• bender@insaneutopia.com
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    1 year ago

    Joby’s production aircraft is designed to transport a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 miles (321.87 kilometers) per hour, with a maximum range of 100 miles (160.93 kilometers). I

    Back in my day we called these contraptions “helicopters”

    • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      And those were considered for use as “flying taxis” and they failed for the same reason these will: Flying and landing in cities is dangerous, which is why airports are built very far away.

      • Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        It’s also expensive as fuck.

        Even if you have electric flying helicopters, the rotary component makes them very expensive to maintain as blades and components need to be replaced sometimes every 500 hours or less and require constant safety checks and inspections.

        Imagine how many taxi cabs have a malfunction of some sort every year. Now imagine that taxi cab crashing into a building or crowded street if it had a malfunction instead of just cruising to a halt on the side of the road.

      • Alexstarfire@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        All the airports I can think of have people living near them. Several are inside major cities.

        Airports are quite large though.

        • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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          1 year ago

          These drone cars won’t be cheap either.

          Because it costs a lot more energy to keep something in the air and move it forward, than it is to move it forward on the road.