> Dietrich says, “a pilot of one of our vehicles—once issued a use permit—can just drive up, swipe through the gate, taxi, and take off. You don’t even have to talk to anyone.”
That's bull. You're gonna have to talk to someone. Whether you're at the smallest airport in the country or not, you're going to need to get on UNICOM and state your intentions otherwise you're either going to kill yourself or get a bunch of pilots pissed at you. And if you're at an airport of any size you have to talk to ground control so you don't get in a crash on the ground and then get clearance to take off so you don't get in a crash in the air.
If you live in the middle of nowhere you actually could get away from it. I fly out of a small airport only an hour from Boston and 15 minutes from Worcester. Not all of the planes/gliders even have radios. Also without a ground frequency people are walking and driving onto the taxiways as these please. If you're not flying instrument its up to the pilot to be watching for who knows what from all directions!! Makes it interesting I suppose...
What I'm curious is how they'll deal with the possibility of a damage to the craft. If someone opens up a car door into your wing how do you determine if there's any significant damage to the loading surfaces (especially if there's composites involved)...how about a tap from the car behind at the stop sign.
This is a car that transforms into a plane. This is a vastly different consumer experience, we are still no where near a flying car in the sci fi sense (a la 5th element).
5 comments
[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 22.2 ms ] thread> Dietrich says, “a pilot of one of our vehicles—once issued a use permit—can just drive up, swipe through the gate, taxi, and take off. You don’t even have to talk to anyone.”
That's bull. You're gonna have to talk to someone. Whether you're at the smallest airport in the country or not, you're going to need to get on UNICOM and state your intentions otherwise you're either going to kill yourself or get a bunch of pilots pissed at you. And if you're at an airport of any size you have to talk to ground control so you don't get in a crash on the ground and then get clearance to take off so you don't get in a crash in the air.
What I'm curious is how they'll deal with the possibility of a damage to the craft. If someone opens up a car door into your wing how do you determine if there's any significant damage to the loading surfaces (especially if there's composites involved)...how about a tap from the car behind at the stop sign.