Flying cars are one of the many promises that science-fiction has made that the general public just seems to adore. The idea of flying cars captures the imagination of many and has appeared in many scientific movies, books and television shows. Flying cars may just be a flight of fancy for some people but others genuinely want to know when flying cars will be developed and if they are actually feasible.

How Do Flying Cars Fly?

Flying cars in futuristic movies are usually more like hovercrafts or helicopters than planes. They do not go as fast as planes and they can stay stationary for quite some time. They also need to be fairly nimble. Flying cars would likely never be able to fly over one another because the force that they exert downwards would then be enacted on the car below them. This means that single car lanes would be necessary for safety and this would be very similar to the single car lanes we have on the ground at present.

Why Would Cars Fly?

The largest issue holding flying cars back isn’t so much how a car can be made to fly but rather why we would make cars that fly. There are no significant purposes for a flying car nor does a flying car have many clear benefits over either a car or a plane. This means that there is no real push for car development companies to consider flying cars as a truly viable marketing direction.

How Would Flying Cars Be Controlled?

One of the main issues with flying cars isn’t the car itself so much as the user issues that are involved. Both cars and planes are individually dangerous and a car that can fly has the dangers of all of these. Cars that can fly would be very difficult to control and thus they would probably need to be controlled by a computer guidance system.

Flying cars would also necessitate entirely new legislation and a procedure for testing and licensing. These costs could be extremely expensive and would have to be paid from government funds, and this would lead to increased taxation. For something that does not have any clear benefits these are extreme costs that governments would probably not be able to get approved.

Where Would Cars Fly?

Another substantial issue with flying cars is where they would fly. Air paths would somehow need to be established because flying cars would not be in danger of crashing. How to establish these air paths is a difficult issue and would require technology beyond what we are currently capable of.

Who Would Have Flying Cars?

Flying cars are likely to be extremely expensive for quite a long time, which means that they would also only be owned by the rich. While companies that cater to the super rich do exist most large companies instead find it more profitable to create products that the general public can use. It would take years if not decades for flying car technology to become sufficiently inexpensive to filter down to the general public.

Existing Flying Cars

Despite the improbability of widely used flying cars there are actually cars that do fly right now. These cars function as ordinary automobiles on the road and extend wings on the runway. They then take off like a jet. These cars are not truly flying cars but rather cars that can transform into a plane but they do exist and they can be purchased.

Arnold Pratt has a lifelong fascination with four-wheeled vehicles of all sorts; thus, he writes on cars, trucks, car repair & maintenance, quads & ATVs and so forth. To learn more visit Bennche.