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US Air Force Just Demoed its First Flying Car, and It’s... Excessive

posted by martyb on Wednesday August 26 2020, @01:50AM   Printer-friendly
from the that's-gonna-be-LOUD! dept.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Soycow_Lover:

US Air Force just demoed its first flying car, and it's excessive:

It's no secret that the US Air Force wants flying cars. The branch of the US Military announced last year that it was starting to explore electric vertical take off and landing  (eVTOL) craft, and earlier this year, said it wants 30 vehicles in service by 2030.

After its first demonstration last week, the Air Force has just got a little closer to this goal.

[...] On Thursday last week, officials gathered in Austin, Texas to witness the first demonstration of a flying car, the 18 rotor Hexa made by Texas eVTOL startup, LIFT Aircraft.

[...] The picture below shows you pretty much everything else you need to know. The Hexa generates lift with a load of electric rotors, has space for one passenger, and it takes off from a standstill in a vertical direction.

One thing is for sure, these eVTOL craft look kinda dorky, or you might even say excessive. We'll have to come round to their aesthetic sooner or later because that excessiveness is kind of a safety requirement. LIFT says that the Hexa can land safely with up to six rotors disabled.

The demonstration was all part of what the Air Force calls its Agility Prime program, a collection of developers, communities, and events that aims to spearhead the development of personal eVTOL flying cars.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday August 26 2020, @02:27AM (4 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 26 2020, @02:27AM (#1041941) Journal

    The problem is that they make an exposed target.

    Well, this one is a target that can stay exposed longer, due to the redundancy.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @04:18AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @04:18AM (#1041991)

    Ahhhh, redundancy. They carry extra pilots then!

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday August 26 2020, @04:27AM (2 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 26 2020, @04:27AM (#1041994) Journal

      No, just extra 6 rotors required for them to land safely; you see, equipment costs money. (grin)

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @02:27PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @02:27PM (#1042146)

        Huh. I thought they were to keep the pilot cool.

        • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @02:59PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @02:59PM (#1042172)

          Nope, they make it so ugly it flies - because even the ground is repelled by it.