Despite centuries of promise, flying cars remain largely
confined to films and fiction. But a host of new projects hope to finally let
them fly. Blade Runner, Back To The Future, The Fifth Element - Science fiction classics
that all have one thing in common: flying cars. Whether it’s gliding taxi cabs or hovering DeLoreans, Hollywood has embraced the idea of a vehicle
that is as happy on the motorway as it is in the clouds. But away from the
silver screen, this science fiction staple has failed to take off.
Over the years, there have been ambitious and attempts – such as the Taylor
Aerocar - but few would agree that the designs are in any way practical or
user-friendly. But the ever increasing number of cars on the roads means that a vehicle that
can soar into the skies remains an attractive option. “We need to try to
relive congestion on our road, and one potential solution is an aerial vehicle”
says Dr Michael Jump, a lecturer in aerospace at Liverpool
University in the UK. He is behind one of a clutch of firms and projects that aim to ensure the
flying car doesn’t remain grounded for another century.
One of the most high-profile attempts is the Transition, an aircraft that can
fold its wings, allowing it to also operate as a street-legal road vehicle.
Terrafugia, the company behind the machine, see owners driving their car to an
airport where the wings can be deployed for take-off. Once in the air, the
vehicle has a range of 740 km (460 miles) on a single tank of regular unleaded
fuel and, can carry two people plus luggage. The machine, which had its first successful test flight earlier this year, will
cost around $300,000 and is scheduled for release in 2012. Wanabee pilots will
only need to have completed 20 hours of observed flying time to take to the
skies.
Hot on its contrails is the PAL-V (personal air and land vehicle), which looks
more like a mini-helicopter than plane. The machine, developed by a Dutch firm,
is actually an autogyro, with a propeller at the rear to provide forward thrust
and a free-spinning rotor to give it lift. On the ground, it operates more like
a streamlined tricycle that is able to lean into corners at high speeds. It has a similar range (560km/350 miles) and speed to the Transition
(110mph/180 km/h) and is also expected to cost around $300,000. The firm is
still looking for investment to help with what it calls “the birth of a new
class of vehicles”.
‘Tomorrow’s reality’
While projects like the Transition and PAL-V aim to slot
into our current transport systems, a EU-funded project called myCopter is
pushing for a complete rethink. Rather than driving a car that is compromised
by a requirement to fly, or flying a vehicle that is compromised by needing to
drive like a car, Dr Jump's team is looking to a future where we whizz to work
in Personal Aerial Vehicles (PAVs) with dedicated highways in the sky. “
This project is looking at how the air transport industry might change over
the next 150 years,” says Dr Michael Jump, a lecturer in aerospace at Liverpool University. It has already identified a number of key problems that need to be solved to
make personal air transport a success.
First, is the design of the craft. The team wanted to design something
that had the “familiarity of a car”. But other than that, says Dr Jump, “all
bets are off”. Some of the design proposals for the exterior of myCopter show a suitably
futuristic looking vehicle, that would not look out of place in George Jetson’s
garage. The system is a hybrid of a light aircraft and helicopter. It has
three helicopter type rotors, but they are embedded within the large triangular
wing that makes up the top surface of the aircraft, one on each side, and one
on at the back. These embedded rotors are known as ducted fans, which can create
greater thrust at higher safety, albeit with less efficiency.
“
We have gone for something that is capable of vertical
lift, rather than having to drive to your local airfield, and requiring a
runway,” says Dr Jump. “
Vertical lift generally means rotors of some kind. We don’t
believe the future is us all flying around in helicopters. You don’t really
want lots of whirling rotors flying in your suburbs, so that really drives you
to ducted fans.”
The team also want to reduce the level of skill required to operate an aircraft
- the goal being a “highway in the sky”, where an individual is able to fly
from point to point with the ease of driving an automobile. “Imagine getting in
with your iPad, and plugging it in and just telling it where to go and away you
go,” says Dr Jump.
The team believes this will require “an effective human machine interface” to
allow people to easily control the vehicle. A simulator set up at the lab in Liverpool with just two levers shows the level of
simplicity they are aiming for. One controls altitude, or up-and-down,
and another controls direction. “
If you can remember left and right
that’s all you need to know,” Mark White, flight simulation laboratory manager
of myCopter, recently told Discovery on the BBC World Service. The team are
currently recruiting for a group of novice ‘pilots’ to test their design.
However, they will not be flying on their own. The team intends to draw on
drone technology to automate as much of the flying as possible. Current
fly-by-wire technology, as well as some of the features being used in the
development of autonomous or robotic vehicles could all help fleets of these
vehicles fly along predefined highways – and crucially avoid each other. But perhaps the biggest problem the team aim to tackle are the regulatory and
safety issues, as well as those of public opinion. “
The technology is the
easiest bit,” says Dr Jump.
Introducing flying cars raises a number of issues, many of which have probably
already run through your mind. Who will govern where they fly? Will they
interfere with planes? What will stop a drunk driver (flier?) crashing into my
house? “
People get very annoyed by motorways at the bottom of their garden, what they
will feel about motorways above their house?” he asks. The team has until 2014 to answer that question. Then, could we finally begin
to see the rise of the flying car?
When pressed about a likely launch date, the project scientists are reluctant
to commit but have no doubts that it will come to pass. “
We are trying to apply rational scientific engineering approach to this
problem,” says Dr Jump. “
What sounds strange and wonderful today can very often
become tomorrow’s reality.”
Source : http://www.nexpected.com
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