Cheep flying

"Smitty Two" wrote

Small planes flown by
computer, possibly in ground effect, could eliminate congestion, shorten
commutes, and massively reduce the need for building and maintaining
highways.

They would need highways, if they were in ground effect, no?
--
Jim in NC

On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 17:15:21 GMT, Ed Sullivan
wrote:

How about this puppy

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/Vi...vidId=51023&ca


I think what we may be overlooking is, that while it would probably
not be a practical commuting machine; it is a relatively inexpensive
rotorcraft that is roadable. With a shroud one could drive it to the
airport or a suitable take off spot.

In article ,
"Dan" wrote:

"Smitty Two" wrote in message

The flying motorcycle in question might not be the ubiquitous personal
transport of tomorrow any more than Moeller's skycar, but serious
thinkers are already planning for the Jetson's. Small planes flown by
computer, possibly in ground effect, could eliminate congestion, shorten
commutes, and massively reduce the need for building and maintaining
highways.

It's fiine that people are thinking about it. But in this case without some
huge technology shift it'll remain a dream. You require something that will
haul the family, groceries, vacation luggage and fly in bad weather and
severe wind. And yet be controllable by your average cellphone talker.
Nobody is going to take on remote piloting liabilities. Remember that all
this has to be cheaper than commuting in a car, in the face of rising energy
costs. On top of all that you have a fair percentage of the population who
are scared to death of the notion of flight.

And to be honest, I'd rather flying remained the domain of the few who
really appreciate it.

I agree that we'll need some huge technology shifts. History is peppered
with them, and I have no reason to believe that we've reached some sort
of pinnacle. Fifty years from now, most of the technology we use today
might seem primitive.

As far as the liability of a computer flown machine, we trust our lives
to computers every day. Without them, there would be no food on the
grocery store shelves, our cars wouldn't run, our buildings would be
uninhabitable, all forms of transportation would stop, all forms of mass
media would shut down, and every aspect of our financial lives would
collapse, just to name a few.

The modern airliner is perfectly well able to takeoff, fly to
destination, and land on full autopilot. It's our collective sense of
propriety that keeps the pilots in the cockpit, but paradigm shifts tend
to accompany technological "advancements." (I use the term skeptically
because I really believe we'd be better off as hunter-gatherers living
in straw huts.) Early in the last century, medical professionals didn't
believe the human body could withstand traveling at 20 mph. Later, they
weren't at all sure what would happen to the body or the machine at Mach
1.

(I also feel the same about sharing the skies with "commoners." I don't
even like sharing the road with them.)

In article ,
"Morgans" wrote:

"Smitty Two" wrote

Small planes flown by
computer, possibly in ground effect, could eliminate congestion, shorten
commutes, and massively reduce the need for building and maintaining
highways.

They would need highways, if they were in ground effect, no?

Well, maybe a bulldozed path, sans concrete and all those other
finishing touches.

@And to be honest, I'd rather flying remained the domain of the few who

really appreciate it.

You misspelled, "the few who can afford to jump through the innumerable
hoops required in conventional aviation, ca. 2006."

Those who truthfully have no appreciation for flight will not pay to
get into it. They can stay on the roads, in the trains, etc. But
there is no physical need for flight to remain the exclusive domain of
the twentieth-century fixed-wing fraternity.

@"advancements." (I use the term skeptically
because I really believe we'd be better off as hunter-gatherers living
in straw huts.)

Surely you jest. How old are you? If x approx. 20, you would likely
be dead by now in such a culture. Not to mention, when x 70, your
descendants would kill you to have one less mouth to feed.

In article .com,
"Eddge" wrote:

@"advancements." (I use the term skeptically
because I really believe we'd be better off as hunter-gatherers living
in straw huts.)

Surely you jest. How old are you? If x approx. 20, you would likely
be dead by now in such a culture. Not to mention, when x 70, your
descendants would kill you to have one less mouth to feed.

No, I'm not jesting, and without modern surgery I would have died forty
years ago, at the age of 11. That is, if hunter-gatherers played
football during lunch break at school.

On the other end of the scale, when I get too old to take care of
myself, I'm done with this silly planet, anyway. I had enough of diapers
and spoon feeding when I was a baby.

Lifespan and quality of life are completely unrelated, and most of what
passes for "quality of life" these days is nonsense, in my arrogant
opinion.

Smitty Two wrote:

In article .com,
"Eddge" wrote:


@"advancements." (I use the term skeptically
because I really believe we'd be better off as hunter-gatherers living
in straw huts.)

Surely you jest. How old are you? If x approx. 20, you would likely
be dead by now in such a culture. Not to mention, when x 70, your
descendants would kill you to have one less mouth to feed.


No, I'm not jesting, and without modern surgery I would have died forty
years ago, at the age of 11. That is, if hunter-gatherers played
football during lunch break at school.

On the other end of the scale, when I get too old to take care of
myself, I'm done with this silly planet, anyway. I had enough of diapers
and spoon feeding when I was a baby.

Lifespan and quality of life are completely unrelated, and most of what
passes for "quality of life" these days is nonsense, in my arrogant
opinion.

A friend of mine who smokes, when told by someone else that smoking
would shorten his life by ten years, retorted that those would be
the ten years that the other fellow would spend in the alzheimers
ward in the nursing home.

Don W.