We Need to Stop Falling for Flying Cars

we need to stop falling for flying carsTesla showed the new Roadster off to the masses last week and all anyone seems to be able to talk about is seeing it fly through the air. While quite the spectacle, most surprising was the fact that loads of people have again fallen prey to the never-ending hype surrounding flying cars.

We've been hearing about them for decades and they're miraculously always just a few more years away. But this time will be different because it's already here. We all saw what happened and it's not like a company has ever casually misled people in order to promote something at a highly publicized media extravaganza.

All the flying and flipping around was made possible thanks to extensive modifications, which included gutting the vehicle so it could accommodate pressurized tanks holding 250 kilograms of compressed air. These gasses were then redirected to any of the 10 nozzles that were fitted to the Roadster. Tech borrowed from SpaceX decided when and how venting would need to be done to achieve the desired effect.

we need to stop falling for flying carsThis required all manner of actuators, release valves, sensors, gyroscopes, and computers running some pretty slick software. Literal rocket science and then some. Our own news bot briefly covered what little information was shared about the car's hardware last week, including some of the equipment used to make it fly. So it's not as if there's some big conspiracy attempting to hide how the flying act was performed.

Imagine hooking a bunch of cans of computer duster up to a cardboard box with an iPad inside and you have the basic idea. Seeing the concept scaled up to the size of a car and actually working was indeed impressive. Had it taken place at Monster Jam then we would all feel nothing but elated with the feat. Instead, we're once again finding ourselves having to explain to select loved ones why this technology won't be available to the public.

The nozzle system was sufficient to help the vehicle make a controlled landing and hop around a tad. However, there is no way to store enough compressed gas to keep the stunt-prepped Roadster off the ground for more than a few seconds. It was a magic trick, albeit a pretty good one.

we need to stop falling for flying carsMore realistic was the multimode fan and ground sealing system that made it possible for the car to drive up the wall at a leisurely speed. We've heard for ages that proper aerodynamics would theoretically make it possible for an automobile to drive upside down at high speeds. But we've also seen vehicles using fans to create downforce, like the Chaparral 2J, Gordon Murray T.50, and McMurtry Spéirling – the last of which actually used the tech to hang completely upside down without falling.

Tesla also took the fan route to achieve its stunt and there's a nonzero chance that some version of this technology might stick around. Engineers said the system can be used to create additional downforce or swap to cool down the battery when needed. But the primary goal revolves around adding traction, even at low speeds. It's alleged to come on at least one trim of the Roadster, helping push its launch to 60 mph below the one-second mark.

Estimated to weigh roughly 3,700 pounds, the production Tesla Roadster was said to feature twin electric motors producing a combined 1,500 horsepower and more adaptive aerodynamics than you'd find on the typical hypercar. Range was estimated at over 300 miles and the car is supposed to feature the quickest charging battery system the company has offered.

we need to stop falling for flying carsHow much of that will land on the production model is something we can all debate. But there is no reality in which anyone should bother seriously entertaining any flight-like capabilities. The flying show car was heavily modified and available exclusively on an invite-only basis, according to Tesla. That means nobody actually gets to own one and the manufacturer can still hype it as if it's a real car.

Tesla is well within its rights to promote the Roadster in whatever manner it pleases. The company shot one of the older concepts into space in 2018, so just about anything seems like fair game. But we're having some of the largest media outlets in the world quoting CEO Elon Musk as saying his company will be delivering a literal flying car. They're often entertaining the concept as serious and failing to note that other entities have already promised or unsuccessfully delivered on their own versions.

Besides, we already have flying cars. They're called aircraft and function around an entirely different set of rules, regulations, and certifications one needs to obtain in order to pilot them. Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft have likewise been around for a few years. Much like helicopters before them, private ownership is largely limited to extremely wealthy households. They also don't resemble cars because they need to be good at flying.

we need to stop falling for flying carsShould a worthwhile flying car ever be produced, it would cease to be an automobile. In addition to the legal issues, there would be little reason to compromise aerial performance so that it would be better on the ground.

Still, the desire is to want the traditional idea of a flying car to become real. The fantasy of cruising at street level before seamlessly cruising up to 30,000 feet to blast off to another continent is about as good as it gets. It just doesn't make much sense when you stop to think about the logistics of everything involved to make that happen in real life.

It seems reasonable to assume that Tesla probably ran countless trail runs of its own flying car before it felt comfortable doing it in front of millions of eyeballs. The people involved in making that happen deserve praise. But we absolutely have to stop suggesting to people that flying cars are something we can look forward to in the near future. The industry has been running this routine for decades and the bit feels stale if you've been paying attention.

Ford once developed an affordable small airplane, called the Flivver, that it pitched as potentially viable for masses. Much of the marketing referenced it as the Model T of the sky, leading to some wild claims from the press. Henry Ford later publicly speculated that the automobile and airplane would eventually merge into a singular vehicle in 1940.

we need to stop falling for flying carsThere's a lot of debate about exactly what he envisioned or the timeline he had in mind. But the industry really leaned into the premise over the following years. Automakers were routinely incorporating features they'd seen on modern aircraft into vehicle designs by 1950 (above) and just kept running with the concept until tail fins had reached critical mass. Promotional materials would frequently include sky-bound vehicles as part of the industry's vision of the future.

While the trend comes and goes, automakers still do this today. Every sizable trade show always seems to include at least one major brand broaching the subject as if they might actually have something in the works. But a modicum of research reveals it to be some part of some elaborate design exercise.

In terms of legitimate attempts of keeping the automobile airborne, designers have never really been able to move past the setbacks that plagued the Curtiss Autoplane. Alleged to be the very first "flying car," the model made its first public display in 1917. But the craft was just barely capable of lifting off the ground and the fragile wings had to be attached separately.

Later designs would prove more successful at staying in the air. But there was always an issue of where to stow the wings when not in use and the fact that driver/pilots would still need access to a runway. Most vehicles likewise suffered from being both a horrible car and a subpar airplane.

we need to stop falling for flying carsSeveral experiments even proved to be fatal, like the AVE Mizar. The vehicle was effectively a Ford Pinto that could be bolted to the back half of a Cessna Skymaster. Early test flights showed that the model wasn't structurally sound due to the weight and poor aerodynamics of the largely unmodified hatchback. Modifications were made to shore up the weak points. But a final test in 1973 saw the wings collapse entirely, killing the company's founder and vice president in the resulting crash.

A majority of concepts would compromise the car side of the equation to better prioritize aeronautics. This was the case of the Taylor Aerocar (1949) and Fulton Airphibian (1946) which served as some of the first efforts to actually sell a flying car to the public. But high production costs and insufficient orders resulted in a handful of working prototypes and nothing more.

we need to stop falling for flying carsOdds seem good that the same will apply to the Terrafugia Transition, which is presently aiming to be the very first commercially viable flying car.

That honor is contingent on it actually coming to market. But the prospect seems increasingly unlikely as the Terrafugia Transition has been in development since 2006 and personal eVTOL options seem to be growing. Few will bother with the increasingly dated concept of flying cars when we now have personal hovercraft and quadcopters. But most of the vertical take-off craft are nearly as overhyped as flying cars – existing as either short-range toys or the all-too-familiar perpetually in-development product you can only preorder.

we need to stop falling for flying carsThe point is that we've had companies pushing the premise of flying personal transport for ages and we haven't actually made much progress. Serious efforts all seem to be held back by logistical realities and everything else comes down to businesses simply leveraging the idea for marketing purposes. But that's hardly new territory for any industry tied to technology and we've seen loads of (prospective and established) automakers promise the moon to sway investors on hypothetical products that never see daylight.

Despite much surface level talk to the contrary, Tesla isn't serious about offering a flying car and hasn't built one. It's just using the concept to hype the brand and is hardly alone in the practice. The flying car has become one of the longest-running routines in automotive history and we've got to stop collectively falling for the gag.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me repeatedly for over a century, shame on me.

we need to stop falling for flying cars[Images: Tesla; VanderWolf Images/Shutterstock; Ken Morris/Shutterstock; Doug Duncan/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); Artistic Operations/Shutterstock]

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