The tech behind a flying car, originally developed and successfully test-flown in Europe, has been bought by a Chinese firm
The tech behind a flying car, originally developed and successfully test-flown in Europe, has been bought by a Chinese firm
The Slovakian AirCar, built with a BMW engine and run on normal fuel, will now be made in China.
Powered by a BMW engine and normal fuel, the AirCar flew for 35 minutes between two Slovakian airports in 2021, using runways for take-off and landing.
It took just over two minutes to transform from a car into an aircraft.
Now vehicles made based on its design will be used within a "specific geographical region" of China.
Hebei Jianxin Flying Car Technology Company, headquartered in Cangzhou, has purchased exclusive rights to manufacture and use AirCar aircraft inside an undisclosed area.
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We've had viable "flying cars" since the 70s. We call them helicopters.
Unfortunately for the futurists, there is a major floor with flying cars, and that's the failure mode. If a car breaks down, it stops. If 2 cars crash, they come to a stop, generally in the road. If a helicopter breaks down, it will have a very bad time, even in the best case. If 2 helicopters crash, then both will almost certainly plummet to their doom, as well as risking those below them.
Because of this, the regulations are a lot stricter on flying cars. This makes them a lot less practical or economically viable. Any other variant will run into the same limitations.
Helicopters have been around for much longer than that, as early as 1906 apparently. The first mass produced helicopter was the Sikorsky R-4, introduced in 1943
Apparently the first passenger helicopter service was in 1950, so I was out by 20 years. It's a bit of a grey area when they switched from "weapon of war" to "flying taxi", but it would be somewhere around the 40s.
I still find it insane that the helicopter was invented only 20 years after the car.
Well DaVinci already toyed with the idea (which didn't work obviously), so the idea is much older. It's still impressive indeed how soon we got working helicopters
If 2 helicopters crash, then both will almost certainly plummet to their doom, as well as risking those below them.
So, it's about time to discuss mandatory wearing of helmets for everybody outside of a house.
Would be definitely at fault if killed by being hit from a flying car dropping out of the sky because he's wearing all black and no high-visibility jacket.