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Hyundai Made A Flying Car (Sorta)

Hyundai Made A Flying Car (Sorta)
It is impractical! And cool! And we would like to fly it.
By Colin LecherPosted 04.22.2013 at 1:00 pm2 Comments


Flying Car Concept Hyundai via Fox News

For Hyundai's annual Idea Festival--a Wacky Races-style competition where engineers show off the most bonkers ideas they can dream up--a team unveiled this crazy flying car. Basically, it's a multirotor drone, except with a driver's seat and 16 rotors instead of the more conventional four.

So "car" is kind of a loose term here: it's not even being piloted by the person in the cockpit; someone with a remote control is standing by. (Hopefully someone the guy in the cockpit trusts.)

Yes, cool, but just remember this is part of a swarm of inventions from Hyundai's futuristic Idea Festival. Meaning you're not going to be signing up for a flying car soon.

Darn. So close. Until it's the future, see the car in action below (it comes in at about 53 seconds in).



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Sun-powered plane completes San Francisco-area test flight ahead of cross-country tour

Sun-powered plane completes San Francisco-area test flight ahead of cross-country tour

(Jeff Chiu/ Associated Press ) - The Solar Impulse is seen after landing from a test flight at Moffett Field NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., Friday, April 19, 2013. A solar-powered plane that has wowed aviation fans in Europe is set to take an early morning test flight over the San Francisco Bay area. Considered the world’s most advanced sun-powered plane, the Solar Impulse is set to take off from Moffett Field in Mountain View at first light for a two-hour practice run leading up to the start of a multi-city, cross-country tour.









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By Associated Press, Published: April 19


MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — A solar-powered plane that has wowed aviation fans in Europe took to the skies Friday over the San Francisco Bay area in a successful test flight.

Considered the world’s most advanced sun-powered plane, the Solar Impulse took off from Moffett Field in Mountain View at first light for a two-hour practice run in advance of a planned multi-city, cross-country tour.



“That’s a mythical step in aviation,” André Borschberg, one of the plane’s pilots and creators, said about flying cross-country. “We are something like between 1915 and 1920, compared to traditional aviation, when pioneers tried these non-stop flights.”

He said a flight around the world could occur in two years.

The Solar Impulse is powered by about 12,000 photovoltaic cells that cover massive wings and charge its batteries, allowing it to fly day and night without jet fuel. It has the wing span of a commercial airplane but the weight of the average family car, making it vulnerable to bad weather.

Its creators say the Solar Impulse is designed to showcase the potential of solar power and will never replace fuel-powered commercial flights. The delicate, single-seat plane cruises around 40 mph and can’t fly through clouds.

Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse co-founder and chairman, said the plane should be ready for the cross-country journey on May 1, depending on the weather.

“We like nice weather. We like sunny days,” Borschberg said.

Stops are planned in Phoenix, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and New York. Each flight leg will take 20 to 25 hours, with 10-day stops in each city.

Between Dallas and Washington, the plane will also stop at one of three other cities — Atlanta, Nashville or St. Louis.

Borschberg said the plane’s creators are close to being able to launch the non-stop flights needed to go around the world.

Using solar power, “we are close to the notion of perpetual flight,” he said.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Boeing 737s AD Could Cost Operators $10.1 Million

Boeing 737s AD Could Cost Operators $10.1 Million
FAA issued a new airworthiness directive (AD) for next-generation Boeing 737 aircraft that could cost U.S.-based operators up to $10.1 million. 
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