What car would you CREATE?

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by sidecar

The Flying Car

.....Actually all of them but Im prepared in the event someone comes up with a reasonable plan. After looking at lifting body aircraft in my University years, and in particular a soviet era ground effect machine.....
#BabySteps

I'm wondering where a ground effects flying vehicle could be used?

Not over the roads- wires, light poles, bridges, and other hazards plus subject to being blown by gusts into "lanes" one wouldn't want to be in such as the opposing lane. All I could come up with was over one's own private property or bodies of water.

[sidecar]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I'm wondering where a ground effects flying vehicle could be used?

Not over the roads- wires, light poles, bridges, and other hazards plus subject to being blown by gusts into "lanes" one wouldn't want to be in such as the opposing lane. All I could come up with was over one's own private property or bodies of water.

You know, once upon a time you could have left your house, driven down the road and lifted off flying without limitation. Its the laws and procedures instituted since that hemmed this in to where it is today, and yes, as they say 'its complicated'. That in itself has created a lot of issues and difficulties that has held air travel back more than it has been any guarantee to safety. The general aviation aircraft fleet operated today are largely designed little different to the technology available pre-war in the late 30's.

For the most part aluminum spam cans with air cooled engines commonly without the features available even to simple hobbyist aeronauts. Just as off the shelf model helicopters come equipped with heading and altitude hold, a fly home mode and numerous other assistance for pilots, you wont find a light helicopter with these features largely because its too expensive to certify, or/as nobody else has done it first. So pilots struggle with 7 axis controls occupying almost every limb and digit by the 'virtue' of extensive training as part of the aviation systems regime. We lose mustering helo pilots all the time because we dont have a minimum altitude system to stop then accidentally connecting with the ground, its a statistical risk.

The operating environment would be governed around whatever your local laws are for particular classes of light aircraft, thats going to be tougher to swing in Greater Manchester than it is in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, or near where I live where there are no poles and wires, not even fences, they even took the damn short wave radio away.

Within the legal domain there is usually an experimental class with varying limitations. So yes converting to flight mode on your local motorway and lifting off over the traffic, is not necessarily something one could legally access at this time. Off an airstrip, or where light aircraft operate local to you is another matter. Drive to the airport, drive onto the apron, down the taxi-way, onto the runway ...

It is true that traditionally GEVs are used over water, more because waterways rivers and lakes offer flattish surfaces that get the most out of the efficiency particularly for smaller GEV craft. However Im not looking at operating with a GEV envelope tho, Im just boosting Cl-max to get airborne quickly without any moving devices or additional complication. Once the vehicle unsticks from the surface and fly's in ground effect it can translate to free space as it accelerates, easy peasy.

that was a little longer than intended

[freebeard]

The general aviation aircraft fleet operated today are largely designed little different to the technology available pre-war in the late 30's.

That's an opportunity for atomic diffusion 3D printing and air-breathing plasma jets.

[AusKiwi]

For ultimate fuel economy I would build something like an Elio, but my preference would be for a 4 wheeler for the sake of stability. My thought was to have the narrow tandem cabin, with fully enclosed wheel arches outboard of the body of the car, and a low sill stretching the length of the car from front to rear wheel arches, enclosing possibly fuel tanks and/or batteries depending on whether it was going to have an ICE, electric or hybrid drive. The engine would be at the front, as with the Elio.

[RustyLugNut]

I still desire the Aptera. I got to see it and touch it and sit in it. It competed in the Auto Xprize. Then it died. It was right there.

Then it wasn't.

[freebeard]

The Edison2 won the X-prize and went away.

[RustyLugNut]

Originally Posted by freebeard

The Edison2 won the X-prize and went away.

What they failed at was the advertising value was nearly nil as public exposure was minimal. Teams such as Tesla pulled out because of this. For most teams, that was the only reason to enter.

Vehicles such as the EdisonX and Aptera may have gotten traction from unknown sources if there had been much more exposure. Several designs in the 2 and 4 seat classes respectively, had marketable platforms.

[DSMOS]

Budget Bracket {$0-->$5000,$5001-->$15,000,$15001-->$30,000,$30,000+}

Purpose of car: Daily driver with a little bit of a kick

Proposed basis for car: 2003 Volkswagen Jetta Wagon GL(X) TDI

Engine of choice: Engine code ALH (1.9 TDI VE)

Transmission of choice: 02M 6 speed gearbox

Drivetrain of choice AWD (not gonna happen, see any AWD mk4 tdi post, there are like 2 or 3 in existence)

Modifications required to above: Gearbox swap, AWD installation or engine swap, CNG regulation and tank installation, stage 1 tune (would mess around with larger injectors before going to stage 2 if at all)

Expected mileage 60 mpg city, 120 mpg highway

Expected cost to build $5001-->$15,000

would be amazing, but can't get it done quite yet. i have the jetta wagon with 270k still running amazing. love the hell out of my mk4

[SH@UN]

I'd take a Ford Festiva and cram a Chevy 350 under the hood. That oughta get killer mpg.

Literally

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by sidecar

The general aviation aircraft fleet operated today are largely designed little different to the technology available pre-war in the late 30's.

It's changing, but at a very slow pace. It actually does surprise me that liquid-cooling engines didn't become popular for general aviation, since they can provide heating for the cab without having to use any fuel-powered supplementary heater, and can be better enclosed to protect the block from thermal shock damage at a fast descending. The only general aircraft with a liquid-cooled engine that I remember right now is the Piper Archer DX.