RE: Dutch flying car swoops into Geneva
Thursday 1st February 2018
This is what we dreamt would be happening in 2018, isn't it? Not variable speed limits, internet on planes, or Snapchat - but flying cars, and now we have them. The PAL-V Liberty can be ordered today, will be shown to the world at the Geneva show, and is described by its makers as "fully compliant with existing regulations". Hmm...
Power for the Liberty on road comes from a 100hp engine, giving a 100mph top speed and a range of up to 817 miles. Air propulsion is a via a 200hp engine, allowing PAL-V's creation to reach 3,500m and 112mph. It's also said to make as much noise in the air as a light aircraft, and much less than a helicopter.
The Liberty will be launched as a €499,000 Pioneer Edition, a lavish range topper which includes flight instruction, power heating and "personalisation options." Once the 90-car production run for that has been sold, the Sport model will be launched, the purist's choice that does without so much standard kit but costs a mere €299,000...
Dutch flying car swoops into Geneva
The PAL-V Liberty is available to buy now!
As can be seen, the Liberty rides on three wheels, with the rotor blades folded away on the roof. It's said to take between five and 10 minutes to have the car ready for flight mode, and also to return it to a roadworthy condition. What will take more time is reaching a location suitable to fly, as PAL-V says the Liberty requires a minimum take-off space of 90x200m - clearly without obstacles, too. And you'll need a pilot's licence...
Following the Geneva debut, PAL-V says the Liberty will reach customers in 2019, a period it describes as a "pivotal time in aviation and mobility history." So, do you think the Liberty will take off? Let us know in the comments below.
[Source: Autocar]
Discussion
It's flying speed is more important than it's ground speed. If you lived near Bristol and worked in London you could conceivably use this to commute to work. But if the air speed is slow you'd be better off driving on the motorway as in this you'll immediately loose 20 mins prepping for flight one end and prepping for the road the other.
Still, it's cool enough that if I was still 10 I'd have a poster of it on my wall.
Still, it's cool enough that if I was still 10 I'd have a poster of it on my wall.
at those pictures aaron_2000 said:
So it's a car you need a long straight to take off on, a pilots license and I assume you'd need clearance to fly it? As cool/impressive as it is, it really is pointless.
Also need to file a flight plan. It's not like you can simply rock up to an airport and fly as it is.Besides that... could they not have gotten someone better to do the photoshop, the vehicle itself looks CG.
It´s a tilting three wheeler! This alone is a very VERY hard thing to do. Tilting may look so easy and natural, but BMW failed at it with the CLEVER, so did Toyota with its i-road. Van den Brink mastered it, but the system behind is hideously complicated and heavy. And this V-Pal thing even flies!
I think it´s the happiest vehicle ever and everyone who doesn´t like it is a grumbly party pooper.
I think it´s the happiest vehicle ever and everyone who doesn´t like it is a grumbly party pooper.
So, in short, we've got a not particularly good autogiro that can be road legal to drive to and from your airports. For a car it's not a bad autogiro. For an autogiro it's not a bad car. But that's about the best praise it gets. We will get "flying cars" relatively soon but they won't be really usable until the autonomous systems come on line and the updated air traffic control protocols (that, at least, NASA has been finalizing and, I assume, the EU has been locking down as well) and even then they'll only be a significant benefit to those who have a long daily commute that is currently highly congested.
Can't believe there a so many negative comments. This is the first step on a long journey and PAL-V have taken it, if this truly turns out to be the first commercially available flying car well done to those guys. Yes, at the moment there are no doubt regulatory issues - but the world evolves. Surprised to be hearing the machine be described as 'pointless' - people were probably saying the same thing in 1886 when Karl Benz came up with his horseless carriage.
it has 2 engines the flying one has 200bhp....how much power does a light aircraft need. also Weight being an issue does that rule out hybrid power.
An an autogyro looks like a helicopter why can't it take off vertically...
I am asking because I don't know not as a subtle crticic of the designe
An an autogyro looks like a helicopter why can't it take off vertically...
I am asking because I don't know not as a subtle crticic of the designe
The max airspeed is very impressive for a gyro. The take off distance is also extremely short.
Gyros need enough rotor rpm to make the lift/drag ratio for flight. The rotor would be spun up initially by one of the engines (only possible stationary on the ground because of torque effect on the airframe) then the forward motion of the rotor blade through the air on the take off run achieves the needed rotor rpm.
They can almost land on a dime.
Gyros need enough rotor rpm to make the lift/drag ratio for flight. The rotor would be spun up initially by one of the engines (only possible stationary on the ground because of torque effect on the airframe) then the forward motion of the rotor blade through the air on the take off run achieves the needed rotor rpm.
They can almost land on a dime.
Gecko1978 said:
it has 2 engines the flying one has 200bhp....how much power does a light aircraft need. also Weight being an issue does that rule out hybrid power.
An an autogyro looks like a helicopter why can't it take off vertically...
I am asking because I don't know not as a subtle crticic of the designe
I have been in an autogyro once. I have been in a helicopter once. So I AM guessing here.An an autogyro looks like a helicopter why can't it take off vertically...
I am asking because I don't know not as a subtle crticic of the designe
I believe the autogyro big prop thing on the top generates lift as it spins. However it also has a smaller prop on the back to generate forward thrust. These 2 are connected so if one spins the other has to spin. This is largely similar to helicopter but on a helicopter the rear prop does not generate forward thrust instead it prevents the body of the chopper spinning the opposite way to the propeller on the top. So think of the rear prop on a chopper as a keel. An auto gyro can not go straight up or down, it has to go forward. It can go forward slowly which makes it drop quickly. An auto gyro can also fly or glide without the engine on as the rear prop thing effectively generates drive or energy like a wind turbine as it moves forward through the air. As the 2 props are connected this energy then drives the big one on top. The big one on top then generates lift.
How was that?
ATM said:
Gecko1978 said:
it has 2 engines the flying one has 200bhp....how much power does a light aircraft need. also Weight being an issue does that rule out hybrid power.
An an autogyro looks like a helicopter why can't it take off vertically...
I am asking because I don't know not as a subtle crticic of the designe
I have been in an autogyro once. I have been in a helicopter once. So I AM guessing here.An an autogyro looks like a helicopter why can't it take off vertically...
I am asking because I don't know not as a subtle crticic of the designe
I believe the autogyro big prop thing on the top generates lift as it spins. However it also has a smaller prop on the back to generate forward thrust. These 2 are connected so if one spins the other has to spin. This is largely similar to helicopter but on a helicopter the rear prop does not generate forward thrust instead it prevents the body of the chopper spinning the opposite way to the propeller on the top. So think of the rear prop on a chopper as a keel. An auto gyro can not go straight up or down, it has to go forward. It can go forward slowly which makes it drop quickly. An auto gyro can also fly or glide without the engine on as the rear prop thing effectively generates drive or energy like a wind turbine as it moves forward through the air. As the 2 props are connected this energy then drives the big one on top. The big one on top then generates lift.
How was that?
ATM said:
I have been in an autogyro once. I have been in a helicopter once. So I AM guessing here.
I believe the autogyro big prop thing on the top generates lift as it spins. However it also has a smaller prop on the back to generate forward thrust. These 2 are connected so if one spins the other has to spin. This is largely similar to helicopter but on a helicopter the rear prop does not generate forward thrust instead it prevents the body of the chopper spinning the opposite way to the propeller on the top. So think of the rear prop on a chopper as a keel. An auto gyro can not go straight up or down, it has to go forward. It can go forward slowly which makes it drop quickly. An auto gyro can also fly or glide without the engine on as the rear prop thing effectively generates drive or energy like a wind turbine as it moves forward through the air. As the 2 props are connected this energy then drives the big one on top. The big one on top then generates lift.
How was that?
Wrong.I believe the autogyro big prop thing on the top generates lift as it spins. However it also has a smaller prop on the back to generate forward thrust. These 2 are connected so if one spins the other has to spin. This is largely similar to helicopter but on a helicopter the rear prop does not generate forward thrust instead it prevents the body of the chopper spinning the opposite way to the propeller on the top. So think of the rear prop on a chopper as a keel. An auto gyro can not go straight up or down, it has to go forward. It can go forward slowly which makes it drop quickly. An auto gyro can also fly or glide without the engine on as the rear prop thing effectively generates drive or energy like a wind turbine as it moves forward through the air. As the 2 props are connected this energy then drives the big one on top. The big one on top then generates lift.
How was that?
The lift rotor is free-spinning. Not connected to the drive (rear) rotor.
sumpoil said:
Can't believe there a so many negative comments. This is the first step on a long journey and PAL-V have taken it, if this truly turns out to be the first commercially available flying car well done to those guys. Yes, at the moment there are no doubt regulatory issues - but the world evolves. Surprised to be hearing the machine be described as 'pointless' - people were probably saying the same thing in 1886 when Karl Benz came up with his horseless carriage.
Well said that man! I fully agree. Very cool, not my thing at all, but impressive none the less!
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