Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends
apnews.com
The same Ohio river valley where the Wright brothers pioneered human flight will soon manufacture cutting-edge electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
  • Addition@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    491·
    10 months ago

    I’ll never understand the eternal hype around “flying cars”. Fuckers out here can hardly drive on a 2d road. Now you want to introduce a third axis on them?

    I guarantee that if the general public gets their hands on a real “flying car”, it’ll take about 2 weeks before some drunk idiot commits a mini 9/11.

    • Honytawk@lemmy.zipEnglish
      6·
      10 months ago

      The only way flying cars should ever get implemented is if they are 100% automatic.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        10 months ago

        • Create automatic taxi (impossible)

        • Create flying taxi (impossible)

        Okay, new plan!

        • Create automatic flying taxi (should be possible in the next 5-15 years)
        • pokemaster787@ani.socialEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          Not saying it’s a good idea, but a lot of the complexity surrounding automated driving is actually because you are confined to a 2D space and have to follow roads/road signs. When you can just lift off and adjust verticality to avoid objects all you really need is a way to detect and avoid obstacles and some navigation logic. Landing is probably the most difficult part to automate.

          Not super easy but it is actually easier than self-driving cars (which is why almost all of a commercial flight is running on autopilot)

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            10 months ago

            When you can just lift off and adjust verticality to avoid objects

            You need to navigate between objects on an additional access. Also, manage speed and trajectory with a changing mass, as you exhaust fuel.

            Not rocket science, but its close.

            it is actually easier than self-driving cars (which is why almost all of a commercial flight is running on autopilot)

            Commercial flight follows lanes of traffic with regular well-regulated flight paths.

            One thing that gets helicopters and small engine aircraft pilots in trouble is that they don’t have any of that.

      • Arthur Besse@lemmy.mlEnglish
        2·
        10 months ago

        The FAA mandates extensive training for anyone who wants to fly, regardless of the form of the aircraft.

        Apparently not if the mass and maximum speed are both low enough. The Jetson One (which has been taking preorders for at least a couple of years but still isn’t shipping) says it won’t require a license in the US.

        It looks pretty impractical, produces an obnoxious amount of wind during landing and takeoff, and has a range of only 30km, but, still… it or things like it probably will actually be a reality for some rich people pretty soon.

          • Who knew?@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            1·
            10 months ago

            & you are correct about airspace being regulated. Just because an ultralight doesn’t require a license doesn’t mean you can just fly it anywhere with no training on how to get airspace clearance either. I imagine they will eventually develop something like an automated version of the LAANC clearance process for drone pilots, but it will take a while to develop the regulations for sure, if they even get that far.