Totally agreed. We have NO business having flying cars until they can take care of themselves.
That’s a whole bunch of accidents waiting to happen.
FTFY
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Meh. Talk to me when Larry Page can make one of these…
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They’d better be autonomous!
I’ve seen how people “drive” their rolling aeroplanes around, and I don’t want any of that happening in the skies overhead.
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I really don’t understand people’s obsession with flying cars - a flying car is just a brute forced, poorly thought out design for an ultracompact aircraft. We have aircraft, we’re not working towards flying cars, we’re working towards compact aircraft. What’s the difference? People seem to assume flying cars = car licenses, while compact aircraft makes it clear that we’re still talking about aircraft, and as such we’re talking about pilot’s licenses.
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No kidding.
Flying cars are a terrifyingly stupid idea!
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That’s why they’re so popular with 7 year old boys
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We have a wealthy couple who owns several chunks of land in and near our neighborhood. When I say “wealthy” I mean they have enough land holdings all over the world (not just Texas) and enough LLCs and Inc.s and business partnerships and cash flow that when they want to buy more property, they just do. Whenever, wherever.
Mr. Wealthy bought himself a helicopter a few years ago*, so he can fly to his holdings around here, cloud-dweller-like, without having to deal with Austin traffic, which is getting ferociously bad. Ms. Wealthy still drives her massive always-new Mercedes SUV around but I sense would just as soon like a helicopter for herself except she doesn’t have the pilot’s license that her husband has.
I have learned several things, as a “little people” standing outside, on the ground, working the ground.
- Good gravy… helicopters are noisy.
- When helicopters fly low over the land for inspection and monitoring, they are really really noisy. I have seen hawks, deer, foxes, songbirds and neighborhood cats flee in terror, erupting from cover to get away from the sound of the rotors.
- When Formula One happens annually in Austin, there are a lot more helicopters in the air so the noise factor jumps a coupla magnitudes.
- Helicopters are friggin obnoxious.
*I note that if one has a helicopter, one must therefore have purchased or rented the services for a hangar, a helicopter mechanic, a specialized fuel source, etc. That means either a private airport or a home-based helipad with all the staff that implies.
If flying cars are going to be a thing, getting the support system like mechanics, parts, legal infrastructure and the like will be rough-going. It’s going to take time. This is nothing like throwing some batteries in cars and making a Prius or a Leaf, and sending the industry-certified mechanics back to the classroom so they’ll know how to fix electric cars.
[North] Americans do flashy deranged crap to cars all the time. It’s traditional. Safety? Pshaw! “Is it cool” though? Well…
Lowriders:
Dukes of Hazzard tv show car “General Lee”:
Crazy ol’ “bigfoot” monster cars:
http://assets.blog.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads//2015/03/BIGFOOT5-side.jpg
Stretch Hummer limousines:
Etc.
Living in empire has is privileges. Like wasting staggering amounts of capital and time and fuel on monuments to ego like these cars. Is Page’s project a wild stab at greatness? Or did he contract a massive case of Affluent Gearhead Disease?
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I really don’t get that.
“I want to travel in style and class. Let’s rent a stretch Hummer!”
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… said nobody who rented a stretch limo of any kind, ever.
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[in a twangy Texas accent:]
Why son, those are as common as cornbread out here. Git gussied up or not, git a passel of friends and head off to the reception, funeral, anniversary, party, night out or what have you, and you can git snot-flingin’ drunk in style. Or pack up yer family for a good Christian wedding in style.
/TexasTwang
Seriously, I see these about once a week out here, there’s a wedding venue less than a mile from our place. White or black stretch Hummers. Nuthin’ sez classy like one of them.
Plus, you’re supporting the petroleum industry, which as you know in Texas is A Big Big Deal.
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Drone taxi Ehang UAV
Yes but the childhood dreams of a very rich person 
Your tax breaks are being put to wonderful use. I am truly in awe of how it’s all trickling down.
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You may have been promised a flying car, but my generation was promised a cyberpunk dystopia, and, well…
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