Sport Pilot Talk

You may recall the Terrafugia Transition, which got off the ground and managed to land deeply in debt. Well, here we go again!
https://www.terrafugia.com/tf-x/
This time, VTOL, electric engines and computer-assisted controls. Just Beam Me Up, Scotty!

The idea of a roadable aircraft, whether a fixed wing or rotary, is a fine idea in theory, but I can't imagine one being used in real life, unless the "garage" it is kept in is a very short, very protected drive away. Who would take one into real traffic or park one at the local Safeway to pop in for groceries? Who would insure the thing? A small ding that would be annoying on a regular car could render the aircraft unairworthy. Who would risk that?

Great idea, though.

As much as I hate to say it in some ways, the Icon makes way more sense than the "flying car" attempts. Unless you can find one that can go VTOL (like the one in Back to the Future!!), I don't see much going for them for the reasons indicated. Hmmm... I wonder how long it would take to get a Mr. Fusion engine certified under the new consensus Part 23 standards???

Cheers

MackAttack wrote:As much as I hate to say it in some ways, the Icon makes way more sense than the "flying car" attempts. Unless you can find one that can go VTOL (like the one in Back to the Future!!), I don't see much going for them for the reasons indicated. Hmmm... I wonder how long it would take to get a Mr. Fusion engine certified under the new consensus Part 23 standards???

Cheers

Probably quite some time for certification, especially since engines are not certified under part 23.

This will be discussed in my upcoming "Where's My Flying Car?" EAA webinar Wednesday night. Register at eaa.org/webinars.

The concept of the flying car will be leap-frogged by the human carrying drones in development.

drseti wrote:This will be discussed in my upcoming "Where's My Flying Car?" EAA webinar Wednesday night. Register at eaa.org/webinars.

Cool! So as not to seem overly sarcastic, they just might pull it off. But I'll hold on to my money until I see it. A European company has done it as a 3-wheeled motorcycle (dodges emission and safety standards applied to cars) and gyrocopter. Pretty costly, as I understand.

That (and several other designs) are touched on in my webinar. Tune in tomorrow night!