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

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.


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @05:34AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @05:34AM (#1042009)

    Looking at that picture, what they currently have is less of a flying car and more of a flying chair. One person, no cargo. Then again, the Air Force's nickname is Chair Force.

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  • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Wednesday August 26 2020, @10:26AM

    by RamiK (1813) on Wednesday August 26 2020, @10:26AM (#1042064)

    When 99% of your fighting forces are robots operated remotely, a few (auto piloted) flying chairs that don't have enough of a heat signature for a target lock is all you really need to move around technicians and civilians.

    Regardless, if you want the thing to be flyable in the city, you need it sufficiently quiet and self-balancing well enough to hold position in the air even when the weather isn't too good. But, only military contractors can develop VTOLs due to the classification of silent / not-as-loud rotor blades and motors (electric or otherwise), accelerometers and gyroscopes so you're either going to get it from a small military contractors, big military contractor or China.

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  • (Score: 2) by leon_the_cat on Wednesday August 26 2020, @08:20PM

    by leon_the_cat (10052) on Wednesday August 26 2020, @08:20PM (#1042362) Journal

    is what i thought.