The Future (finally) Is Now (sort of...)

Remember growing up and reading those "futuristic" books of how the future would be?

The books were probably printed in the 60's or 70's but they still were in public school libraries when I checked and rechecked them out, repeatedly, in elementary school in the early-mid 80's.

I loved the animated drawings of "Cities of the future" with all the futuristic things they entailed - robots, automated walkways, lots of tubes and really shiny buildings that didn't have things like... edges. But the coolest thing of all was flying cars.

Between these books and Hollywood movies (Bladerunner had flying cars and it took place in 2010-ish Los Angeles; Back to the Future had flying car modification and it took place in 2015 Hill Valley) we should be on the brink of commuter skyways.

Where are our flying cars? We have no flying cars.

Or do we?

For a mere $3,500,000.00 you can own your very own flying car.

And as an added bonus, this baby runs on cleaner alcohol-based fuel and actually gets 21 miles per gallon - in case gas pump prices are taking their toll. The fact that this sucker gets better economy than most SUVs and trucks is impressive.

And then there's the issue of parking. But, hey... baby steps, right?

I'd just find it hugely entertaining to see the face of a state trooper as s/he clocks you going about 340 mph. I think that we're still a long way off from affordable flying cars. Once again, technology, economics and real-life trump hollywood. But maybe that's a good thing. We've all seen morons not able to handle simple things like traffic signs, HOV lanes and not putting down their cell phones.

Flying cars or aeroplans

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Flying cars for future

Design Flying cars for future

By now I was fully expecting that we would all be driving flying cars. You can imagine my disappointment. The Terrafugia Transition flying car isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it’s better than nothing. The car can be driven around on the roads like a normal, though slightly odd looking. When you hit a runway or other long flat area, though, you can flip out those 27 foot wings and you are ready to take to the friendly skies. The car will have about the same fuel efficiency as a Honda Accord – in the range of 30 mpg. When you are airborne you will be able to fly at speeds up to 130 mph, which obviously isn’t jet speed, but is much better than driving in a traffic jam. The Transition will begin selling in 2009. Presumably the market for such a vehicle would be very small, and the $148,000 price tag makes it even smaller. If you want one you can reserve it just by putting 5% down.