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Larry Page’s startups working on flying cars

bloomberg.com

11–20 of 218 posts

Re: Larry Page’s startups working on flying cars

#11
post #4

By the way, their job openings are all for B.S. and M.S. level (no Ph.D.), which seems a bit odd.

As a PhD, I think this makes sense. My guess is Paige want's people designing and building the car largely with existing tech. Not spending 10-15 years innovating new ways to fly.

It's a coarse filter, but probably aimed at that effect.

Re: Larry Page’s startups working on flying cars

#12
post #8

I think that autonomous vehicles make flying cars possible. On one hand, learning to fly is difficult (the problem has a dimension more than driving on the surface) and people really do not like wreckage falling from the sky. So one needs a highly trained expert to pilot any flying vehicle, or a fully autonomous autopilot. The second thing is energy, a plane needs to handle a lot more energy than a car, simply becaus…

Flight takes less energy than you might think. The real issue is landing in city's. You need virticle takeoff and landing which creates a lot of issues.

Re: Larry Page’s startups working on flying cars

#16
post #8

I think that autonomous vehicles make flying cars possible. On one hand, learning to fly is difficult (the problem has a dimension more than driving on the surface) and people really do not like wreckage falling from the sky. So one needs a highly trained expert to pilot any flying vehicle, or a fully autonomous autopilot. The second thing is energy, a plane needs to handle a lot more energy than a car, simply becaus…

So, I think there is a difference between a plane which can also function as a car on streets and cars which can take flight but mostly stay on the ground. The former can be lighter the latter would be heavier, using current materials. Primarily planes vs primarily cars.

Re: Larry Page’s startups working on flying cars

#17
post #12
post #8

I think that autonomous vehicles make flying cars possible. On one hand, learning to fly is difficult (the problem has a dimension more than driving on the surface) and people really do not like wreckage falling from the sky. So one needs a highly trained expert to pilot any flying vehicle, or a fully autonomous autopilot. The second thing is energy, a plane needs to handle a lot more energy than a car, simply becaus…

Flight takes less energy than you might think. The real issue is landing in city's. You need virticle takeoff and landing which creates a lot of issues.

People are working on planes that can land vertically under computer control.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning...

Re: Larry Page’s startups working on flying cars

#18
post #12
post #8

I think that autonomous vehicles make flying cars possible. On one hand, learning to fly is difficult (the problem has a dimension more than driving on the surface) and people really do not like wreckage falling from the sky. So one needs a highly trained expert to pilot any flying vehicle, or a fully autonomous autopilot. The second thing is energy, a plane needs to handle a lot more energy than a car, simply becaus…

Flight takes less energy than you might think. The real issue is landing in city's. You need virticle takeoff and landing which creates a lot of issues.

You might be interested in this

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/08/481286099/...

Re: Larry Page’s startups working on flying cars

#19
post #8

I think that autonomous vehicles make flying cars possible. On one hand, learning to fly is difficult (the problem has a dimension more than driving on the surface) and people really do not like wreckage falling from the sky. So one needs a highly trained expert to pilot any flying vehicle, or a fully autonomous autopilot. The second thing is energy, a plane needs to handle a lot more energy than a car, simply becaus…

> The second thing is energy, a plane needs to handle a lot more energy than a car, simply because it flies

A cessna gets between 15mpg and 22mpg.

http://www.cessna150152.com/faqs/performance.htm

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