“The team at Terrafugia is about to fulfill the fantasy of every pilot: a consumer vehicle that can take to the highways and the skies. All they have to do is finish the first one” (Mone, 2008)
Why I don’t think we’re ready
A flying car? I’m not sure that we’re ready for that. My opinion: we need to become better drivers before taking to the sky. Car accidents currently cost society $22-40 billion annually (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2010)! With staggering statistics like that, what could we expect if we become a flying society? What if someone cuts you off in mid-air? There aren’t any stop lights or signs up there, so who has the right of way? Not to mention technical malfunctions! Picture yourself “flying to work” and the wings decide to fold up on you. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture, does it? We saw what happened during the Toyata fiasco - and we were on the ground! While these examples are somewhat said tongue-in-cheek, the reality of the potential problem is sobering.
Another frightening fact is the FAA-instituted law that states that someone is only required to obtain 20 hours of flight training in order to receive the sport-pilot license (FAA, nd); necessary to fly the Transition (Mone, 2008). While many may look at this as a positive - enabling those who want to fly but don’t want to put in the standard 40 hours to become a private pilot - I think it’s scary! If I understand correctly, we’d like to enable people to start flying while only forcing them to train half of the time required for private pilots? Again, am I the only one who thinks that this is exactly opposite of what it should be?
The Background
Alright to be fair, the Transition isn’t really a “flying car”. The 27-year-old, MIT graduate and creator has differentiated his relatively new invention by the term, “roadable aircraft”. “What’s the difference?” you may ask. A flying car creates a visual of being stuck in traffic and suddenly taking flight to navigate home faster. However, this invention is supposedly intended to take the place of the common personal aircraft. But to argue the point for a moment, the Transition is both a fully capable car – working its way through the ridged confines of the NHTSA4 and EPA5 – and fully airplane – meeting almost all requirements established by the FAA6. Additionally, the small engineering team all sport bumper stickers reading “My next car will be an airplane”. So, pardon the confusion, but it seems as though there’s a lot of buzz being created around cars growing wings. Am I the only one taking a step back and asking, “huh”? Somehow, I doubt it.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I certainly do appreciate our human desire to better ourselves and continue evolving. I also realize that there’s always a starting point for emergent technologies and we wouldn’t be where we are today if there wasn’t a brave soul courageous enough to buck against the walls of technology and science. But has anyone really thought through the concept of flying cars; and I mean really thought through it?
What do you think?
Okay, okay, I believe I've adequately expressed my thoughts about my kids flying to school; but, I want to know what you think. Is this something exciting and fun, or is it something we should start losing sleep over? Post your comments and give your perspective.
References
Mone, G. (2008). Driving airplane: the flying car gets real. Popular Science, 273(4), 42. Retrieved on February 15, 2011 from EBSCOhost.
FAA (nd). Sport pilot. Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved on February 10, 2011 from FAA website: http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/sport_pilot/
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (March 18, 2010).
Automobile Collision Data: An Assessment of Needs and Methods of Acquisition. In NHTSA. Retrieved February 10, 2011, from http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Articles/EDR/PDF/Research/Automobile_Collision_Data--An_Assessment1.pdf
4 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
5 United States Environment Protection Agency
6 Federal Aviation Administration
Mone, G. (2008). Driving airplane: the flying car gets real. Popular Science, 273(4), 42. Retrieved on February 15, 2011 from EBSCOhost.
FAA (nd). Sport pilot. Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved on February 10, 2011 from FAA website: http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/sport_pilot/
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (March 18, 2010).
Automobile Collision Data: An Assessment of Needs and Methods of Acquisition. In NHTSA. Retrieved February 10, 2011, from http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Articles/EDR/PDF/Research/Automobile_Collision_Data--An_Assessment1.pdf
4 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
5 United States Environment Protection Agency
6 Federal Aviation Administration
2 comments:
Josh,
As a firefighter a cringe at the thought of flying cars. Head on collisions, sideswipes, power failures, and trapped parties. Here is a thought, with flying cars there exists the possibility of people flying to remote locations and if there were to be an accident, then first responders will have a hard time getting to the scene of the accident. This will totally change the rules for licensing.
Personally, I think that the idea is fantastic for the most part. I work as a police officer, and have seen the destruction that can be caused by auto accidents. However, I do not believe that the average Joe off of the street will be in a financial position to purchase such a vehicle, nor do I think that they would have the desire to put forth the amount of effort to obtain a sport-pilot license.
For one, obtaining such a license is not necessarily cheap. It isn't like going down to the DMV, taking a fairly simple test, and paying a modest fee. It is quite pricy.And while it may only be 20 hours of flight instruction, consider the amount of studying involved in understanding and, essentially, memorizing the extremely technical nuances of flight.
Additionally, to address the "who has the right of way" question, the FAA has established guidelines and rules for flight and sport-pilots are required to adhere to these, or risk losing their license, thus changing their purchase from a "flying car" to an extravagant, ground-based motor vehicle.
Lastly, and this is just food for thought, there is no current requirement for a license to operate an ultralight aircraft. While some training is necessary to fly it operationally, there is no requirement for such to obtain a license to do so. This means that anyone with a little jingle in their pocket can buy a kit, build a plane, and take it out for an aerial spin.
Personally, I think that enabling those with the financial wherewithal to purchase and use such a vehicle is a smart idea. It would lead to less congestion on roadways and potentially reduce the amount of auto accidents. Granted, there may be some airborne incidents, and they could be pricy in regards to monetary damages, but planes are required to be insured as well. We all take a risk by pulling out on the roads as it is. Why not allow some to fly and accept the same risks?
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