First FAA approved flying car

[Orion]

Honestly, I'd prefer a hover car before a flying car with hover capabilities.

Either one's going to require superconductors, and I can only foresee two possible ways to get it done, without simply using thrusters directed downwards:
A massive underground system of tunnels, each of which are wide enough to accommodate the safe travel distance for several vehicles. Fill these in with a particular kind of metal. 'Tuned' magnets in the cars repel the underground metal-tunnels depending on the power pumped into it, and when they leave the effective field of the tunnels, they move on thruster power to get to their destination more precisely.
Alternatively, a similar thing, but it would work everywhere, where instead of repelling underground plates or tunnels, the magnetic field of the Earth itself is repelled.
An anti-gravity device would be better for getting the latter done, but so far there's been no scientific indication that anything like anti-gravity would be possible.

 

[Bebop Blues]

I thought most hover cars were supposed to use magnets any way?

 

[lasersquash]

And now i wait for my car in a capsule :l

 

[Crazium]

I rode in an airplane one time

 

[robertexe]

it only got approved for light sports not for sale to the public (meaning the military will get it first) Did you guys even read the article?

 

[Orion]

I thought most hover cars were supposed to use magnets any way?

That's just one of many depictions of hovers cars. There are various ideas being considered, but most of it falls into two categories: they provide lift by thrust (EG rockets) or repelling something (anti-gravity/magnetic).

 

[Luap]

It wouldn't be done by a single satellite hanging over the city. Each city would handle its own traffic, most likely with things akin to radio towers at various points. Cars send their information to them, and by figuring out the bearing from the car to several different ones, it's exact location can easily be found through triangulation, and it's data would be fed to the nearest tower, which would be handed to the city's travel system/AI. Although getting satellites into space would probably be easier by then, it would still be more economical and precise to use towers and triangulation.

That makes more sense. But all the towers would have to be synced together because people will leave town. Or maybe overlapping areas detected by the towers or satellites. That way, when you get into the area that is monitored by the 2 towers, the tower you are going to use can do the deductions on how to get you to the next area or destination.

However, there will still need to be wheeled vehicles, like trucks or cargo carriers that are simply to large to get flying or hovering. They might have to share the streets with people, but if flying vehicle technology manages to work without the take-off aspect (pure hover vehicles), I would imagine a 'layer' of the city, or certain expressways, would be how the trucks move.

Teleportation could be available then. It hasn't been proved impossible yet, unlike Time Travel... there should a Future Tech thread.

The only way pure hover technology on the small scale is going to work is if we find room-temperature superconductors. So far, the warmest one we've got is still around -140℃, and requires liquid hydrogen cooling systems to help maintain its temperature.

Hover Craft... ohh, Fancy. Sounds fun.

 

[Orion]

That makes more sense. But all the towers would have to be synced together because people will leave town. Or maybe overlapping areas detected by the towers or satellites. That way, when you get into the area that is monitored by the 2 towers, the tower you are going to use can do the deductions on how to get you to the next area or destination.

You'd need a minimum of three (and a fourth for assured accuracy). Small towns would have three, large cities would have dozens of them. For large stretches of area, like long-distance inter-city/intercontinental travel, you'd have satellites.

Teleportation could be available then. It hasn't been proved impossible yet, unlike Time Travel... there should a Future Tech thread.

I'm starting that as we speak.

 

[XjXsOlJa]

Get ready for "Yes it flies, but not over 15 feet."