1 Wow Luke looks like a speeder in der air..

2 Want: flying car.

Don't want: getting cut off at 5,000 ft by a little old lady with her blinker on.

3 fuel type: Ethanol

Good thing I live in Colorado. Phew

4 Coming Real Soon Now for a couple of decades!

5 Man that ain't Detroit Iron..

6 That bottom pic....is that the Batmobile???

7 .

8 Ahhh, the comments.  They come and they go.

9 That altitude is Faux...

10 I drove a flying car once. Luckily, no one was killed.

11 Coming Real Soon Now for a couple of decades since the Jetsons.

12

I always dreamed of a dystopian society with flying cars and sexbots (Bladerunner). sigh Instead it will be a The Hunger Games/The Road Warrior mix. Dammit!!

13 Flying cars? Pffft! How about flying nekomimi mecha musume witches who fly around in their panties? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fJqX_0fJ5w

14 The smaller ones get 40+mpg too.

15 The Wave of the Future, and always will be.

16 Oh dear God no, folks are a nightmare in TWO dimensions...!

17 yeah remember when they portrayed an early 21st century dystopia having replicants and flying cars???

boy we're progressing like gangbusters ain't we?

BladeRunner looks like a theme park compared to Detroit.

18 All cars can fly in the Age of PhotoShop.

19 See, thats what I'm saying. Bladerunner would be a totally bitchin' Dystopian future!!

20 Flying cars? From the people that killed the space shuttle. Right.

21 Hell, I'm still waiting for my Skittle shittin unicorn.

22 11 I always dreamed of a dystopian society with flying cars and sexbots (Bladerunner). sigh Instead it will be aThe Hunger Games/The Road Warrior mix. Dammit!! Posted by: puddleglum at February 21, 2013 09:38 PM (8SsiG) http://tinyurl.com/a677h39

23 Good Prevning, Horde!

24 Get off My cloud sonny

25 Oh dear God no, folks are a nightmare in TWO dimensions...!


Don't worry. We won't let peasants, err private citizens actually own one.

26 Judging from the condition of my son's Buick on Saturday mornings, it was flying every Friday night.

27 Want: flying car.

Don't want: getting cut off at 5,000 ft by a little old lady with her blinker on.

Posted by: Blanco Basura at February 21, 2013 09:34 PM (xKC/c)

well hell i forgot to copy  comment.

Ok Now Get Off My cloud Sonny!

28 Tough to land that first one.

29 My problem with flying cars is that people drive stupid enough on land, when they're confined by gravity. I can only imagine how much Christmas shopping traffic would suck if cars could operate in three dimensions.

30 BladeRunner looks like a theme park compared to Detroit.
Posted by: sven10077

Some rich asshole should offer every resident in Detroit $1000 to leave ($710,000,000 or so total) and turn it into FUCK U COMMIE City.

Free trade and no bullshit. Start bullshit and you're gone via trebouche.

You want in? Buy a ticket. Can't afford a ticket? Apply for an apprenticeship w/ a company inside the city. Can't get an apprenticeship? FUCK YOU COMMIE.

31 Good Prevning

Same to you! I shoveled off some global-warming this afternoon

32 I dunno, I was rather fond of the Jetsons prototype. of car gently rounded, where it looked like you might softly bounce off a bird or a person in his jet suit

33 Only the .01 percent would get the flying cars...aka the politburo

34 I've given up on flying cars. The future belongs to the bureaucrat who, on the grounds of environmental impact, denies the permit to the would-be pioneer of flying cars.

35 29 Weft Cut Loop,

I'm game....

no really I'm good for a 1000 and I'll try to earn a 1000.....

offer to let GIs and Cops homestead, Secede and ask canada for Protectorate status like Hong Kong and build the Keystone refinery there....

I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to be part of growth.

36 Possible that private citizens (who can afford the licence) will get one. It'll just be heavily automated. As in, you won't get the option to steer the thing. You'll put in "OmniCorp Office Building #4" and let the vehicle take you there.

37 27 Tough to land that first one.

Posted by: RokShox at February 21, 2013 09:45 PM (8MMMw)

My guess is the engines would pivot to become hovercar

38 Flying cars are cool but it's not like any of us will ever get to drive/fly one, what with all of the government regulatory and bureaucratic nonsense it would take just to even get permission to *buy* one in this country, let alone use it

39 Same to you! I shoveled off some global-warming this afternoon Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at February 21, 2013 09:45 PM (QTHTd) ummmm ..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joo90ZWrUkU

40 I don't need no stinkin' car to fly!

41 37 ChemJeff hates snow,

1) I damn near totalled the purple PT Cruiser of Passion this evening I had to make a cameo at the shop....

2) you're dead on, the Federal Government is the dedicated enemy of progress and prosperity through hyper regulatory fiat religion cloaked as duty.

42 >>>I dunno, I was rather fond of the Jetsons prototype. of car gently rounded, where it looked like you might softly bounce off a bird or a person in his jet suit

But it looked like an AMC Pacer. Am I right?

http://tinyurl.com/9wf84sr

43 I've seen this Moller Skycar thing before. Does this motherfucker have access to a library? Or a calculator? He thinks he's going to get 720 HP continuous out of an ethanol powered engine, and that it's going to be sufficient to get to a Max ceiling of 36,000 feet. He is out of his fucking mind. Top speed over 350 mph? Sure! As it's falling out of the sky, it'll get pretty peppy, I'm sure.

44 The future belongs to the bureaucrat

You mean, "the past", probably starting around 1930 or so with Hoover (and Mussolini, and Bruening, and Stalin).

WW2 was a war over which bureaucrat should win.

45 Tough to land that first one. Posted by: RokShox at February 21, 2013 09:45 PM (8MMMw) ------------------------------------------------------- I was going to say the same thing. Once airborne, you're never coming down. I wonder if it has a toilet?

46 Oh and Purp Av thanks for the pics....

when I came back after my hiatus and went on a disjointed stream of conciousness tear on Extinction level Events on Ace's thread on SMOG and the great Burp this is part of my rage fuel....

we are SUPPOSED to be on MARS goddamnit.

47 More probable than flying cars are the buildings so large you live your entire life inside one.

48

yeah remember when they portrayed an early 21st century dystopia having replicants and flying cars???

boy we're progressing like gangbusters ain't we?

BladeRunner looks like a theme park compared to Detroit.

Posted by: sven10077 at February 21, 2013 09:39 PM (LRFds)

 

ROBOCOP looks like a utopia compared to the real Detroit.

49 But it looked like an AMC Pacer. Am I right?

http://tinyurl.com/9wf84sr

Posted by: Tobacco Road at February 21, 2013 09:50 PM (4Mv1T)omgoodness, you are right.

i rescind my adoration for all things Jetson. even rosie!

50 43 EoJ,

because of the regulatory fiat on blended restricted octane Petrol we're stuck with Ground Effect style hover vehicles not turbine driven air foils....

YAY what's the opposite of Progress?

Congress and Congress gave the reds the keys to the economy back in the year of my birth...

51

BladeRunner looks like a theme park compared to Detroit.

 

Posted by: sven10077 at February 21, 2013 09:39 PM

 

 

Taffy Lewis tells you to buzz off, then lays on the free drinks. Would you get that kind of brusque charm in Detroit?

52 Flying cars are fun in theory, but there's not much of a safety net. If my car dies, I can put on the hazards and slowly pull over to the side. If a flying car craps out, there's no option other than to plummet. Thanks, I'll stick with my earthbound gas guzzler.

53 47 rd,

Yup...it is amazing what 70 years of Mule domination will do for you....

54 Top speed over 350 mph? Sure! As it's falling out of the sky, it'll get pretty peppy, I'm sure. Posted by: Empire of Jeff at February 21, 2013 09:50 PM (CnrK5) Well, he didn't say whether the direction would be lateral or vertical, now did he?

55 The best looking and most realized 'sky' vehicle still has to be the Hoverbike demonstrated by these guys.

http://hover-bike.com/index.html

56 Need self driving cars first. Then, only once we perfect that, should we make them fly and have sex with you.

57 50 Otho,

The replicants have a better life than what nanny and Barry want for us....

sure they're super powered sex/murder/slave labor toys but at least they get to shine for 4 years....

58 arcology..damn, that was the word I couldn't remember

59

More probable than flying cars are the buildings so large you live your entire life inside one.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at February 21, 2013 09:51 PM (trE5i)

 

 

I am trying that here at home, but still have to leave to go to work and shop, dammit.  I need a telecommuting job. 

60 If I can't have that cool Jetsons engine tone, I'm kind of meh.

61 Will they have seat belt buzzers? If so, I'm out.

62 Pull that moro over for texting, smoking and talking on the phone while flying that car!

63 I need a telecommuting job. Posted by: rd at February 21, 2013 09:54 PM (zLp5I) ------------------------------------------------------ I have one and don't like it much. I want an office to go to.

64 >>>I am trying that here at home, but still have to leave to go to work and shop, dammit. I need a telecommuting job.

Closed my office and moved it home three years ago. Gun safe is in the home office, scotch is in the gun safe. I never leave the office.

65 ROBOCOP looks like a utopia compared to the real Detroit. Posted by: rd at February 21, 2013 09:52 PM (zLp5I) You all should have taken us up on our offer on "Delta City"

66

Coming Real Soon Now for a couple of decades!

 

Available now, at least in testing stage. I know the sister of the guy that invented it. Unfortunately, he was hit by a propellor and paralyzed, so I suspect that it might be awhile before it is commercially available.

http://tinyurl.com/b37hwf6

67 How about hoverboards to start.

68 Yeah it'd be awesome to have an Arcology for the refinery workers, and a thriving free port for commerce in and out of North America that charged only slip fees.

Some nation and culture are going to rediscover Locke, Smith, and Friedman and make a goddamned growth machine....

pity it ain't gonna be ours.

69 >>>pity it ain't gonna be ours.

There will still be "haves" on this turf. Just a whole lot more "have nots".

70 Yes. The Jetsons propulsion noise is classic. If my Hovehicle doesn't make that sound, I am not interested.

71 I have one and don't like it much. I want an office to go to.

Posted by: Truck Monkey at February 21, 2013 09:56 PM (jucos)

 

Pro: You can work pantless

Con: No sexy secretaries to ogle.

 

Tough choice.

72 Arcology for the masses, flying cars for the one percent to get from their wilderness estates back to the office for board meetings.

73 Obama gonna let you have a flying car?  No.  He will let you have a poke in the eye though.

74 Mojo Nixon says it's flying go-karts or nothing.

75 Fuck flying cars where are the sexbots. Um, why is every one looking at me funny?

76

Pre ONT? Is this like rubbing one out before you head off to pick up your date?

 

Also, flying cars, Hiller already did that.

77 >>>Pro: You can work pantless
Con: No sexy secretaries to ogle.

My office is at home, and my wife is still a babe. Just can't get her to walk around pantless like I do.

78 Fender benders and engine problems in Hovehicles will most likely result in death for all involved. I will probably pass.

79 70, That's chocolate and peanut butter right there.

80 The Moller Deathbox is designed for multiple applications in which flaming death is required for a pilot and up to three passengers at relatively low altitudes and airspeeds with an attractive price point for the amateur suicide enthusiast.

81 If you don't got Mojo Nixon then your store could use some fixin'.

82 77 Truck Monkey,

we have mobile processors more powerful in many ways that fit in our hands that NASA would have killed for....

a ground effect hover car with ~70MPH forward motion and a max altitude of say 100 ft with a battery powered back up autogyro her in equivalent would probably be safer not less so than roads...

figure nap of earth is restricted to landing pattern, ~25 feet up to ~50 feet up for approach and the other 25 ft intervals for "passing lanes"....

I dunno....I miss "us" and "us' were inventive bastards who made airplanes and Saturn Vs....

Obama makes "poodoo" as Jar Jar would say

83 Flying cars are a terrorist's worst nightmare. Wait.

84 ette @48 But, but, but,,, what about Astro?

85

"Flying cars are fun in theory, but there's not much of a safety net. If my car dies, I can put on the hazards and slowly pull over to the side. If a flying car craps out, there's no option other than to plummet. Thanks, I'll stick with my earthbound gas guzzler."

 

They've got parachutes on planes now. Just the plane none for you.

86 Flying cars are for pussies. Jetpacks.

87

Your Daily Ewwwww:

 

Water in LA hotel tasted funny for weeks, decomposed body found in roof tower

 

For an entire week, hotel guests were showering, brushing their teeth, and drinking the water from a tank holding the decomposing body of a Canadian tourist. Fucking Canadians! I think it's high time to put 'War Plan Red' into action!

http://tinyurl.com/aeux77n

88

 

 

 

Yeah...off to the barrel with me.

 

89 I can only imagine how much Christmas shopping traffic would suck if cars could operate in three dimensions.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at February 21, 2013 09:45 PM (CA2NO)

I'm going to hold on to the 'stang, then when everyone is jetting about in their flying cars I'll have the roads all to myself.

it will be glorious...

90 The Moller Deathbox is designed for multiple applications in which flaming death is required for a pilot and up to three passengers at relatively low altitudes and airspeeds with an attractive price point for the amateur suicide enthusiast.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at February 21, 2013 10:03 PM (CnrK5)

so...not a fan?

91 The Moller Deathbox is designed for multiple applications in which flaming death is required for a pilot and up to three passengers at relatively low altitudes and airspeeds with an attractive price point for the amateur suicide enthusiast.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at February 21, 2013 10:03 PM (CnrK5)

^^^^this

Any "aircraft" that purports to "fly" by engine thrust alone is an accident looking for a place to happen. The Moller Skycar and the Hoverbike both fall into this category. Vaporware, mostly.

Air cars, or "roadable airplanes" have been built and sold in the past. Bing the Waterman Aeromobile. Big problem with them is, they are neither a very good car, nor a very good airplane. Too many design compromises. And they cost more than a good car AND a good airplane. And you can't magically lift off from a traffic-clogged freeway and soar away from the fist-shaking proles in their ground-bound cars.

One of those neat ideas that sounds wonderful, until the practicalities get in the way.

92

What will happen first:

 

Flying cars or a Cubs world series?

93 The Moller Skycar is best known for making investor money fly away.

94 "... a Cubs world series?" Holy freaking bat man!!! Da Cubs in the series? Dead fish will cream his panties (with a little manual assistance from Bill Ayers) and gangsters will turn in their 9s.

95 I owned a flying car once for a short time. It was because I WAS DRIVING WAY TOO FAST.

96 The moeller IS my dream car

97 The moeller is periodically resurrected every so often when they are fishing for "investors". This has been going on for 30 years. suckers.

98 I don't know who the genius is who thought about mixing flying bot you have sex with, but this humble observer notes: I know when I would like to hit 0gs. Just hopefully the flying bot is also great cuddler for the slow descent back to the ground.

99 Anyone taken in by this decades old scam deserves being parted from their money.

I would love to see some interviews with these "investors".

100

Late to this party, yeah, I saw the pic of the moller car and had to comment.  I don't think it was an intentional scam, but just a huge failure.  I knew an engineer that worked for them a couple years ago.  They were doing very real work, it wasn't just for show.  But they did greatly mislead their investors as far as their progress went.  The owner/inventor made it sound like his kid was out flying one of these things when in reality one had never flown ever.  As far as aeronautics budgets go he was developing this thing on a shoestring.  He needs a proper budget comparable with developing and testing a commercial airliner.  I believe he could make it work, but he just thought he could do more than he could with the money he raised, and he's a horrible businessman.  Take the osprey, I believe it was several dozen marines died in the testing of that evil plane.  It seems to work great today, but it was a long road getting to that point. 

The vehicle could work, but the money needed to design it property would raise the per-unit cost by so much that it's questionable whether it would make much of a profit.  It would only be profitable and affordable if a bazillion of the things were sold.  A whole bunch of super rich people would have to eat that nut. 

And even after making it work and making it safe, it's still something that would end up being highly regulated.  It's a lawsuit waiting to happen.  The car/plane was supposed to be super easy to fly... the idea was that it would tap into the FFA tracking system real-time and would use computer control to prevent itself from flying into other planes or flying cars.  They even wanted to try and make it so you didn't need a pilots license to fly it.  A huge mountain of bureaucrats standing in the way of that vision.  It's very possible, we have the technology for this, but government would never allow it. 

A lot of moller's business tanked after 911.  A lot of people saw the vehicle as something that could be used for terrorism.  A cheap plane that didn't need a runway to takeoff.  You could transport the thing on a trailer into the middle of a city, take off in the middle of a city and attack any target long before national guard or military had a chance to even talk about responding.  They would be on target before the plane even appeared on someone's radar.

In a world with naked airport body scanners and where it's a argument as to whether pilots should be allowed sidearms you think the government would ever allow flying cars?  Not a chance in hell.  Just saying.  In this day and age if you want to have a successful business you need to pick something that is the least likely to involve government...  unless you're doing environmentalist crap.