What is Digg?105 Comments
- Pelenclerk, on 12/19/2007, -1/+35Duke Nukem? Flying Cars?
2008 will be the year that promises all the things we expected by 1998! - Claw787, on 12/19/2007, -0/+27Dr. Paul Moller and Gino d’Ignazio Gizio seem to be very good at 3D Studio Max.
- RogerStrong, on 12/19/2007, -1/+26>> Well, uhm, it's actually both.
Well, uhm, it's actually neither.
The artwork shows a vehicle that isn't remotely street-legal when it's on the ground. And that's all it is; artwork. - theshizzler, on 12/19/2007, -1/+24bah...I've been hearing about these prototype flying cars since the early 90's.
- Shiftgood, on 12/19/2007, -3/+25Jesus christ, drivers are bad enough in 2d as it is. I cant imagine an old asian lady behind th wheel of one of these. I wouldnt even be able to fall asleep at night, id hafta build a lead roof.
- Tyrghast, on 12/19/2007, -0/+18this was featured in popular science oh say about 15 years ago! seriously people, not a new concept car
- heavystone, on 12/19/2007, -0/+15AGAIN? I have been hearing about this car ever since Discovery Channel showed it back in 1994 (ish)....no joke. Same look and color even....wtf?
- LOCK3D, on 12/19/2007, -0/+10I saw a show where they had a prototype of one these, very similar to that concept art and had it hovering a few feet off the ground, but it was highly unstable, would burn a ton of fuel and if any of the four engines failed it would spell instant death. These would not be street legal. You would need a pilot's license. Likelihood of ever seeing one of these in your neighbor's driveway, nil
- RogerStrong, on 12/19/2007, -0/+9It's artwork, nothing more.
- witcompe, on 12/19/2007, -1/+8As an Air Traffic Manager/Controller I agree with this statement. There is no way in with current technology to allow for flying cars. The airspace sub 10,000 feet is crowded enough around cities with current traffic. Add private vehicles to the mix and it would degenerate to chaos. Working at Boston I see my fair share of bad and aggressive driving, can you imagine bad driving a few thousand feet up? A simple finder bender could result in a life threatening fall from the sky.
The only way to make a successful flying automobile would be to make it completely hands off driving. That way highways can be programmed into the sky to keep flying cars away from airports and keep the cars from running into each other. Until technology allows for completely hands off driving in three dimensions, flying cars will not be feasible. - DrThunder, on 12/19/2007, -1/+7This thing is a scam. This Dr. Paul Moller has been collect venture capital for this thing for like 15 years. I saw it on a show on the Discovery channel like a decade ago and he was saying it would be working a couple years later. Some how he gets coverage for his so called flying car for years and it is just as big scam. It can barely hover and is no where close to flying. And it only has like a hour or less in fuel. Can people please stop giving this moron publicity.
- entrophize, on 12/19/2007, -2/+8Give me a break.
Since the #$($*# 1900's we've been dreaming this kind of kooky crap up but the truth is that it's just not feasible.
If you think air traffic control has a hard time juggling hundreds of commercial flights at any given time, just imagine the monumental headache of clearing fly zones for MILLIONS of 'cars' driven by complete idiots. It'd be a disaster.
Flying cars are not in our future, people. Give it up. - spawnfree, on 12/19/2007, -0/+6flying cars will be the greatest population control system ever.
- Ripple, on 12/19/2007, -0/+5I'm reiterating some previous comments here, but I first learned about Moller from a picture in my technology text book in 8th grade -- and that was 1992. I'll concede that Moller's concept seems plausible, if quite challenging from an infrastructure point of view. I've been checking that website a few times a year for the past ten years, and they have made virtually no meaningful progress. From the Moller website, it appears Dr. Moller has become a life-extension enthusiast (ala Kurzweil); I can only imagine that it's because he fears he'll run out of time before he ever gets to fly in one of his skycars. At the rate things have been progressing with the skycar, Dr. Moller had better eat alot of almond butter. Nevertheless, I sincerely hope Moller will prove wrong my doubts about this thing ever getting further than 20 feet off the ground.
- Wuss, on 12/19/2007, -0/+5This thing is a JOKE (not literally, figuratively.. maybe literally?).
I specifically remember seeing this on TV back in the early 90's, and the guy promised full production by 1997. We systematically see press releases's for this stupid "Flying car" once every couple years, and e Lvery single press release, they're no closer to real production then when they first announced it almost 20 years ago.
They can't even get the thing to hover safely without having to use tethers and/or a professional test pilot.
And FYI, even if it did work, its not a "flying Car", its just a hovering plane. It's no more a flying car then a helicopter is. Just because things can move on land with a set of wheels doesn't make it a car. Last time I checked, cars dont use 4 jet turbines for propulsion. - RogerStrong, on 12/19/2007, -1/+6A short tethered hover only. You could weld ducted fans to an AMC Pacer and make it fly the same way.
- SillyRabbits, on 12/19/2007, -1/+5This vehicle is the definition of vaporware and has been for 20+ years. I hear you get a pre-order copy of DNF with your down payment.
- inactive, on 12/19/2007, -0/+4VAPORWARE
- weeeezzll, on 12/19/2007, -0/+4Yea, and this particular design has been touted at least as long, if not longer....
Buried - echo1, on 12/19/2007, -0/+4i've been paying attention to Moller's website for over a decade, and every time they make progress something changes and they are months away from where they were. he's put a lot of money into this but it never stays consistent
- BufordT, on 12/19/2007, -0/+3Dugg for not being another Popular Mechanics flying car article. Sometimes I swear that magazine is as baseless in their predictions as was the Weekly Reader magazine we read in elementary school.
- nem0, on 12/19/2007, -0/+3I'd like one that folds up into a briefcase ... ruh roh
- Ndiggnation, on 12/19/2007, -0/+3With the skill of the average driver on the roads, do we really need oblivious, cell phone talking, lane weaving, brake riding people flying through the skies near other drivers? :) We all want flying cars, but everyone I know with a pilot's license expresses this concern..
- bagboyrebel, on 12/19/2007, -0/+3"Give it up."
Many advancements in science were made by people who would ignore that advice. - HaSatan, on 12/19/2007, -0/+3omfg Moller, give it a break already.
- blatantninja, on 12/19/2007, -0/+3I saw a demonstration online of this thing taking off and landing (didn't fly too far). The biggest from besides noise (it's loud as hell), is that it makes Hummers look like a model of fuel efficiency.
- subterfuge, on 12/19/2007, -2/+5lead roof? that would be a bad idea because
1. lead is softl
2. lead is heavy - pinchduck, on 12/19/2007, -0/+2That visual has me laughing. If only you could find a Pacer!
- Lazrath, on 12/19/2007, -0/+2another real flying car;
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1p2nr_jesse-jame ... - GangsterCompute, on 12/19/2007, -0/+2www.moller.com
Has had video of flight tests for a while, specs, pricing models, and pictures as well. - SillyRabbits, on 12/19/2007, -0/+2Amen! It's not like he's just a bit shady. Moller has been charged by the SEC for fraud and eventually settled with them. Why do people even listen to him anymore.
- sparkmonkeyz, on 12/20/2007, -0/+2no, thats a broken link
- Veritate, on 12/19/2007, -0/+2Flying cars aren't that outlandish an idea. Consider ultralights -- safe and can be learned in a few hours. The challenges are mostly engineering, I think.
- Puppetx, on 12/19/2007, -1/+3I agree the article tries to call them photos (which they are not). I'm going to bury for being deceptive.
- sharkd, on 12/19/2007, -0/+2Quick! Get Avery Brooks on the phone -- the poor guy's been waiting 7 years for this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrFgRAcr0jg - bloodstain, on 12/19/2007, -0/+2Fuel saving flying car. What multi-national is going to want to invest in that? I hope we get flying cars someday but I don't think our overlords would want that for us.
- Chakat, on 12/19/2007, -0/+2The tether is for fraud purposes. Certainly by now he's found some investor willing to invest the money in buying one car so that he could do an untethered flight.
- andyd273, on 12/19/2007, -0/+2Oh please don't get my hopes up again.
First it was Moller, and I was so excited, and now its 10 years later and still I wait.
Oh flying car, I don't know how many more of these let downs I can take. - Motodog, on 12/19/2007, -0/+2Totally Gimped!
- RaiderWolf, on 12/19/2007, -1/+3This is so old and not worthy of being dugg. But if it were real; how many women and children will they kill from falling out of the sky after an accident before someone decides they should take these off the market?
- fotbr, on 12/19/2007, -0/+2Its the only texture he (Moller) has to apply to his only 3dmax (or program of your choice) model that he uses to trot out "new" images to get more publicity and money.
- Tiak, on 12/23/2007, -0/+1I believe you're thinking of the Moller Skycar M400, which happens to look practically identical and has a very similar name. This one just recently got published and is too new to be vaporware.
- Tiak, on 12/23/2007, -0/+1Different vehicle, different fake pictures, same idea.
- jkarhu24, on 12/20/2007, -0/+1What do you think emergency airlifts are?
- KaJuN4, on 12/20/2007, -0/+1Small airplanes are often not equipped with wipers. The airflow simply pushes the water away. I've flown in several during rain and the visibility out the front was better than a lot of cars I've been in even with their wipers going at full speed.
- pyabo, on 12/20/2007, -2/+3This is like a Digg intelligence test. If you dig this article, YOU ARE AN IDIOT.
- chingy1788, on 12/19/2007, -0/+1Titanium a titanium roof, reinforced with steel and other strong metals
- KaJuN4, on 12/20/2007, -0/+1The flying car was cool when I was 8. What's sad is that the renderings look even worse now than they did 13 years ago.
- inactive, on 12/21/2007, -0/+1Can you imagine just how ridiculously noisy this thing would be?
Plus it has never flown off a tether.
We will have to wait for anti-gravity I'm afraid..... - witcompe, on 12/19/2007, -1/+2Actually that system in NO WAY automates ATC. While the system does allow air traffic to space themselves accordingly, it does not facilitate for environmental changes. There is way more to air traffic management than aircraft spacing, taking off and landing. Weather will change what runways at an airport are in operation, you need air traffic controllers to vector the aircraft already in the air to the new headings. Air traffic volume will create situations where aircraft will have to be spaced a little closer than normal (while maintaining safe limits). Fact is, the technology to completely automate ATC does not exist. Automation will have to adapt to new conditions and learn what works best in certain kinds of weather and volume situations. You say my job is here because of protectionism and lobbyist; I say my job is here because the technology does not exist.
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