Intercity-flying/driving commuting coming in reality

[freebeard]

At Permalink #3 [above] I pointed toward Burnelli. Now I will add Bartini:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD7xiWWs-bs

The 5000-ton flying aircraft carrier wouldn't have had retractable wings, though.

Here it is today:


fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartini_Beriev_VVA-14

The wings aren't retracted so much as laying on the ground.

[freebeard]

Concept – Advanced Aerodynamic Vessels


Here's another one. It could be an airship, or have four retractable wings.

It would also have been semi-on-topic for the [Closed] Why Don't Cars Have Aerofoils thread.

[some_other_dave]

Originally Posted by freebeard

At Permalink #3 [above] I pointed toward Burnelli. Now I will add Bartini...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartini_Beriev_VVA-14

The English version might be a bit better; it's a rather longer article and most of the discussion on this board is in English anyway.

That's what I would call a "convertible ekranoplan". Built like the "Caspian Sea Monster" to move quickly with its wings in ground effect (the Russians call those vehicles "Ekranoplans"), but also capable of flying with its wings in free air.

That's funky!!

-soD

[Piotrsko]

Not a lot of tall stuff to hit in Siberia taller than a tree. Since ground effect is typically 1.5 times wingspan just fly over it temporarily so yup it does need to actually free air fly. They do the ground effect because it's much more efficient and have nothing of importance to fly into.