flying car (again)

In article ,
Sylvain wrote:

Mike Ash wrote:

off and land in a typical driveway, now THAT would be something. But
this kind of hybrid car+airplane which you can drive on roads to an
airport, reconfigure, take off, land at another airport, reconfigure,
and drive away, I just don't get it. It's not *that* difficult to move
your stuff from one vehicle to another at the airport, and it certainly
saves no money to combine them.

I understand the appeal having more often than not found myself in the
middle of nowhere at some remote airport without any kind of rental car or
ground transportation nearby; and flying mostly on weekends, I also found
out that, even when available, rental car companies tend to be closed on
sundays in such places (e.g., enterprise)... it might not be an issue if
you fly mostly to/from larger airports, but yes, it would be neat to have
some kind of workable (i.e., motorized and street legal) means of
transportation that I could bring along during such flights.

That said, I wouldn't want to expose an aircraft that I am flying to the
hazards of road traffic (a minor 'parking rash' could prove problematic if
it affects a flying surface... and you might not find out until you are
back in the air)

Makes sense to me, however I would guess that most of the time you could
find *somebody* to chauffeur you around if you tried real hard. It would
be expensive, but probably still not nearly as expensive as buying this
car/plane.

I can see some appeal in a *cheap* car/plane, but not at this price....

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon

On Mar 25, 3:04*am, Mike Ash wrote:

Makes sense to me, however I would guess that most of the time you could
find *somebody* to chauffeur you around if you tried real hard. It would
be expensive, but probably still not nearly as expensive as buying this
car/plane.

I can see some appeal in a *cheap* car/plane, but not at this price....


If I knew I was going to end up way out in the middle of nowhere I'd
land in the nearest 'big' town and arrange a rental car to meet me way
out in the middle of nowhere.
It worked.

george wrote:

If I knew I was going to end up way out in the middle of nowhere I'd
land in the nearest 'big' town and arrange a rental car to meet me way
out in the middle of nowhere.
It worked.

Of course, but you are being boringly practical here, we were talking
about a dream machine thing that appeals to the whole 'self sufficient'
fantasy that we all (don't we? or is it just me?) enjoy at one point or
another :-)

That said, there are neat little airports nowhere near any available car
rental (I am thinking about a few neat little places in the Sierra Nevada)
and where driving from the nearest 'big' airport is not necessarily a
practical -- or at least enjoyable -- option; besides a car rental company
might not be willing to go out of their way just for a one day (or one
weekend) deal...

--Sylvain

On Mar 24, 2:33*pm, Sylvain wrote:
george wrote:
If I knew I was going to end up way out in the middle of nowhere I'd
land in the nearest 'big' town and arrange a rental car to meet me way
out in the middle of nowhere.
It worked.

Of course, *but you are being boringly practical here, *we were talking
about a dream machine thing that appeals to the whole 'self sufficient'
fantasy that we all (don't we? or is it just me?) enjoy at one point or
another :-)

That said, *there are neat little airports nowhere near any available car
rental (I am thinking about a few neat little places in the Sierra Nevada)
and where driving from the nearest 'big' airport is not necessarily a
practical -- or at least enjoyable -- option; *besides a car rental company
might not be willing to go out of their way just for a one day (or one
weekend) deal...

--Sylvain

That ultra light duty thingy isn't going to stand up to much pounding
on
poorly-maintained mountain roads.

Here's a different fantasy fulfillment combo: put a motorcycle into a
pod
under your airplane:

http://www.motorcyclepilot.com/News.htm

wrote in message
...
On Mar 24, 2:33 pm, Sylvain wrote:
george wrote:
If I knew I was going to end up way out in the middle of nowhere I'd
land in the nearest 'big' town and arrange a rental car to meet me way
out in the middle of nowhere.
It worked.

Of course, but you are being boringly practical here, we were talking
about a dream machine thing that appeals to the whole 'self sufficient'
fantasy that we all (don't we? or is it just me?) enjoy at one point or
another :-)

That said, there are neat little airports nowhere near any available car
rental (I am thinking about a few neat little places in the Sierra Nevada)
and where driving from the nearest 'big' airport is not necessarily a
practical -- or at least enjoyable -- option; besides a car rental company
might not be willing to go out of their way just for a one day (or one
weekend) deal...

--Sylvain

That ultra light duty thingy isn't going to stand up to much pounding
on
poorly-maintained mountain roads.

Here's a different fantasy fulfillment combo: put a motorcycle into a
pod
under your airplane:

http://www.motorcyclepilot.com/News.htm


------------------new posts begins-----------------

That is obviously aerodynamically superior, but the idea and practice of a
motorcycle strapped onto a light airplane is nearer to eighty years old than
it is to seventy!

I can't seem to find a picture at the moment, but have seen some in books.

wrote:

Here's a different fantasy fulfillment combo: put a motorcycle into a
pod under your airplane:

http://www.motorcyclepilot.com/News.htm

brilliant! thanks for the link.

--Sylvain