Maverick Flying Car video

Probably the best way to make a car fly. There is a company that has been building a recumbent bicycle/powered paraglider for some time. Don't know how successful they are.
 
That chute deployment mechanism (the telescoping flexible thing) is very innovative; no need to stack the chute properly behind the PPC or get it stuck in wash lockout. The other features (designed with room for a stretcher, etc.) show he's really thought about how to make it field usable for real-world ops. I like it!
 
Very interesting approach. Two things came to my mind about it:

1) Those wheels seems to be a bit small for off-road use. Then again, if you can fly over the hostile terrain, that's not so bad.

2) That aircraft is not LSA-eligible. As an experimental-amateur built, you can do anything you want (though you'll need a PP-PPC to fly it), but if they want to sell pre-built aircraft, they might run into some certification issues: are there even standards for part 23 PPCs?
 
The company is a missionary outfit. They are for use in South America, FAA rules mean nothing. Depending on church funding they might not even be selling them to anyone. Would be nice if they offered a kit in the US.
 
ClimbnSink said:
They are for use in South America, FAA rules mean nothing.
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Well, not quite nothing: if it's got an N-number, it falls under FAA rules. How much that means as a practical matter may well be another thing entirely, though.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Would be nice if they offered a kit in the US.
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This aircraft while very cool looking and admirable for its attempt to fill a difficult in aviation, appears to have a very narrow margin of error. I have a sinking feeling this will end rather like those idiots in the 1970s that thought welding wings onto a Pinto was a good way to make an aircraft.
 
Seems too slow to be useful. Not only that, aren't these things fairly wind sensitive? A terrible airplane and a terrible off-road vehicle.....
 
jesse said:
Seems too slow to be useful. Not only that, aren't these things fairly wind sensitive? A terrible airplane and a terrible off-road vehicle.....
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That was my my initial impression, too.

But watching the video again, this guy appears to be very sincere. He also was raised in the area where they hope to deploy the things, and apparently is the son of a missionary aviator who flew countless missions in that environment. He was born into and obviously values that work, he's intimately familiar with the mission's unique requirements, and he seems to think that this vehicle / aircraft meets those needs.

So not knowing anything about the transportation needs of Amazonian tribesmen, I'm inclined to defer to his experience.

-Rich
 
SteveinMichigan said:
This aircraft while very cool looking and admirable for its attempt to fill a difficult in aviation, appears to have a very narrow margin of error. I have a sinking feeling this will end rather like those idiots in the 1970s that thought welding wings onto a Pinto was a good way to make an aircraft.
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Narrow margin of error, I don't see it. How is that? Unless you fly a powered parachute into powerlines or in very high winds they are one of the safest things flying. Ramair parachutes have been around for decades and don't contain any surprises.
 
RJM62 said:
That was my my initial impression, too.

But watching the video again, this guy appears to be very sincere. He also was raised in the area where they hope to deploy the things, and apparently is the son of a missionary aviator who flew countless missions in that environment. He was born into and obviously values that work, he's intimately familiar with the mission's unique requirements, and he seems to think that this vehicle / aircraft meets those needs.

So not knowing anything about the transportation needs of Amazonian tribesmen, I'm inclined to defer to his experience.

-Rich
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Perhaps, but often, people know what they want to build and then try to shove it into an existing mission to justify the build.

We'll see I guess. I just can't see it being that useful myself. Best of luck to him.
 
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