New Hampshire legalizes flying cars
Never let it be said that the state of New Hampshire is behind the times. For example:
…[NH] House Bill 1182…makes it legal to register a flying car—or, as the ‘Shire deems it, a “roadable aircraft”—in the Granite State. Which wasn’t the case before, no matter what your cousin Denny did with his Chevelle on that wicked whoop on the road to Laconia. Like he told you, the flying’s easy. It’s the landing that’s the hard part…
There are so many choices in the flying-car market these days, it’s hard to decide which one to buy. Like, there’s Terrafugia, and Samson Sky, and that Dutch one. We’d say just get whichever flying car is different from your neighbors’, because you don’t want to see yourself coming and going at the local municipal airport.
That’s where you’ll need to take off and land, because the supposedly cool New Hampshire congresspeople are real sticks in the mud about using I-95 as a runway—although, we can all agree, flying your car up to 5000 feet would be a great way to avoid the Hampton tolls.
On the road, though, the vehicles must obey the usual rules. And the governor has signed the bill into law, so the way is cleared for these things to really – take off.
Hate to break it to them, but the FAA controls all US airspace and certification of all airframes and pilots…
Flying Luddite:
The vehicles will be required to take off and land at airfields and I’m pretty sure they need to follow all the rules for aviation in the US. The advantage, supposedly, is that then they can drive away on the roads.
Well, the US DOT regulates and certifies all road going vehicles, so that is a bit of a challenge.
Flying cars used to be really attractive way back in the day, as ground transportation at a remote airport (i.e. one of the best reasons to fly a private airplane) was often difficult to find or nonexistent (I actually rented a car from a used car dealer about 15 years ago since there was no car rental or taxi service there. Uber has done away with that problem.
What could conceivably go wrong? Hey, watch thi boom!
With many of us living in something of a covid-induced time warp these days, I thought I’d do well to check my calendar to see if we’re still in April.
Nope, this is *not* one of neo’s April Fool’s Day posts . . .
August 7th — how’d *that* happen??
For this one:
https://terrafugia.com/transition/
…you need at minimum a Sport Pilot certificate….restrictions on this certificate include no night flying, and visual conditions only. Can’t operate for compensation or hire, or “in furtherance of a business.”
I’d worry about driving a $200K aircraft on the public roads, where all kinds of minor accidents could happen and could impact its airworthiness.
Power lines, bird strikes, flying monkeys; lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!
Finally!
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/recapping-the-jetsons-episode-03-the-space-car-67174086/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/this-new-flying-car-could-finally-deliver-on-the-jetsons-promise/ar-BB16cn6F
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/flying-cars-jetsons-new-hampshire_n_5f218e9fc5b66a5dd637f885
That last post has videos of the up-coming cars in flight.
Getting them ready to fly reminds me of my kids’ favorite cartoon toys – Transformers.
OK, if it must take off and land at an airport, how, really, is it a “flying car” and not a plane with fold-away wings?