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??A beautiful day, from the blink of an eye to the first sunshine, we started our dreams and started a new life.Every day is a different day, as A-Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what the next one you get."
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We don't know the taste of the next chocolate. The only thing we can be sure of is that there is a traffic jam in the morning of every bus chase.
Looking at the time on the watch, one second and one second passed away, and the time from the punch to work was getting closer and closer. We were so anxious that we couldn’t wait to fly to the company immediately... Hey, wait, fly? The idea seems to be good,the road and even the ground are full of transportation. As for the sky, except for the few birds that have occasionally flew, it seems that there is only air left.
It is unrealistic to fly, then, is it possible to realize a flying car? It’s as easy as sharing a bicycle, just like a taxi.
/ The first flying car /
In fact, flying to the sky has always been a human dream, and the Wright brothers invented the plane to let humans soar in the blue sky.Later, humans wanted to put "wings" on the car. The concept of flying cars actually appeared in the early 20th century.
In 1917, the world's first flying car was born.The famous American aircraft designer Glen Hammond Curtis exhibited a flying car called Autoplane at the National Air Show in New York, although the name Autoplane does not seem to have much to do with the car, and it does not really flying into the sky, but Curtis is still known as the "father of flying cars."
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After a considerable development in automotive and aerospace technology, Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford predicted that "I remember that my flying car is coming, you may laugh, but it will come."
Then went through the third industrial revolution. With the development of aviation technology, automobile technology and Internet technology, it is no longer a problem to get a car to fly. After all, Musk sent a Tesla going into space.
Now, with Geely's acquisition of the American flying car company Terrafugia, Airbus, Boeing and other companies engaged in the development of flying cars, Tencent has thrown $90 million to lead the electric flying taxi company Lilium, and the flying car once again appeared in public view. In addition to being unmanned, our future is a bit better.
/ What is a flying car? /
From a literal understanding, a flying car can run on the ground as well as in the sky, but what is the specific concept? The plane can run on the ground and fly in the sky, but it is not a flying car.The Volante Vision Concept concept, a new product developed by automaker Aston Martin, was recently exposed, but it was positioned as an aircraft, not a flying car.
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Volante Vision Concept concept aircraft
As a land and air vehicle, the flying car has the functions of a car and an aircraft.Therefore, the current definition of a flying car in the industry is probably that it can travel on the ground and can be deformed at a height of about kilometer in a short time, using the common energy (gasoline) that can be obtained at ordinary gas stations, and can be parked in an ordinary parking space.
To put it simply, the car is used both on land and air, and it can maintain the shape and consumption level of the car. It is different from ordinary private jets and provides a new way of short-distance travel in the city.Flying cars are different from airplanes, there are no flight time requirements, and there are no cumbersome procedures such as shipping and security checks, and there is no need to worry about flight delays or cancellations. Of course, there is no need for a dedicated airport to taxi or land.
The significance of the emergence of flying vehicles is to provide users, especially office workers, with a more convenient and novel way of travel, diverting road traffic pressure into the air, allowing a busy road to take a breath, and allowing office workers to be less late and improve,promotion national happiness index.
/ Flying cars fly into China /
Perhaps it is to see the prospect of future travel, perhaps in response to the party’s call for “the people’s longing for a better life is our goal”, so that everyone is not late for work, “Car Madman” Li Shufu played the “flying car” the idea.
On November 11, 2017, Li Shufu said at the “2017 Global Future Travel Summit” held in Hangzhou that Geely will launch the first flying car for US users in 2019 and start the world's first vertical takeoff and landing flight in 2023. The car plan will eventually be mass-produced in 2025.
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Li Shufu’s title of “car madman” is not a name for himself.Two days later, on November 13, 2017, Geely announced the acquisition of the American flying car company Terrafugia.After the completion of the acquisition, Geely will invest more in it, expand the R&D team, and establish a research and development organization in Hangzhou to achieve the mass production of flying cars in China.Li Shufu, who once said that "the car is four wheels plus two sofas", his "flying car dream" began to land.
As for Terrafugia, a company specializing in the field of flying cars, founded in 2006, the company's members are mostly from MIT, California Institute of Technology, NASA, Pratt & Whitney, Boeing and other companies is a veritable cutting-edge technology the company.
Terrafugia has built a flying car called Transition. The Transition car can hold 2-3 people and the wings can be folded. In the car mode, the wings will be folded on both sides of the car, and the flight can be switched in one minute car mode.
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Transition flying car
Of course, to drive this flying car, the driver's license and the flight driver's license are indispensable.
With this mass-produced product, Li Shufu's emboldened spirit is also more sufficient. "The dream of flying a car in the sky, I want to turn it into reality."
/ For "God", we will go on /
Inserting the "wings" into the car allows the car to shuttle freely in the air. In order to realize this sci-fi scene, it is not only Li Shufu who is willing to make a fortune for it.
According to the information released by the US Patent and Trademark Office, Toyota submitted the patent application “Flying Car Foldable” in 2014. The patent is designed to change the shape of the "wing", expand the wings, the car can fly in the air.
In the same year, Tesla CEO Musk said in an interview that "it is not difficult to build a flying car. The key is how to make this flying car safe and not to disturb the noise of the people."It is worth noting that Musk also founded an airline, SpaceX. On February 7 this year, Musk used SpaceX's heavy Falcon rocket to send a Tesla sports car into space.
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In November last year, some media revealed that Uber had signed an agreement with NASA to develop a flying taxi by 2020.
In 2020, Toyota also plans to use a flying car to ignite the torch at the Tokyo Olympics.
/ Restricting the car "God" may be... /
Although there is no shortage of successors on the road to dreams, so far there has not been a commercial product that can be mass-produced. Policies, venues, technology, prices and other factors seriously restrict the commercialization of flying vehicles.
As far as policy is concerned, air traffic control is common in every country.In the most sensitive Beijing area, drones are forbidden to take off within the Sixth Ring Road. During certain special periods, such as the two sessions, Beijing is no longer a zone within 200 kilometers of the surrounding area. The most important thing for a flying car to solve is the policy issue, which is the air safety issue that the country has always attached importance to.
Secondly, in terms of the venue, the space occupied by a flying car from takeoff to landing cannot be ignored.If the flying car cannot take off and land vertically, then a dedicated take-off runway must be built; if it is too large, it is necessary to build a parking space dedicated to the flying car, which in turn involves the design criteria of the flying car.At present, although there is no uniform design standard, all manufacturers control it to the size of a car.
Aside from the technical issue, after all, Musk said that it is not difficult to let a car fly, and the technical problems are directly linked to the price. The most concerned about consumers is the price.
In early 2017, a Dutch company called PAL-V launched a flying car, Liberty, for $400,000.
Liberty Flying Car
The flying vehicle transition developed by Terrafugia mentioned above also sells for more than 1.9 million yuan.
The flying car company AeoMobil's flying cars are limited to 500 units worldwide, excluding tax prices of 1.2-1.5 million euros.
The above-mentioned flying cars are not up to the level of mass production, both in terms of price and quantity. At present, flying cars are still a luxury for a few people.
/ It will definitely come /
Combining all the above factors, we seem to be far away from the era of "opening the plane" for the whole people, but the unmanned vehicles run in every street of the city in an orderly manner, and the flying cars are freely shuttled in the air. This future city intelligent transportation system A trip can bring us endless yearnings.
After solving the above problems, the flying car can perfectly combine the driving and flying application scenarios to construct a reality like science fiction.Of course, even if it is really the day when the flying car arrives, it will not be as rampant as today's cars. After all, with the precautions of road traffic, the transportation department will definitely strengthen the review and control of flying vehicles.
The future that a city, a country, and the world aspire to is sure to come. As Henry Ford said, "Remember my words, the flying car is coming, you may laugh, but it will come."
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