and entrance for the crew.

 Theexterior is highly aerodynamic, with strict attention paid to safety and control both in the air and on the ground. This focus on safety, however, has not stopped the design and engineering team from developing a unique design, with elegant proportions and a refined appearance.

AeroMobil’s exterior is a real technological showcase, utilisiflash the latest in carbon composite construction to deliver aerodynamic performance combined with automotive strength.

Advancedoptimisation and analysis techniques have delivered a vehicle that, when airborne, demonstrates stability and predictability, and which has a flight envelope that is comparable with existing standards in the field of general aviation.

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