41–50 of 73 posts
Wow, that's great. Here's a video showing more taking off, flying, etc: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8b0oR0-Pgo
Yikes, what a death trap. This monstrosity combines the unreliability of a car with the dangers of a small aircraft. Cars are not as reliable as aircraft because they're not maintained as well, and the operators are far less disciplined. It is generally accepted that small aircraft aviation is generally 10x less safe than driving on both a passenger-mile and per-trip basis. And most small aircraft are flown for recre…
Yikes, what a death trap. This monstrosity combines the unreliability of a car with the dangers of a small aircraft. Cars are not as reliable as aircraft because they're not maintained as well, and the operators are far less disciplined. It is generally accepted that small aircraft aviation is generally 10x less safe than driving on both a passenger-mile and per-trip basis. And most small aircraft are flown for recre…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The reason airplane maintenance is expensive isn't just that airplanes are generally more complex. It's mainly because you have to pay a certified A&P[1] to do it. You're not just paying for the work, you're paying for the entire apparatus of certifications and inspections that backs it up. > Also, by law to drive (in California at least) you're only required to have liability insurance covering the party you hit. Co…
Sure, using an A&P is fine. I'd still imagine the maintenance costs on this thing, consisting mostly of a drag engine, propeller, and chute would be less costly than that of a traditional airplane wouldn't you agree? I do agree it would certainly make sense to opt in for covering the car as well. I was mostly making the point the liability rule could be a baseline showing insurance companies had no reason to charge a…
Not sure what you were trying to say here, but using an A&P isn't "fine," it's mandatory, and it's very expensive.
>...less costly than that of a traditional airplane wouldn't you agree?
Maybe a little, but not significantly. This still misses the point: airplanes are required to get periodic maintenance way more often than cars, and airplane mechanics cost way more than car mechanics. The complexity of the airplane isn't the primary cost driver, the frequent maintenance and the safety requirements placed on that maintenance are.
>It appears this vehicle costs $84K. I believe any person able to afford a 100K class of car would certainly be able to pay the maintenance and insurance costs to drive it as a car ;)
I know a lot of people who own small planes. Most of of those planes were purchased for a price comparable to this thing (because they were purchased used--they would have cost considerably more than $84K if purchased new). All of these people are upper middle class, so these planes represented major expenses for them. They all have to be very careful about how much they fly their planes or they would break their budgets; using their planes as cars would be a terrible waste of money.
Becoming certified as an A&P is a very expensive and time-consuming process, but it pays off in the end for professional A&Ps because they can charge a premium for their work. However, I know a few people who went through this process even though they already have great careers and have no intention of working professionally as A&Ps. Nor were they especially enthusiastic about aircraft maintenance as a hobby. They did it because, in the long run, it was cheaper for them to become certified so they could do all of their own maintenance on their planes rather than pay somebody else to do it. That's how expensive aircraft maintenance is.
This is the tribal adoption scenario he's referring to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincaye
I was also more intrigued by that story than by the car/plane. This is his own account of the story, and his investigation years after the killing: http://www.atanycost.org/images/DidTheyHaveToDie.pdf
"Soon they decided to try the bucket drop, a technique Dad had developed to deliver and retrieve items from missionaries who had no airstrip. He circled his plane overhead in tight circles while a long cord with the goods attached was reeled out behind the plane. Air friction on the basket at the end of the line would make the cord cut to the inside of the circle flown by the airplane, while the weight of the basket caused the cord to fall. When enough line was extended behind the plane, the end of the line would actually hang motionless in the air. Letting out more line at that point would make the line drop straight down where it could be made to hover just above the ground."
I have never before heard of this technique. Sounds like it would take a lot of experience to make it work. Very cool.
Yikes, what a death trap. This monstrosity combines the unreliability of a car with the dangers of a small aircraft. Cars are not as reliable as aircraft because they're not maintained as well, and the operators are far less disciplined. It is generally accepted that small aircraft aviation is generally 10x less safe than driving on both a passenger-mile and per-trip basis. And most small aircraft are flown for recre…
If people had these, it wouldn't of course solve any of the classical 50's flying-car-in-a-traffic-jam problems. Instead, the jam would materialize mid-air with hundreds of these little flying cars looking for a strip of highway to land nearby a supermarket before they all run out of gas and start dropping like flies, unless they've already crashed into each other in the uncontrolled airspace in a very uncontrolled m…
And then there's the unshielded people-blender mounted on the back.... Looks great for the emergency services market he's aiming at, but for the consumer market he wants to target to help get things moving - scary stuff.
I also thought about the props when he was just driving round, I don't know what laws are like in the USA but if you are caught with a lump of wood sticking out the back of the car in the UK then you get pulled over, never mind 6 x 3 foot knives!
1. How much 2. How soon
I love the EAA, if you're attending the fly-in this year ping me and I'll introduce you to my friend Chuck...
This is the tribal adoption scenario he's referring to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincaye