The Artist said:I can see where some police departments would like to have something like this.
Orionblamblam said:Coming soon (2018) to a dystopian Los Angeles near you:
Kevin Renner said:All electric drive in the ground mode with a generator/alternator driven off of the same gas turbine would make the most sense IMO as far as powering the wheels. Also a single ducted fan in the rear rather than the two outboard ones. Also electric?
Abraham Gubler said:I’m still really at a loss as to why the military need a roadable VTOL platform? There may be good civil reasons for such a beast but for the military if you can fly, why drive? Sure there is a good argument for a VTOL platform that will land, stay and observe, multiple times in a mission but in all of its mobility phases flying makes more sense. All roadability gives you is complexity in the form of a second motive system, folding rotors, etc.
.....The design of the TX is yet to be settled. It might be a specially-pimped gyrocraft jumpcopter as pictured above, or an alternative ducted-fan-in-wing job from aerospace behemoth Lockheed (details on that variant remain scant). However, it now appears that whichever design is chosen, the powerplant is likely to be an EnduroCORE wonder-diesel rather than a noisy, thirsty, high-maintenance turbine.
That caused us to sit up here on the Reg flying-car desk. We got in touch with Scott Claflin, Rocketdyne bigwig in charge of "Power Innovations", to find out some more.
According to Claflin, the EnduroCORE is neither a regular piston diesel, nor yet a trendy turbocharged job. He describes it as "a novel type of rotary engine" that can run on any heavy fuel - military JP-8 or regular diesel are both fine. He confirms the marketing hype, saying that EnduroCORE "will have an installed power-to-weight similar to gas turbine engines".
Unfortunately Claflin wouldn't be drawn on further specifics, saying that the EnduroCORE tech is a proprietary company secret - and in any case counts as valuable military technology and so is subject to US war-tech-control laws.....
.....Terrific - but as ever with flying-car stories, there are a couple of caveats. Firstly, Rocketdyne specifies that "high rotating speeds" are required to get maximum poke from EnduroCORE. This is a hint that some burdens associated with turbines may still exist - the need for complicated and trouble-prone gearboxes as in today's helicopters, for instance, not to mention high-speed bearings and so forth in the engine itself. Doubtless an EnduroCORE-powered US Marine hoverjeep would be cheaper to run than a helicopter, but it probably won't be as cheap as an ordinary Humvee.....
In its original requirements for Transformer, DARPA asked participants to “demonstrate a four-person flyable/roadable vehicle that provides the warfighter terrain-independent mobility…. The vehicle will have VTOL capability with a minimum combat range of 250 nautical miles on a single tank of fuel.”
The scope of the program has since been refined to focus on the common VTOL lift module that could adapt for multiple missions with interchangeable payloads.
After being selected for the second phase of DARPA’s Transformer program in 2011, the Lockheed Martin team matured its concept and completed a preliminary design review with DARPA and other technical experts in 2012.The preliminary design was the basis for the Phase 3 effort, which involves designing and building the prototype system. Lockheed Martin won the $20.3 million Phase 3 contract in late 2012 to perform detail design work and risk reduction tests that lead to a Critical Design Review. Following this review, DARPA will decide if it will exercise a further option to build and then fly the prototype in 2015.
John21 said:I figured this would have been cut/canceled with all the CR, budget and sequestration issues. If I was in charge I sure as heck would have a canceled it. The whole concept seems silly and a waste of tax payer money.
yasotay said:Besides I have been waiting since the 60's for my Jetson's air car. I have given up my plans to retire to the moon base.
.. right a CAR. Civil Aircraft Robotic ;Dsferrin said:yasotay said:Besides I have been waiting since the 60's for my Jetson's air car. I have given up my plans to retire to the moon base.
I wish people would remember that a "flying car", in the sense that 99% of the people are thinking of, isn't a car that can fly. It's an aircraft that is as compact, cost-effective, and practical to fly as a car is to drive.
yasotay said:.. right a CAR. Civil Aircraft Robotic ;Dsferrin said:yasotay said:Besides I have been waiting since the 60's for my Jetson's air car. I have given up my plans to retire to the moon base.
I wish people would remember that a "flying car", in the sense that 99% of the people are thinking of, isn't a car that can fly. It's an aircraft that is as compact, cost-effective, and practical to fly as a car is to drive.
Besides George parked in a garage, not a hangar. Dropped his kids off at school and his wife went shopping with it.
CAR!!
B)
SkyNet will take care of that for you. All you have to do is sit back and watch the news on your tablet while sipping your Starbucks coffee globe.Jemiba said:And "this" (top one) probably accidentally shows, why flying cars of this kind and
usage won't appear, at least not, until they can be flown fully autonomous. Of course,
there are enough collisions on the streets, too, but in most cases at least the debris then
remains there and won't come crashing through your roof !
yasotay said:Interesting. So now the lifting device is a seperate system. Still not sure I would want to be the passenger if I don't have any way to control the beasty.