One of the greatest challenges of aerospace aircraft engineers and designers is to come up with a workable VTOL or Vertical Take Off and Landing aircraft. One which is fuel efficient, safe and could indeed become the flying car that science fiction writers have written about and discussed for generations. One very interesting design has received quite a bit of admiration from both pop-culture crowds and aerospace designers. It is called the Estocade. One citizen who just loves the design indicated that she would fly in it and love to have one in her garage and after seeing the prototypes and design for the first time states: The first Estocade and the other plane with the circularly enclosed propellers were very interesting whether the configuration faced the direction of travel or were parallel to the ground. I can certainly see that the latter would reduce turbulence and might even move it downward rather than towards the back of the plane to some degree. The indented bodylines in the second Estocade were interesting and I think this is the first time I have seen these be so indented, with the body looking so streamlined. http://images.google.com/images?q=Estocade+aircraft&btnG=Search&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2005-29%2CGGLG%3Aen Now then what do you think of such a radical design? Is this something you would fly in? Can you image dodging traffic on your way to work in a flying car? It sure would simplify things wouldnt it? Would this be something you would buy? How much would you be willing to pay for this if it was fuel efficient as an ordinary automobile? The reason I ask is because if these were mass-produced the price could be similar to a standard automobile and they would be as efficient as you would be traveling in a straight line? Now what do you think? Do you have an idea for a flying car? Do you have dreams of flying over all that traffic? Think on this. |
