flying cars

Why don’t we all own flying cars?

Cars. Airplanes. Both are great ways to get around.

But wouldn’t it be great if the two were put together so the same vehicle could get you where you needed to go no matter what the traffic conditions?

Lots of people have been working on making that dream of flying cars – or roadable aircraft – a reality.

But we’re not there quite yet.

These short videos about Robert Fulton Jr.’s Airphibian – on display at the Smitshsonian National Air & SpaceMuseum; Moulton’s Taylor’s Aerocar – see one at Seattle’s Museum of Flight – and the this-could-be-yours for just $98,000 Jetson One – (a nod to flying car in The Jetsons cartoon show) – prove that it could happen.

What would make your trip to the airport more fun?

(Early flying car – the Aerocar)

I’m excited, honored – and a bit nervous – about being a moderator for several sessions during Monday’s Passenger Experience Conference in Hamburg, Germany.

The topics my presenters will be tackling in the Covergence and Mobility stream range from how mobile technology might better (or ever) tie together the many ways we now have to travel through the world (bikes, taxis, car share, trains, planes, etc…) to how – and when – we might eat or do other things along the way.

I’ll be sharing notes, pictures and musings here and on Twitter (@hbaskas) about these presentations and the new and exciting products and ideas that are presented throughout the week at the Aircraft Interiors Expo and several related events being held in Hamburg this week.

Standy by and please feel free to send your questions to me here – or via Twitter (@hbaskas) – about what’s in store for getting to and from airports and for flying on airplanes.

 

 

Flying cars? Not so new

I’m working on a few articles about this weekend’s grand opening LeMay-America’s Car Museum, in Tacoma, Washington and running through the list of treasures in their collection: a 1916 Pierce-Arrow Brougham, a  1930 Dusenberg Model J, a 1942 Chevrolet Blackout, and a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray to name just a few.

1942 Chevrolet Blackou from the LeMay Museum

The list of cars reminds me of one my favorite cars – the Taylor Areocar III, one of the sassy two-passenger cars, first made by Moulton Taylor in 1949, that was a commuter’s dream machine: it has a rear propeller and a tow-able set of wings so that drivers could easily escape a highway backup.

Early flying car - the Aerocar

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The car is now on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.