Airspeeder aerial racing series announced
Manned octocopters, with fighter jet power-to-weight ratios, racing. Yes please.
The year 2020, a point in time which still sounds so futuristic that it’s impossible to believe it’s fewer than six months away. Humanity was supposed to have colonised Mars by now, not to mention the moon. On Earth people would live in floating cities far above the planet’s pristine surface, and travel from place to place if not by teleportation just yet, then at least by flying car.
Well, that 2020 vision of the past has turned out to be rather less clear than we’d hoped, but it wasn’t far off in one respect. Flying cars are becoming an ever more realistic prospect, perhaps not ready for the daily commute but at least existing as functioning vehicles. And if that prospect excites you as much as F1’s latest stewarding controversy turns you off the sport, then we may have just the thing for you.
Airspeeder, described as a “radical new airborne motorsport for the 21st century” is set to make its global public debut at this week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The series, which “combines the format of Formula E, the thrills of air racing and the glamour of F1” has just announced finance firm Equals (more recognisable by its previous name, FairFX) as its title sponsor, joining logistics partner DHL in seemingly giving it the credibility lacking from so many of these types of things.
That’s good news, because who wouldn’t want to see 120mph-capable octocopters with power-to-weight ratios superior to those of F-18 fighter jets racing each against each other? For those interested (and that should be everyone) a Mk. IV version of the craft, developed by Australian start-up Alauda Racing - which aims to use the series to develop a “world-beating flying sports car” for sale to the public - will be on static display in the FoS’s Future Lab throughout the weekend.
There’ll also be dynamic demonstrations of the Mk. II Speeder racecraft - which is remotely piloted for now - adjacent to the hillclimb route, giving the public a flavour of what they can expect when five teams and ten pilots take to the skies for the first Airspeeder World Championship in 2020. Each Grand Prix is set to take place at a different landmark motorsport venue around the world, with Mk. IV Airspeeder pilots competing in timed trials and white-knuckle head-to-head races 20 meters above the ground. Manned demonstrations of that craft are said to be set to begin in the Mojave Desert this November.
Matt Pearson, founder and CEO of Alauda Racing and the driving force behind the Airspeeder race series, said of the developments: “Flying cars are no longer a fantasy, they are a reality and Goodwood Festival of Speed is the perfect place to introduce Airspeeder to the world. We’ve taken design cues from the golden era of racing, and we’re sure the tens of thousands of enthusiasts present will instantly appreciate this evolution of motorsport. Totally absorbing, and all electric, it will appeal to a whole new generation of race fans.” Count us in.
I do hope these work out, because I'd love to escape the drudgery of commuting and being stuck in traffic. Anything that offers a chance at that, I say bring it on !
I also wonder how cool these new experiences might be. I remember my first few road trips in cars and on bikes, and how much fun they were. I would hope this is the same, and possibly even more so.
So besides offering practicalities like saving us time freed from gridlock, I expect they can also offer us huge amounts of fun.
And as for flying cars taking you on your morning commute...
I do hope these work out, because I'd love to escape the drudgery of commuting and being stuck in traffic. Anything that offers a chance at that, I say bring it on !
I also wonder how cool these new experiences might be. I remember my first few road trips in cars and on bikes, and how much fun they were. I would hope this is the same, and possibly even more so.
So besides offering practicalities like saving us time freed from gridlock, I expect they can also offer us huge amounts of fun.
I do hope these work out, because I'd love to escape the drudgery of commuting and being stuck in traffic. Anything that offers a chance at that, I say bring it on !
I also wonder how cool these new experiences might be. I remember my first few road trips in cars and on bikes, and how much fun they were. I would hope this is the same, and possibly even more so.
So besides offering practicalities like saving us time freed from gridlock, I expect they can also offer us huge amounts of fun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrafugia_Transitio...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AeroMobil_s.r.o._Aer...
Theres also a bunch of drone / helicopter style EV's coming too, with these being among the first to market (give or take).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehang_UAV
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Hawk_Corporati...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Passenger_Air...
Power to weight of an F1 car? An F1 car does not use any power getting airborne an supporting it's own weight. I wonder how much power is left for horizontal propulsion once the thing is supporting it's own weight and that of the pilot.
Who is going to certify these things to fly and how much is that going to cost?
Racing? RACING? Bumping wheels on a track is not without risk. Bumping rotors mid air? Well...
Failure of propulsion=death!
Instant death on engine failure.
I do hope these work out, because I'd love to escape the drudgery of commuting and being stuck in traffic. Anything that offers a chance at that, I say bring it on !
I also wonder how cool these new experiences might be. I remember my first few road trips in cars and on bikes, and how much fun they were. I would hope this is the same, and possibly even more so.
So besides offering practicalities like saving us time freed from gridlock, I expect they can also offer us huge amounts of fun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrafugia_Transitio...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AeroMobil_s.r.o._Aer...
Theres also a bunch of drone / helicopter style EV's coming too, with these being among the first to market (give or take).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehang_UAV
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Hawk_Corporati...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Passenger_Air...
Car, as in carriage. Coming from horseless carriage, and carriage itself being a wheeled vehicle for people. So technically anything multi rotor without wheels is no form of carriage as it lacks the "wheel" part. However in the spirit of the definition being to transport people. Then current flying machines such as helicopters and fixed wing aircraft do this perfectly.
These "drone" style flying machines are just an extension of a multi-rotor concept and by and large don't differ from a regular helicopter in how they fly. Therefore they should be treated the same as a helicopter. They are not cars.
And as for your talk about "because I'd love to escape the drudgery of commuting".
How would these racing machines solve this?
All aviation is strictly regulated, in terms of use. You need to have approval, craft need to be certified, a much stricter and tougher and lengthy licence process, you have to potentially file flight plans and there is a lot of restricted air space.
All flying machines have very strict maintenance schedules on them, and in most cases you can only use certified parts and certified people to work on them.
Not to mention the obvious things such as if a car breaks down or is in a minor collision it will just roll to a stop. Any airborne craft cannot do this.
And surely if you move all the traffic from the roads, then the airways will be just as congested, probably worse.
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