Flying Cars And Roadable Aircraft

[dan_inbox]

Gero Tailless convertible airplane and roadmobile project

From the SDASM archives, a set of pictures of the Gero Roadmobile, a tailless convertible airplane and roadmobile project by Adelard J Gero Jr.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/31098607464/in/photostream/
And G. Bishop identified a patent that seems relevant: https://www.google.com/patents/US2609167

The wings look rather worrying to me...

 

[dan_inbox]

Gero SkyCar VTOL roadmobile project

Another concept of his was the VTOL SkyCar.
Apparently the family is supposed to lay prone during the flight?

Even with the view of the fan, how this thing is supposed to take off without a nuke-sized source of energy escapes me...
To be fair, it looks more like concepts than anything that reached "project" status.

 

[dan_inbox]

Gero SkyCar and SkyBus

A diorama of the happy family's home,
Mr Gero with his creations, in hand and on the furniture.

 

[hesham]

Great find Dan.

 

[Arjen]

PAL-V to enter production:

RESERVE YOUR PAL-V

Contact our customer desk


The first PAL-V Liberty models on the market will be the limited Pioneer Edition. The Pioneer Edition marks the launch of the flying car era. Worldwide, only 90 vehicles of this edition will be sold. After the delivery of the Pioneer Edition models, PAL-V will start the delivery of the PAL-V Liberty Sports models. The PAL-V Liberty Pioneer Edition will be the very first certified commercial flying car ever delivered, a world premier.

PAL-V Liberty Pioneer Edition
Expected price:
€499.000,- / US$599,000,-
(excl. taxes, ex works)


PAL-V Liberty Sport

Expected basic price without option:
€299.000,- / US$399,000,-
(excl. taxes, ex works)

First deliveries second half of 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfMNtCPChxo

 

[steelpillow]

PAL-V to enter production:

RESERVE YOUR PAL-V

Hope the automatic stability system works. Taking that "sporty" little three-wheeler into a corner too fast will be a wild experience - shades of Clarkson's Reliant Robin episode.

Which brings me on to a concern about flying cars and highly-automated personal air vehicles in general. The kind of small bump which an auto enthusiast covers with duct tape or filler would render its flying equivalent unsafe and all too likely to part company with the broken bit and crash out of the sky onto the traffic jam below. Who is going to police the owners and make sure they carry out adequate preflight inspections?

 

[Arjen]

Hope the automatic stability system works. Taking that "sporty" little three-wheeler into a corner too fast will be a wild experience - shades of Clarkson's Reliant Robin episode.

On the road, it leans into corners like a motorbike. Richard Hammond drove the three-wheeled Carver with a similar leaning mechanism, very much enjoying the ride. JC liked it too. With the Carver, the entire engine-carrying rear swivels, the PAL-V uses electronically controlled rear suspension struts to achieve leaning into corners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK4wzBYmTIo

Which brings me on to a concern about flying cars and highly-automated personal air vehicles in general. The kind of small bump which an auto enthusiast covers with duct tape or filler would render its flying equivalent unsafe and all too likely to part company with the broken bit and crash out of the sky onto the traffic jam below. Who is going to police the owners and make sure they carry out adequate preflight inspections?

Airworthiness Review Certificate.

 

[steelpillow]

Leaning into corners sounds cool.

An ARC is more like the annual MoT we get in the UK.
I'm thinking of the casual bump in a parking lot or similar that damages the flight gear, say starts a crack in a rotor blade. Parking lots are much rougher environments than hangars or airport aprons.
No good waiting for the annual ARC in that situation, a thorough preflight is more essential than ever.

 

[royabulgaf]

very pretty. Delivery in less than two years, huh? Has any prototype actually, like flown? Driven on the road? Qualified as a motor vehicle in the US or EU?

 

[Arjen]

A prototype has been driven on a public road, and flown, as can be seen in the youtube-clip. I don't know about certification.

 

[Motocar]

Unfortunately the new Airbus Pop.Up link is not available



"Not Found

The requested URL /forum/index.php topic, 28597.0.html was not found on this server !.

 

[Grey Havoc]

https://phys.org/news/2017-04-cars-french-riviera.html

 

[Grey Havoc]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-tokyo-flying-car-idUSKBN18U0E3

 

[hesham]

Hi,

here is a Ford Levacar,was it a real design ?.

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/ford-mach-i-levacar-on-display-at-the-ford-rotunda-in-news-photo/108341070#ford-mach-i-levacar-on-display-at-the-ford-rotunda-in-dearborn-1959-picture-id108341070

 

[Arjen]

Real, but impractical.
AMT made a 1/20th scale model of it in 1961. The Fantastic Plastic site has this to say about the Levacar:

Ford Motor Co.'s Levacar Mach I appeared in the Ford Rotunda in spring 1959. A full-sized prototype, this was an one-man "flying car" that was "levitated" several inches off the ground by three powerful air jets located on the bottom of its chassis. Planned to be powered by a small-scale turbojet engine, the Levacar was purportedly designed to reach a top speed of nearly 500 mph! The only question was: How do you steer the damned thing???

Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands once found himself inside the vehicle. Not sure he was particularly happy about it, as it only ever ran on a small circular track.
This is neither a flying car, nor a roadable aircraft. It's a hovercraft.

 

[hesham]

Thank you my dear Arjen.

 

[hesham]

The Aeromobile flying car;

http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/future-tech/flying-car-takes-to-the-skies-11363940471498

 

[Grey Havoc]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/race-turn-flying-car-reality-034228415.html

 

[lastdingo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7nJKlRXxQ4

 

[Motocar]

This link takes us to see part of the projects of Flying cars ...! Interesting the Boeing proposal of 1980 ...!
https://futurism.com/the-11-photos-that-show-the-past-present-and-future-of-flying-cars/

 

[Motocar]

Comment: Something to restate when cataloging flying cars is to make the distinction between motorcycles and cars according to the laws of some countries are classified as "Motorcycles" those vehicles with a maximum of three wheels and "Automobiles" which have four wheels on, That said we can talk about flying motorcycles that only have up to 3 wheels and flying cars with 4 wheels or more. Clarified the concepts we observed (and always according to the legislation of each country in the automotive subject matter) that many of the designs here exposed are actually "Flying Motorcycles" and few "Flying Cars" proper have been conceptualized, projected and constructed . Although the subject continues being extremely interesting because of the difficult and the chimera that represents the dream of the "Auto Volador" although each day closer with the arrival of the electrical technology and all the electronic available to improve the qualities of flight and navigation of the same ones , Taking technologies such as GPS, Drones, flight by wire and many others available to the most daring designers who pursue the dream of "Auto / Motorcycle Flying"

Success

 

[Motocar]

Palette Trautmann Roadair, flying car project 1959

 

[Motocar]

I request your help, some friend of the subject will have the date of the publication in Popular Mechanics of 1959 of the article on the aircar of Mr. Trautman "Roadair"

Thank you in advance, Motocar

 

[richard B]

https://books.google.fr/books?id=0tsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA116&dq=roadair&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLjOvm7prVAhUBXRoKHd1VDD4Q6AEILjAC#v=onepage&q=roadair&f=false

 

[Motocar]

Now complete the Trautman Roadair pallet

 

[Motocar]

Thanks richad B for the link, Popular Mechanics December 1961 pag. 116

 

[hesham]

Thanks richad B for the link, Popular Mechanics December 1961 pag. 116

Very cool,thanks.

 

[hesham]

From JAWA 1963,Mr./ Halsmer.

 

[RAP]

Aviation Week 1959

 

[Motocar]

Cutaway Aerocar author L. Ashwell Wood an publishe in the magazine An Eagle Cutaway Drawing shared Flickr: ausdew

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ausdew/page3

 

[hesham]

From my dear Tophe,

Mr. Troalen patent.

 

[Grey Havoc]

ORIGINAL CAPTION: The EVTOL could carry four to five passengers for 500 miles, Rolls-Royce says

Rolls-Royce develops propulsion system for flying taxi (BBC News)​

 

[RAP]

Ad for a flying car by a ball bearing company. They called it The Flying Roadable, not sure who was going to build it but no matter, it would have FAFNIR ball bearings in it. Looks like side vision would be a problem with the wings folded up against the side of the car. From Aviation Week 11/6/44.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Ad for a flying car by a ball bearing company. They called it The Flying Roadable,

Pitch control would have been fun.

 

[steelpillow]

Pitch control would have been fun.

You would have to fit lock-down safety bars to the seats like they do on the rides at Alton Towers, to stop the kids jumping about and upsetting the trim.
The noise from the engine and prop would pretty much drown their yelling, too.
Why do I get the feeling that Fafnir's advertising chief was a family man?

 

[hesham]

Ad for a flying car by a ball bearing company. They called it The Flying Roadable, not sure who was going to build it but no matter, it would have FAFNIR ball bearings in it. Looks like side vision would be a problem with the wings folded up against the side of the car. From Aviation Week 11/6/44.

I opened a topic for it before;

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,26610.msg272418.html#msg272418

 

[RAP]

Sorry about that Hesham, I thought I searched this one out before posting but missed your thread. The high speed passenger plane is awesome. Mods feel free to delete this thread or combine with the original by Hesham.

 

[Jemiba]

Mods feel free to delete this thread or combine with the original by Hesham.

Nope. hesham is right in so far, as that type was posted here before, but without designation,
it's not easy to find such a picture, posted at one go in one post with others.
Now it's locatable here and with heshams link, the additional picture, too.

 

[hesham]

Never mind dear RAP

and thank you my dear Jemiba.

 

[Grey Havoc]

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/18/08/24/1935238/japan-wants-to-bring-flying-cars-to-its-skies
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-24/uber-airbus-are-said-to-be-enlisted-in-japan-s-flying-car-plan