Hi Gavin. I am wondering if it is possible to make a car that flies. Is that possible? Marianne
Yes. And it has been done. The possibility – and the problem – are best understood if you look at it the other way around. Would it be possible to make an aircraft that could drive around on the ground?
Well, aircraft can already do that! They have wheels. They have forward propulsion. So away they go, from where you board them at the airport terminal to the main runway, for several miles and round corners...on the ground. If the roads were wide enough and smooth enough, little planes could be used, without modification, as “cars”. Their wheels have brakes, nosewheels that can steer and, at some speed, a tailfin flap that can help them turn. It would not be a very good car and would require extremely wide streets, and unduly heavy body strength to survive any surface other than an autobahn. Don’t even think about the parking problems.
While cars can be made to fly and planes can drive, a truly dual-purpose vehicle that could do both would be severely compromised and rubbish at both.
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Conversely, if you gave an ordinary car big enough wings and a powerful enough engine and a runway, it could take off. It could fly. And it is well within the realms of man’s technical know-how to transmit the engine power to a propeller, to give it a tail fin to keep it straight, ailerons to enable it to turn and flaps to get it to ascend and descend.
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It would be able to travel from A to B above the ground. In the air. It could be a “plane”. Not a very good one, because it would be very heavy and have the aerodynamics of a brick. And to achieve even modest “lift” it would need substantial wings, which would presumably fold out for take-off and fold away (bulkily) when it landed.
Bottom line: While cars can be made to fly and planes can drive, a truly dual-purpose vehicle that could do both would be severely compromised and rubbish at both. The two tasks can share some elements but have essentially incompatible requirements and environments.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
That leaves you with “Batmobile” science fiction or the real-life eccentricity of classic (one-the-ground-only) cars that enthusiasts have fitted with engines designed for Spitfires and Lancaster Bombers. They work, but won’t measure fuel consumption in kilometres per litre. More likely litres per kilometre.
