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Terrence Cherry
5th hour Current Event
2-22-10
Flying Cars Are On Their Way
Government Funded Programs Want Air/Land Vehicles
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A computer generated image of NASA's flying vehicle (NASA).
by: David Sedgwick | AOL Autos
 
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In a project straight out of Star Wars -- or maybe an April Fool’s edition of Popular Mechanics -- the U.S. Defense Department is working on a flying car that can carry four soldiers into combat.
This machine is supposed to take off and land vertically, fly at speeds up to 120 knots, drive on roads up to 80 mph, and go off-road up to 30 mph. It must be simple enough for any Marine to fly, it must be quiet, and it must carry enough fuel to stay aloft for two hours.
They’re calling this machine the Transformer.
It’s easy enough to make fun of something like this. But the agency in charge is DARPA -- that is, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. You know, the guys that invented the Internet...
By Defense Department standards, Transformer is small potatoes. This project has a budget of $6 million this year, enough to gather a bunch of inventors in a room and ask them to develop a prototype.
Which is exactly what DARPA did during a workshop in Washington D.C. on Jan. 14. About 150 people showed up -- mostly representing small businesses that you’ve never heard of, but also a few big dogs like Boeing and Raytheon.
Whoever wins this contract is supposed to produce a working prototype in four years. While I wouldn’t bet a plugged nickel on this project, I admit I got intrigued. Here’s what I found out:
While DARPA hasn’t awarded any contracts yet, developers have conducted some intriguing test flights of vehicles that can take off vertically, then fly like a plane. The Brits managed this feat a couple of decades ago when they developed the Harrier fighter jet.
This time, the trick is to make them small, light and quiet.
NASA already has taken a...