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Originally Posted by freebeard
Although it exhibits a distinct lack of road wheels  |
I think the word "car" in Aircar is like the word "bus" in Airbus, it's just meant to denote private verses public transportation, in a VTOL craft this time.
I'm not a fan of it, I think such a craft needs 3 to 4 points of lift not two, and gimbal fans are always a good idea.
If you regard a helicopter main rotor as a single gimbal that would be a mistake, the control of it is much more complex, and hovercraft are a different animal.
https://www.popsci.com/military-avia...ercraft#page-4
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In 1959, William Bertelsen became the unlikely star of a national science magazine.
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So the above is not "aerodynamic?
It uses air to reduce friction and therefore is more fuel efficient than a boat going though water 100 times denser than air. If aerodynamics is all about making a craft more fuel efficient and or faster with the less HP, then this is the ultimate machine. Airboats cannot touch a hovercraft in the efficiency category although modern slippery plastics can narrow things up a bit under the right conditions.
Air is a good lubricant, just saying.
Oh, and don't go trying to replicate that illustration above, a hovercraft would just slide down the crown in the road and aim you into the curb, or a tree or a parked car.