MattII
More flying cars? Haven't these people realised by now that flying cars aren't going to work, beyond perhaps a few rich fools, and even then, actually trying to drive most of them (all the ones where the wings and tail stay attached) on the road is a nightmare in its own right.
zevulon
i think it will be a mistake to remove the mp3 front end when you test it in flight. 3 wheels make for a much more stable take off and landing and if the vehicle drives well on 3. leave it with 3. it also makes parking and idling far easier.
if the engine is not powerful enough for sustained flight with 2 people and an mp3 front end. then simply use it for 1 person until you get more funding to upgrade the engine.
demo the thing properly with 3 wheels on ground and in flight. then get the money.
Nik
Finding a parking space, anywhere in town would be a nightmare! Can you imagine trying to park in a multistory car-park, impossible? Flying cars are an exercise in fantasy. Even if they are constructed, most people wont have the time, money, or aptitude to use them. The automobile has killed more people than both world wars, and that's just on the ground, put them in the sky, and the permutations for killing people multiply.
Robert Flieger
What's the ground clearance on the prop? Doesn't look like there is much room for a larger prop.
Futurist
Flying cars are not for just anyone; - You need to be sporty - You need to be wealthy
Street Wing is an incremental improvement over classical planes. There are already planes with optional road wheel and motor offerings.
The real advancement will come with even smaller single seat flying cars with VTOL or STOL capability and with land speeds that can accelerate the plane to take off speed when taking of in STOL mode which is like 30mph but not highway speeds. Highway speed capabilty will cause a lot of stress on the vehicle which you don't want for a flying vehicle.
If you can operate independent of airports or heliports you have got a winning flying car.
Range is not as important as usability. A practical flying car with shorter range is more valuable than a longer range impractical flying machine a.k.a airplane or helicopter.
Tom Lee Mullins
I think those are neat. While I realize it is not for anyone, I think it would be neat to see them driving on the road and flying in the sky.
JohnCCook
The G2 is awesome. Molnar is a genius and has narrowed down what this vehicle needs to do and what it doesn't. Who cares about parking? drive an electric buggy if you want to commute to the city. You can drive and fly reliably. If you are going to go cross county on a motorcycle why wouldn't you use this instead. Its beautiful. Small planes are impractical toys for rich people but yet there they are all over the world. I agree about leaving the mp3 front end. I like stability.
Lumen
I must say I've really been enjoying this interview series. Dezso really makes sense as he shares the thought processes in his decisions, and kudos for what he and his team have put together.
Regarding the G2, it's an awesome road warrior. I agree with JohnCCook and zevulon about keeping the two wheels in the front for stability in landing, even if heavier. But hey Dezso, you're sharp, so you'll figure it out either way. Robert Flieger seems to have a point on the ground clearance on that smaller diameter prop with not much room for a larger prop by appearance, but again, hey, you're closer to this vehicle than any of us.
The Street Wing as shown will definitely fly, and can road roam if the width between the two front wheels is not too wide. You definitely have the biomimicry insect thing going on. I guess we can thank Alex Karafilovski for a lot of that. Of course the concept is not done yet, because the wing tips folded back can likely smack cars while turning at intersections due to their distance from the rear wheel as shown, even during forward rolling motion. Perhaps partly retractable, telescoping wings can help? If left alone, the rider will really have to pull out into the intersection, if possible, to clear the wings before engaging in an even-tighter turn at that point. Nevertheless, it's a vehicle that will work, and great-looking at that.
I'm over here in New Zealand working on things at the moment, so I don't know if I'll be able to join you in your flying car race series early on, but if things are set in the US down the road, we should be able to build something that can compete with your G2 and show folks what one-seater roadable aircraft can do!
VirtualGathis
I'm curious. Mr Molnar has opinions on most of the flying vehicles I've been following, but I didn't see anything on the AeroMobile effort. It has flown successful test flights and is very similar to his Street Wing. REF: www.aeromobil.com/
Futurist
Molnar's design bears some similarity to Aeromobil, which is not much. Aeromobil suffers from heavy weight and it actually crashed once already. Molnar's design can work better if done properly. A roadworthy car needs to be sturdy, an airworthy car needs to be lightweight. So which mode do people want, road or air? If you check both you get none. You need to be biased to one or the other thinking within the constraints of today's technology and reasonable budgets.