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Uber wants to test its flying taxis by 2020
Today in Dallas, Uber is taking the wraps off its flying car plans. The company's three-day "Elevate" summit is meant to discuss all things relating to vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) craft and how Uber sees them as a major part of its future strategy. Probably the biggest news coming out of the opening keynote, which just wrapped a few minutes ago, is Uber's ambition to demonstrate its Elevate Network in 2020 -- an aggressive goal, to be sure.
Kitty Hawk's Flyer isn't the flying car you were promised
That flying car startup Google's Larry Page is backing? It's finally showing its hand... and the company's initial product is both more and less than what you might expect. Kitty Hawk's first publicly demonstrated vehicle, the Flyer, isn't so much the flying car of sci-fi fame as a recreational vehicle. The one-seat, propeller-driven vehicle is meant for a short flight across lake when you're at the cottage, not commuting to work -- that Jetsons-like future isn't here yet. You won't have to wait long to get it, though. Kitty Hawk expects to start selling the Flyer by the end of 2017. This will be a practical reality within months, in other words. You can already put down $100 to sign up for a $2,000 discount on the finished machine.
Lilium's electric personal jet manages a vertical takeoff
The Lilium jet may look like somebody's wacky concept of a futuristic aircraft that will never be able to fly, but that couldn't be further from the truth. It has recently completed a series of flight tests in Munich, Germany, proving that the first all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) jet is capable of taking to the skies. The company even released a video of Lilium's maiden flight, which you can watch after the break.
Airbus unveils an autonomous, modular flying car concept
Flying cars face many obstacles, but one of the biggest is accommodating all the parts needed to both drive and fly -- their designs amount to big, heavy compromises. Airbus and Italdesign want to try something different. They've just unveiled the Pop.Up, an autonomous concept that uses a modular passenger capsule to switch between four-wheeled ground transport and quadcopter flight. All you do is tell the vehicle's AI where to go -- it'll snap on air or ground modules based on both the available routes and your habits. Airbus even floats the possibility of shuttling your capsule through hyperloop tubes when they're available.
'Snowstorm' personal flying machine lifts off in Singapore
What you're looking at above is Snowstorm, a personal flying machine. This electric-powered aircraft, designed and built by a group of students from the National University of Singapore, can be controlled by a human pilot and is capable of a vertical takeoff and landing. Snowstorm was created as part of an engineering project called FW Air: Electric Aviation, which aims to turn the fantasy of flying cars into reality.
The flying car has arrived and it looks scary as hell
Deliver packages by drone? Yawn! Thorstin Crijns aims to transport people by multicopter, flying car style, and he actually built a brilliant/insane working prototype. A typical quadcopter won't cut it, so his machine has 16 separate motors and props, with a cluster of lithium-ion batteries to power it. Since weight is of the essence, the computer-optimized frame is made of lightweight 6060 aluminum. The final piece of the puzzle is the control system, and Crijns chose the MultiWii Autopilot, a well-known product that adjusts the power on each motor to keep things straight and level.
Terrafugia's flying car project is still a couple of years away
Terrafugia's car/plane hybrid has been "coming soon" for nearly a decade and it will stay that way a bit longer. The Transition vehicle has come a long way since those early renders, and in a talk today Terrafugia COO / VP of Engineering Kevin Colburn explained some of the design decisions involved and what else need to happen before pilots/drivers can climb in. The estimated price seems to have climbed a bit from the $279,000 projection, as he said the company is targeting between $300k and $400k. At that price it's not going to replace your (or anyone's) daily driver, but that's not the point. Terrafugia believes that being able to drive the plane from the airport to one's destination is enough to give it an advantage over other small planes or forms of travel.
