AeroMobile - interesting flying car from Slovakia

alfadog

alfadog

Final Approach
Joined
May 3, 2010
Messages
5,057
Location
Miami
Display Name
Display name:
alfadog
AeroMobil - interesting flying car from Slovakia

Came across this in random YouTubing. I really like this design, the best I think I have seen that actually might go somewhere. Still in prototype but seemed to drive well and flew in ground effect. Obviously some work still needed but I am pretty impressed and Eastern Europe seems to do this sort of thing well.

http://www.aeromobil.com/

 
Last edited:
I cannot help but notice that the Aeromobile never really made it out of ground effect. That said, as with all these ventures I can only wish them the best of luck.
 
Very cool, as steingar said, seems to have never gotten out of ground effect. Still, incredibly awesome. Can't wait to see what the future holds for this technology.
 
Looked a little unsteady on the takeoff,looked
Ike it was fighting a cross wind.
 
Re flying in ground effect, my guess is that this is the only prototype and they were being cautious. I think they know they have more work to do but I think they did a great job so far.
 
The flying car idea will never die it seems and it translates into all languages. I guess we need somebody to successfully build and put one out for sale again, so that the next generation can be reminded of what a bad idea it really is.* Crappy car and crappy plane all rolled into one.

As far as I can see, it solves the current problem of getting from your car to the tie down and then getting from the airport to your destination. That's about it. It does not seem worth it.

Oh, and you better do a thorough preflight after every time you park it in public because you are the proud owner of one of most fragile, as well as expensive cars on the road. Sort of a Faberge' egg on wheels. One little bump in the parking lot and you're grounded.


*I do think the purpose built dune buggy para sail flying car you can buy now is a good idea for what it was intended to do. It is the only practical flying car I have ever seen.
 
The flying cars that Popular Mechanics magazine promised all kids back in the 1950s would be the norm today, has never materialized, and probably will not for many more decades.

Cost

Liability and comprehensive insurance.

The extensive training required to become a legal pilot.

Such things will never be more than an interesting novelty, even for those who have the qualifications and the money to operate one.

Combining machines into multi purpose does little more than give mediocre performance in each intended purpose.

A very expensive mediocre automobil, and a very expensive mediocre airplane.

-John
 
Agree that there are are major compromises involved but I think that modern technology (carbon fiber, Rotax engines, etc.) can build a decent roadable airplane. It looks to me like these guys are on the right path. We are basically talking LSA performance at best so more a toy than a tool but toys are fun and there are plenty of folks out there that would buy one of these if it flew reasonably well. So I see little downside to revisiting the PopSci concepts. We have come a long way in technology in the last 50 years even if most of the fleet does not reflect that.
 
Last edited:
Flying bicycles have been figured out, cars meh. Personally I think conventional airplane wings and flying cars will never work well. Paraglider, hangglider/trike wings or gyrocopters are the only way to make these things semi-practical. Of course that means making the ground vehicle lighter, more go-kart/scooter then minivan. And having a unconventional wing cuts 98.9% of the rigid minded GA population out of your customer base.
 

Attachments

  • Flyke.jpg
    Flyke.jpg
    61.7 KB · Views: 18
Dav8or said:
The flying car idea will never die it seems and it translates into all languages. I guess we need somebody to successfully build and put one out for sale again, so that the next generation can be reminded of what a bad idea it really is.* Crappy car and crappy plane all rolled into one.

As far as I can see, it solves the current problem of getting from your car to the tie down and then getting from the airport to your destination. That's about it. It does not seem worth it.

Oh, and you better do a thorough preflight after every time you park it in public because you are the proud owner of one of most fragile, as well as expensive cars on the road. Sort of a Faberge' egg on wheels. One little bump in the parking lot and you're grounded.


*I do think the purpose built dune buggy para sail flying car you can buy now is a good idea for what it was intended to do. It is the only practical flying car I have ever seen.
Click to expand...

When you get down to it, the flying car only solves the problem of getting from the arrival airport to your final destination. You already have a car to get to the departure airport. If the weather turns bad, it does give you the option of driving home as well.
 
Use google-foo for Molt Taylor AeroCar. He had a workable design, and I think with modern materials and a little more tweaking the aerocar could be suitable. Plenty of compromise involved in both regimes.
 
An inherent problem with multifunction tools and devices are they rarely do any function well, most mediocre to poor. One exception might be HP scanner/printer/fax/copier. But then again, all related functions and HP does pretty well with document handling.
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to take a $300K "airplane" for a drive on local roads. I'm also pretty sure I wouldn't want to take a $300K "car" for a trip around the patch.
 
steingar said:
I cannot help but notice that the Aeromobile never really made it out of ground effect. That said, as with all these ventures I can only wish them the best of luck.
Click to expand...

Ground effect is only good up to one-half the wingspan in altitude. That carplane got a few feet above that.

Still, it doesn't look like the kind of thing I'd want to drive around town, with all the curious fingers and careless drivers. And it would be a bear on the highway in any significant crosswind; it would get blown right off and flipped over. And on the ice...oh my...

For the same money (I'm guessing) a guy could buy an R44 and an acreage in the country around here and have good resale value on both of them.

Dan
 
ClimbnSink said:
Flying bicycles have been figured out, cars meh. Personally I think conventional airplane wings and flying cars will never work well. Paraglider, hangglider/trike wings or gyrocopters are the only way to make these things semi-practical. Of course that means making the ground vehicle lighter, more go-kart/scooter then minivan. And having a unconventional wing cuts 98.9% of the rigid minded GA population out of your customer base.
Click to expand...

Uhhh….. that's not a bicycle and it doesn't have 2 TV screens so it doesn't really fly.
 
Got a virus alert popup on that samsonmotorworks link.
 
bartmc said:
Uhhh….. that's not a bicycle and it doesn't have 2 TV screens so it doesn't really fly.
Click to expand...
Recumbent tricycle. No built in tv so it will only fly if you hold an iphone in one hand and an ipad in the other, drop one and you burst into flames.:D
 
I'm surprised that they don't realize in the US, anyway, that a tricycle design has a lot fewer hurdles to pass safety, emission, and crash criteria. Tricycles are considered motorcycles. A flying motorcycle/tricycle seems to be something that is more doable. And it would clearly be for fun. Motorcycles/tricycles can have the driver enclosed and still be considered motorcycles.
 
I was listening to a public radio news blurb and they were talking about the coming "flying cars." I was expecting to hear about Terrafugia or one of the flying motorcycles, but for @*$! sake they drug up @*$&! Moller again. Hasn't he given up yet?
 
flyingron said:
I was listening to a public radio news blurb and they were talking about the coming "flying cars." I was expecting to hear about Terrafugia or one of the flying motorcycles, but for @*$! sake they drug up @*$&! Moller again. Hasn't he given up yet?
Click to expand...

Oh no, far from it. He now has a kickstarter campaign.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Flying bicycles have been figured out, cars meh. Personally I think conventional airplane wings and flying cars will never work well. Paraglider, hangglider/trike wings or gyrocopters are the only way to make these things semi-practical. Of course that means making the ground vehicle lighter, more go-kart/scooter then minivan. And having a unconventional wing cuts 98.9% of the rigid minded GA population out of your customer base.
Click to expand...
I want a waterski towboat that can fly. It's cruise speed should be at least 120 KTAS and it needs to be as good as a conventional towboat (e.g. Mastercraft) for towing skiers through a slalom course. I suspect that a truly roadable but useful airplane is no more likely to be produced in my lifetime.
 
a fender bender and its rendered unairworthy. add the certified mechanic repair bill and i rather have a plane and a car.
 
cirrusmx said:
a fender bender and its rendered unairworthy. add the certified mechanic repair bill and i rather have a plane and a car.
Click to expand...

A Swiss Army knife looks cool, but it isn't a very good knife and it isn't a very good screwdriver.
 
How high is this ground effect you are talking about? Go to their website: http://www.aeromobil.com/ and play the video. Looks significantly higher than a wing span to me.

I like the PAL-V, for about $50K and I would trade in my BMW for it!
 
17ekc1jwvo9n9jpg.jpg


images


images


Semi succesful car..... failure as an airplane. What were they thinking..??
 
Re: AeroMobil - interesting flying car from Slovakia

... and it's down.

http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/flying-car-crashes-during-test-flight-1703473218/+chris-mills

1246475156872545093.jpg


A flying car crashed during a test flight in Slovakia on Friday. The Aeromobil car was piloted by Stefan Klein, a co-founder of the company. Klein was able to deploy a parachute for the vehicle, which is said to have helped ease the severity of the impact.

Witnesses near the Nitra Janíkovce airport described seeing the flying car go into a tailspin before the parachute was deployed. Klein was taken to the hospital and released without any serious injuries. However, the flying car wasn’t so lucky. Judging by the photos taken at the scene, the vehicle sustained fairly serious damage.
Click to expand...
 
I think I'm going to hold off placing my order for one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top