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PALV-V flying car

Have a look at PAL-V https://www.pal-v.com/

EGBJ, EGBP, EGTW, EGVN, EGBS

Had this discussion before and it hasn’t changed. Although they obviously invested a lot in their website, it still looks like fake. Too much like fake than all of this can just be coincidence or negligence. Just two examples:
- The footage of the driving and the flying model is clearly showing two different versions. Even the colors don’t match! They theatrically have the orange model drive on a taxiway but then make a cutover to a black model (that looks like a very heavily stripped down design) to show it in flight.
- The Aspen doesn’t show any speed indication when the orange model is driving on the road.

The fundamental question of all such designs is, what the weight required to fulfill the road safety requirements does to MTOW and if it can still fly when it is equipped for road traffic (e.g. look at the license plate holder on the orange model and think about what it does to aerodynamics). The videos on this website do not answer any of these questions….

Germany

Malibuflyer is right to be sceptical, but it would be so awesome if someone could get this to work. Although it is next to useless with Germany’s “Flugplatzzwang” (mandatory use of airports for aircraft)

Low-hours pilot
EDVM Hildesheim, Germany

I think, like we did in another thread on same topic just the other day, flying cars are a non-starter practically everywhere in the 1st World because you simply can’t use public roads as runways.

One would need a whole new legislative approach.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

I think, like we did in another thread on same topic just the other day, flying cars are a non-starter practically everywhere in the 1st World because you simply can’t use public roads as runways.

One would need a whole new legislative approach.

Indeed. And that’s a damn shame because there are countless roads here in Lower Saxony which are perfectly straight for miles and where you can see traffic that will only close up with you in 5 minutes, which would be perfectly safe to use with such a vehicle taking off imho.

Low-hours pilot
EDVM Hildesheim, Germany

Peter wrote:

One would need a whole new legislative approach.

Yes, that is one thing – but it’s too easy to just blame regulation. The other (in my opinion more significant) limitation is weight (and hence physics): All of our small planes are somehow weight limited. MTOW and useful load is a big topic. Using up some of this MTOW to add road traffic grade brake systems, lighting, transmission, etc. just leaves very little useful load remaining for flight operations.

It is not a coincidence in my eyes, that the “flight video” version of the PAL-V we are discussing here looks drastically stripped down compared to the “Road video” version…

Last Edited by Malibuflyer at 23 Feb 14:53
Germany

My VW Golf has been bumped and damaged twice in parking lots this year. Nothing which justified a trip to the body shop, but enough to remind me to never park anything in public if you want it to not be hit by a careless driver. So would I want my umpteen thousand dollar flying car parked were someone will certainly back into it, while they’re trying to figure out what it is, without figuring out where it is? You come out from the store, and see the damage to your flying car – now, it’s no longer “airworthy”, you can’t fly home, you gotta drive, and your next stop after that will be to your maintenance person, to have it inspected, and rendered airworthy again$$$.

Nope, I’m going to drive may car, and fly my plane, and aside from the occasional landing on a remote road for fun, they otherwise will not occupy the same public space!

Home runway, in central Ontario, Canada, Canada
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