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Also see "The Role of the
Flying Car." Jump
ahead and see some pictures! Affordability
With
an airplane only, you can tie it down outside and pay increased maintenance costs,
or you can hangar it, and over a 5-year period, in California you pay as much
for the hangar as you initially paid for the kit itself. However, a flying car
you can keep in your garage and use the car a lot more than the 100 hours per
year the average pilot flies his aircraft. Also with the Volante's separate flying
and driving engines you do not accumulate expensive aircraft engine hours in driving
around town as you will with a single engine for both air and ground use, and
when used as a car alone you do not need to expose the aircraft parts, which are
very expensive to repair, to traffic damage.
| Item |
Aircraft |
Car | Cruise
| 150 mph | Highway
speeds | Range
| 650 miles | 350
miles | | Length | 19.7
feet | 13.4 feet | | Span | 23.6
feet | 6.5 feet | | Empty
Weight | 1250 pounds | 600
pounds | | Gross
Weight | 1900 pounds | 1100
pounds | | Height | 7
feet (not folded) | 3.7 feet |
| Stall speed
| 65 mph | |
Utility
This average pilot does not fly enough to maintain
proficiency in all types of weather. Accident reports are full of harrowing tales
of the pilot who thought he saw a hole up ahead, however, with a flying car the
pilot can drive to the airport, take off, fly up to the edge of a weather system,
land, drive to the other side to continue flight to his destination airport, and
then drive the car portion to his actual final destination. He has no need to
take chances. This avoids the vacation trip that turns into a nightmare
when weather between you and where you want to go keeps you grounded for days
on end. Convenience
While the convenience and reliability
of scheduled airlines is questionable at best, travel with them has become vastly
more complicated and time consuming due to the added 9/11 security measures..
While prior to 9/11 the average speed for an airline distance of 500 miles was
estimated at between 50 and 60 mph door to door, today this speed has been reduced
dramatically due to security measures and increased airway traffic. As a further
advantage, the pilot of a flying car is able to avoid the frequently overly long
commute from the closest airline airport to a final destination, which normally
has a small airport of its own often without rental cars. In some areas, the flying
car capability may be the only available ground transportation. See
it fly! Conversion
with the prototype is as follows>>> | 
