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On their way to your neighbourhood?
No, it’s not April 1st. When heavyweights such as Airbus start
putting serious money into projects, you’d better start taking
them seriously. Even Uber is getting in on the action,
releasing a 98-page white paper late last year outlining
its plans to bring “flying cars” to commuters by 2026.
AUTONOMO
FLYING CAR
Your Next Mode of Tran
I
f you’re a (relatively!) old dude
like me, you may remember the
regular stories in magazines like
Popular Mechanics and Popular Science in the 50s and 60s about some
backyard tinkerer who’d built a car
that could fly . . . or a plane that could
be driven on the highway.
Indeed, the concept featured on a
cover of Popular Science way back in
1926. (Remember the Model T Ford
was still being made in 1926 and first
powered flight was only made 23 years
earlier).
14 Silicon Chip
I’m not sure if many (any?) of those
flying cars were much more than
a thought bubble – certainly there
weren’t too many flying cars in our
skies or on our streets as the century
ticked over many decades later!
But given the rather sensational advances made in aircraft, electronics
and computing in very recent years, it
looks like at least some of those stories
might be coming true.
We’re not claiming this is an exhaustive list by any means – you can find
many more on line. But you’ll also find
that many of them (and perhaps even
some shown here) are nothing more
than “vapourware”.
Indeed, some are claimed to be typical internet scams, ready to separate
the gullible investor from their hardearned!
by Ross Tester
Some companies have even made
it through to prototypes and expect
The AeroMobil
siliconchip.com.au
“Mark my word:
A combination
airplane and
motorcar is
coming. You may
smile, but it will
come.”
Henry Ford, 1940.
Fortunately for pilot Stefan Klein, the AeroMobil was fitted with a safety parachute for its inaugural flight. Strangely enough (!), there is no mention of this
minor setback on the Slovak company’s website – they’re still saying you can
order one this year for 2019/20 delivery. The price: not finalised yet; all they are
saying is “several hundreds of thousand Euro”. If we take a guess at €500,000,
at current exchange rates that’s a bit over $AU700,000! (www.aeromobil.com)
OUS
RS –
nsport?
to start sales this year with delivery
in the next two or three years.
The photo above, the AeroMobil, is
real – AeroMobil have been developing the flying car since 1990, although
not always with 100% success – their
AeroMobil3 spectacularly crashed and
was written off on its maiden flight in
May, 2015 (see above right).
The co-owner of AeroMobil, Stefan
Klein, survived with the aid of the car’s
inbuilt safety parachute and suffered
only minor injuries. The craft itself
was not quite so fortunate.
siliconchip.com.au
The AeroMobil is not autonomous –
it requires a pilot, although at the moment that’s likely to be only an LSA
(light sport aircraft) licence.
Zee.Aero and Kitty Hawk
However, Larry Page (you may remember him as co-founder of Google)
has put together a company named
Zee.Aero, with reports of their prototype actually flying “after hours” at
their base at Hollister Municipal Airport, California, USA (long after other
users had left for the day).
Page’s dream is to have a plane/car
which is autonomous – driverless on
the road and pilotless in the air.
Along with putting in $100 million of his own money since it was
launched in 2010, Page has been incredibly secretive about his involvement with Zee.Aero and the company
itself – in fact, staff only refer to him
as GUS, the guy upstairs! (Page used
to live on the second floor until Zee.
Aero needed the space).
The only information on Zee.Aero’s
operations have come from other pilots
using Hollister Airport and very occasionally spotted (and sometimes even
photographed) a strange looking plane.
Page is also behind a second start-
up, Kitty Hawk (now where have we
heard that name before?) who are actually working on a competing design
to that of Zee.Aero.
Reports suggest that Zee.Aero and
Kitty Hawk are not only independent
of each other but Page makes sure staff
actively compete against each other!
Airbus/A3
Back to Airbus (yes, they of the
A380 etc) and their “Project Vahana.”
Actually, it’s more correct to say this
is being developed by A3, which is a
It’s not exactly a new concept, as this
cover from Popular Science, March
1926, clearly demonstrates: “Rides
both roads and air”, it says!
February 2017 15
Artist’s rendering of the all-electric, eight-rotor point-to-point VTOL aircraft from Airbus/A3 Project Vahana, with an
“inside view” inset above. It’s being thought of as next generation’s taxi . . .
Graphics: Project Vahana
division of Airbus, based in Silicon
Valley, California.
A3, like Uber and Zee.Aero, are all
working on VTOL (vertical take-off
and landing) aircraft, as distinct from
flying cars.
Their attitude is that you won’t need
to take to the highway if you can take
off and land in your own backyard (or
on your roof).
Whether that ever happens depends
a lot on the regulations governments
put in to control VTOL aircraft. And
as A3 freely admit, the regulatory aspects are “definitely something difficult to overcome.”
Despite this, A3 maintain they will
have the pilotless Vahana ready in
four years.
It’s an all-electric, single passenger
aircraft with eight rotors. It also has
lidar, radar and cameras, the same
technology currently being deployed
on self-driving cars.
Operating altitude will be around
300m and its range will be, according to A3, about the diameter of a city.
Instead of summoning a taxi (or
Uber), you’ll call for one of these. It
will already have its destination programmed in and once you’re on board,
it will take you straight there.
16 Silicon Chip
Uber’s plan
Uber’s 98-page “white paper” follows on from their
redefining taxi services
around the world – not to
mention their fleet of selfdriving cars currently being
trialled in Pittsburgh, PA.
Their vision takes this one
The Terrafugia “Transition”. With prototypes already flying, the company
claims an on-sale date around 2019. It has an 800km range and 320km/h top
speed. Estimated cost will be around $US120,000. They also claim autonomous
flying capability.
siliconchip.com.au
It’s claimed the Volocopter is much
simpler that flying a helicopter –
there’s no cyclic or collective, etc –
just a simple joystick to go up, down,
left, right, forward and backwards.
And triple redundant computers even
take over some of that for you!
Uber’s “Elevate” concept is to have a fleet of autonomous VTOL “taxis” which
will whisk you across town much faster than their Uber cars, at a not-toodissimilar cost. Destinations would be pre-programmed – you just get in and go!
While the first stage is to operate from several nearby bases, before too long it
could be door-to-door.
Graphic: Uber
step further with a network, called
“Elevate”, of fully autonomous, ondemand electric aircraft that will take
of and land vertically, thus requiring
no highways.
Uber’s concept is that within a decade, the Elevate network can have you
across a city in a fraction of the time
required for a highway-based trip,
Uber or not!
It doesn’t plan on making this dream
a reality in itself but bring together
governments and private individuals
who can solve the myriad of problems
that will undoubtedly have to be dealt
with before it can progress.
Terrafugia’s Transition
Terrafugia’s mission is to create
practical flying cars that enable a new
dimension of personal freedom. Terrafugia (www.terrafugia.com) (ter-raFOO-gee-ah) is derived from the Latin
for “Escape the Earth”.Their motto is
We’re Driven to Fly.
The company was founded by five
MIT graduates in 2006. Today, their
“Transition” is claimed to be the
world’s first practical flying car. Unlike some other soon-to-be-released
(?) flying cars, it will incorporate autonomous technology that will make
it safer than any other small aircraft
in the sky today.
Because of the autonomous flight capability, Terrafugia are hoping that the
Transition will be approved for flight
with only an operator’s certification,
as distinct from a full pilot’s licence.
This (and a huge number of other questions) are currently under negotiation
with US regulators.
They are hoping to have the Transition licensed as a Light Sport Aircraft
(LSA) which allows a lower level of
skill than a typical aircraft.
Terrafugia has already developed
and flown two full-scale prototypes
and has received all the legal approvals necessary to bring the Transition
to market in the USA.
It first flew in 2009 and was demonstrated at the Oshkosh Airventure
Show in 2013.
Terrafugia are also developing the
Terrafugia see their concept TF-X as
the future of personal transportation.
It will be a four-seat, 200 mph VTOL
craft that they claim will make flying
easier and safer than ever before.
Production is planned for 2023-2027,
assuming a number of legal pitfalls can
be overcome.
siliconchip.com.au
February 2017 17
Evolo claim that the Volocopter is
much easier and safer to fly than a helicopter – the pilot merely commands
direction via a joystick – and with 18
individual motors and rotors, it has
significantly higher levels of redundancy built in. Once flown to a position, it will stay there until commanded otherwise.
And to land, all the pilot needs to do
is hold down a button on the joystick
– once near the ground the Volocopter’s guidance system automatically
controls the craft until it lands gently.
The prototype VC200 was first flown
in November 2013. There are several
Youtube videos and visualisations
showing the craft in action (www.
youtube.com/user/volocopter).
I-TEC Maverick Paraglider
It’s not a toy; it’s not even a commercial model. This is a full-sized, two person
(pilot +1) 18-motor/rotor Volocopter, which had its maiden flight on April 6 last
year. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OazFiIhwAEs
TF-X, a more advanced plug-in hybrid electric flying car with VTOL capabilities and computer-controlled
flight. The are hoping to commence
production of the TF-X between 2023
and 2027 but there are many regulatory
hurdles to be overcome before then.
Evolo’s Volocopter
The next craft is definitely not a flying car but we list it for its interesting
features, including the level of autonomy built in.
Germany-based Evolo (www.evolo.
com – it’s in German but Google will
translate it) claim that their alreadyflying Volocopter is “the dawn of a
revolution in urban mobility”.
The VC200 Volocopter, seen above,
is an 18-motor/rotor design similar to
a very-much-oversized drone.
The difference is that the Volocopter
can take two people aloft, much like a
small helicopter. It weighs 450kg with
passengers and flies at speeds up to
100km/h. It can also be “folded” for
transportation and hangar needs.
In Germany, the prototype craft
([VVZ] D-MYVC) is licenced as an ultralight aircraft.
OK, so it’s not really a flying car –
but it can fly and it can drive on the
ground . . . just about any ground!
Actually developed by a missionary
organisation to allow transportation
into areas where they can’t drive, the
I-TEC Maverick was conceived as a
safe, easy-to-operate air and land craft
in an area “beyond roads”.
Florida-based I-TEC are not the first
to produce a paraglider but they are
amongst the first to mount an all-terrain road vehicle underneath!
The idea is simple: you drive as far
as you can then use the propellor and
parasail to push you along . . . and up!
The Maverick was said to be popular
with off-road enthusiasts, especially at
the bargain price (in 2012) of around
$US94,000 (www.mavericklsa.com). SC
Photo by Tory Townsend - http://itecusa.org/images/IMG_4806.JPG, CC
BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52493537
The I-TEC Maverick: a capable off-road buggy that also has a propeller and parasail to soar where obstacles (eg, a deep
river!) stop you driving. It is said to be very easy to learn (and a whole lot of fun!). Price (in 2012) was about $US94,000.
18 Silicon Chip
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