Jul 152011
This is just… huh.
Scaled Composites is testing a twin-fuselage roadable aircraft. Seats two… drive it like a car from the left side, fly it like a plane from the right. Looks like the wings are manually removable, rather than folding. It’s an example of the sort of compromises that are required to make a roadable airplane… it’s just really, really goofy lookin’, and looks *easily* messed up in the minorest of fender-benders. But beyond *everything,* here is the single most important line in the whole article:
The BiPod was brought from preliminary design to its first flight on 30 March 2011 in just four months.
Four freakin’ months. Suck it, bureaucrats!
Take a look at the article for photos. And for the performance figures: if they pan out… wow.
2 Responses to “Rutan’s Hybrid-Electric Roadable Airplane”
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Hmmm… ugly and impractical. Too bad it’s going to be Burt’s last contribution to aerospace before he retires. I think the science and art of aviation could get so much more out of that fertile imagination.
As for a “flying car”, I won’t believe or accept it until someone comes up with something you can toss into the back of an old Dodge pick-up and fly it. Everything that’s been brought forward up til now has been basically aircraft that can taxi for slightly longer distances than usual. Other than commercial category aircraft or warplanes, every other plane is much too lightly constructed to withstand the rigors of sitting in a driveway, much less the bumpercar rink that freeways are.
I think the greatest hurdle to personnel flying is going to be bringing “homo sixpakkus” to a sufficient level of developement to cope with moving in 3 dimensions versus just 2.
“As for a “flying car”, I won’t believe or accept it until someone comes up with something you can toss into the back of an old Dodge pick-up and fly it.”
The Terrafugia flying car has just been ruled street legal:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/motoring/5283656/Flying-car-cleared-for-road-use
Now if they can get the FAA to go along as well, which is bound to be a tougher nut to crack.
The Terrafugia looks like a lot better concept than Rutan’s, although I get a little spooked by folding or removable wings, as I can picturing them folding or removing themselves at around 10,000 feet altitude sometime when you least expect it. 😉
If nothing else, Rutan gets points for making something from Star Wars for real:
http://www.starwars.com/img/vault/collecting/news20100201/4Hasbro_Bespin_Cloud_Car_Bo.jpg