Posts tagged Aircraft at Switched

Posts with tag aircraft

Could This Flying Car be for Real?

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 7th 2008 at 5:10PM

Could this finally be it? We've been promised flying cars since the 1950s, but so far nothing has made it past the prototype and demo film stages. The father and son team of Chris and Jame Milner seem to think they can bring this dream to reality by 2010.

At the New York International Auto Show later this month the pair will unveil their prototype convertible car / plane. The vehicle is small, no larger than a standard sedan such as the Toyota Corolla. Part of the compact size is thanks in part to its retractable and foldable wings which hide some of the airplane hardware.

The dash holds two computer displays that switch the information displayed based on whether the vehicle is in driving or flying mode. When on the ground, the car has a top speed of only 85 miles per hour, but that should be fast enough. When the aircraft engines are engaged, theoretically at least, the vehicle will be able to cruise at 200 miles per hour at 25,000 feet.

The Milners have built a drivable prototype and hope to have a flying model soon. The pair estimate that the car will cost around $500,000.

From Daily Mail

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New Supersonic Passenger Jet - The A2

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Feb 5th 2008 at 3:13PM

What's big, green, and flies through the air at incredible speeds? No, not the Hulk being carried by Superman (we know, comic dorks, one is DC, one is Marvel, relax), but the new A2 supersonic jet.

Dubbed the "son of Concorde", the jet will revolutionize air travel if it ever takes flight. The large, windowless vehicle looks more like a missile than a passenger plane -- and moves more like one too. The aircraft will reach a top speed of Mach 5 (Go Speed Racer!), twice as fast as the now-retired Concorde supersonic airliner, and can fly from London to Sydney, Australia in under 5 hours -- less than quarter of current flight times. Even better, the engines will run on liquid hydrogen, meaning the only exhaust will be water vapor and nitrous oxide, so the carbon footprint of the jet will be negligible.

On a slightly random note, it appears that someone at the Daily Mail has a bit of an obsession with 'The Thunderbirds.' This is the second article in two days to reference the campy, action, puppet show. Weird.

From Daily Mail

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Emission-Free Jet

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 19th 2007 at 4:41PM

The Hyfish, a hydrogen fuel-cell powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), made its maiden flight over Switzerland recently. The small jet hit a top speed of 200 kph (roughly 124 mph) and even managed some acrobatic maneuvers. Right now the craft is merely a prototype, but we're sure to see a military application in the near future, especially with the engineers claiming that 15-30 hour flights are within reach.

With Earth Day quickly approaching, it's also worth noting that hydrogen fuel-cells are a zero emission technology -- meaning they release no pollution or green house gases. If this technology is successfully scaled to commercial airliners, it would have an immensely positive effect: Aviation is attributed with being responsible for 4-9% of the human impact on global climate change.

from Engadget

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