XPost: talk.politics.misc, soc.culture, alt.science
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13082085/Flying-taxis-Dubai-2025.html
Sci-fi films like Star Wars and The Fifth Element have long
depicted cities with flying taxis that zoom through the air
at high speeds.
Finally, it seems this ultimate form of convenience is set
to arrive in the real word.
A California company called Joby Aviation says it will host
commercial flying taxi trips around Dubai as soon as next year.
Incredible footage shows what the luxury will be like for
paying passengers, who will wait at 'vertiports' for their
flight departure just like today's airports.
The company's propeller-powered taxi is designed to carry
a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 198 miles/hour
(320km/hour).
. . .
Ok ... how long before the first mid-air crashes ?
Look like they have SIX engines. This IS a good idea.
One can crap out and the others ought to be able to
balance the load, short-term anyhow. I've seen
proposed taxis with just four engines ... bad idea.
Five ought to be the minimum.
However note these aren't just "bigger drones" as we
are used to seeing them ... they are actually more
like the US Mil "Osprey" - there IS a wing to facilitate
faster and more efficient cruise. Alas the Osprey does
NOT have the best safety record, but the reasons for
that seem to be complex. In THEORY a dumb-ass "AI"
could micro-manage hover mode much better than a human,
yet the human would still feel in-control.
Anyway, GROUND traffic is bad enough ... add another
dimension and it gets COMPLICATED. Dunno if automatic
avoidance systems are really ready to cope - and in
the worse case, WHO gets sacrificed ?
Oh, final bit ... these use propellers. More efficient.
Can drive 'em with fuel or batteries. However they ARE
a big whirly thing compared to something like a ducted
fan. Heads could roll, very literally.
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