Filed under: Gadgets
NASA funds Flying Car competition
I know we're all disappointed that the flying cars we were promised way back in the Fifties and Sixties haven't come to fruition yet. I mean we're not living in the future until we have flying cars, right? Luxist has learned that NASA is addressing our grievances by funding the Personal Air Vehicle Challenge. Up for grabs are $250,000 in prize money for a variety of advancements in flying vehicle technology. You could earn $25,000 for an advancement in noise control and $150,000 for a "vehicle with two to six seats that can fly at least 130 mph for a 300-mile range while being fuel-efficient and making good time door-to-door." Luxist's Deidre Woolard makes the good point that NASA doesn't have the dough to put up a proper incentive for this challenge. Perhaps Paul Allen is looking for another pet project to fund.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Joseph Willemssen 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Wonderful - let's extend poor driving habits to the air. Great idea.
Reply
md 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
joseph, i agree. the idea of flying cars is awesome, but in reality they would be too dangerous in the hands of the average idiot who does not have the time to be bothered by watching the road to be worth it.
Reply
7of7 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Simple solution: If you've been deemed liable in a ground accident, no air car for you. This could be the real non insurance related reward that good careful drivers have always wanted.
Reply
Dan 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
It doesn't count as the future if the things run off of a bunch of frigging fans.
Show me fusion-powered antigravity or don't waste my time.
Reply
Dan 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
And God help you if there's no flux-capacitor option package!
Reply
TSW 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
The biggest problem I see is that the prize offered is only a token.
Show me the 10 million dollar prize for the same achievement and I'll show you 100 teams clamoring to be the first to do it.
This $250K affair is a piddling thing compared to the X-Prize.
Reply
Lester Jones 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
wait so the clowns that cant handle 2d driving will want to take on 3d driving...
and i hope that i can reverse the polarity if something goes wrong before i crash...
Reply
MattS 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
how much mpg do you get there...
EPA .2 / .5
Reply
David 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Actually, what's not mentioned in the blog is that NASA has funded research on a project called "Highway in the Sky" or some other catchy name like that, I forget if that's correct or not, to essentially completely automate flight for low-level (i.e. below 8k feet) flight. While current avionics are not quite there yet, they're getting close. The primary barrier is cost. Current commercial transport a/c have automated TCAS (traffic collision avoidance system) and EGPWS (enhanced ground proximity warning system), and I believe that an airport/taxiway collision avoidance system is either already mandated or going to be soon.
At some point, if these systems are mass produced, it would not be inconceivable to have an avionics package in the $100k range that is nearly completely automated. Of course, then you've got the rest of the a/c to pay for, but no one ever said the "Highway in the Sky" was going to be cheap . . .
Reply
Lee Gibson 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Just pathetic.
$150,000? That probably wouldn't even pay for a production aircraft of the type they describe, and that's the bounty NASA puts up?
This is exactly the business NASA should be in, rather than driving unreliable, expensive space trucks. And all they can come up with is a measly $150,000?
Please.
Reply
Andrew Pierce 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
Hey, Paul Moeller should grab that prize -- his Skycar (pictured) been coming soon since the mid-80s. All he needs is a few more investors to fleece, err... I mean get in on the ground floor!
Reply
sam 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
geez, NASA should just cancel all of its projects and spend all its money on competitions like this. A shitload more would get done. Yeah its not a lot in the grand scheme of building a flying car, but it helps- spaceshipone cost a lot more than $10 million to make, and that didnt stop them. Its encouragement. And if other public or private organizations were to chip in more money, flying cars could start to become a reality.
Reply
Joseph Willemssen 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
All those in favor of having a "highway in the sky" over their primary or vacation home - please raise your hands.
Reply
Mike 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
I agree with 11. I've been keeping an eye on Moeller for many years. I'd love to see this kind of technology get developed. But, since the value of the prize is LESS than the cost of one of these things, I don't think this is going to excite anyone.
Reply
Greg 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
I think it's more likely that any successful flying car design would be used by emergency services like firefighters, police, or even the military long before it would be available to the public.
Reply
sam 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
"All those in favor of having a "highway in the sky" over their primary or vacation home - please raise your hands."
If it was high enough and I couldnt hear it, I wouldnt care.
Reply
Lee Gibson 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
*raises hand*
Joseph, you understand that rather a large number of aircraft pass over people's heads every day, and very few people die from getting hit in the head with said aircraft?
Compare the odds of living under airplanes with the odds of crossing a street on foot, at a crosswalk.
Reply
Joseph Willemssen 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
"If it was high enough and I couldnt hear it, I wouldnt care."
I wasn't aware of the existence of silent aircraft.
"Joseph, you understand that rather a large number of aircraft pass over people's heads every day"
Yes, and people try not to live near their flight paths, as they are very noisy.
"and very few people die from getting hit in the head with said aircraft?"
Strawman - I never made that argument. Try again.
"Compare the odds of living under airplanes with the odds of crossing a street on foot, at a crosswalk."
Compare the sound of idiots buzzing over your house night and day with being able to live away from noise somewhat. No chance in hell will people let things like this develop - it's the NIMBY factor.
Reply
iQuack 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
New job classification: Neighborhood Air Traffic Controller.
Reply
sam 11:06PM (12/18/2005)
"I wasn't aware of the existence of silent aircraft."
I wasnt aware of flying cars either, but this whole discussion is about possible near future technolgy. from the article:
"You could earn $25,000 for an advancement in noise control"
clearly its what the program is getting at.
Reply