Helicopter Cars

Helicopter Cars

Your dream commuter car is coming to your driveway.  TFX, the prototype flying car that takes off and lands like a helicopter.  It's brand new automotive and aviation innovation. You vertically take off from your driveway and land vertically in your office parking lot.  It also drives like a car on the road.  One of the selling points of the helicopter car is you can avoid and take-off from traffic jams.

Electric and Autonomous

TFX is autonomous, electric and fuel efficient.  Vertical takeoff and landing means no need for an airport.  Chinese owned company Terrafugea says the vehicle will be on the roads and in the skies within ten years.  Company founder Dr. Carl Dietrich and his team of MIT engineers created the world's first FAA and NTSB approved flying car The Transition.  They designed and engineered the TFX.

Pushing Flying Car Technology Skywards

Meanwhile, NASA and Uber are teaming up to make electric flying cars operational within six years.  Their dual vision is flying taxis for cities. NASA has developed air traffic management for a fleet of flying taxis.  Uber has shared its plans for a ridesharing network and NASA is going to test it through simulations.  NASA believes the process will help develop needed industry standards and regulations.

Flying Electric Taxis

Here's the NASA-Uber concept.  Flying taxis that are affordable and deployed in urban areas. Among other compelling points, the electric  and autonomous flying taxis would reduce air pollution and  traffic congestion.  NASA has a traffic management plan for flying cars.   It's a powerful combination to launch flying taxes on the roads and in the sky.  NASA and Uber are now building plans for ridesharing networks. Rides will be booked through the Uber app, just like Uber cars. The networks will be operational by 2023.  Like TFX, the NASA-Uber flying cars are vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (VTOL),  Virtual game-changing robotic helicopters.

Crowded Skies

There's plenty of competition to take off first.  Airbus and a startup backed by Google co-founder Larry Page are developing flying car prototypes.  The key issue to be tackled is safety in crowded airspaces near airplanes and drones.  NASA is at the forefront of the air management issues.  NASA officials believe urban air mobility could revolutionize the way people and cargo move around cities.  As one NASA official put it:  Flying cars "

Source:  Terrafugia

would fundamentally change our lifestyle like smartphones have."