Who wouldn’t want a flying car? We all hope this would put an end to our traffic jam nightmares. If this plan were to be realized in the near future, a single-seater half-car half drone vehicle would enter the Olympic stadium and proceed to ascend 10 meters to light the torch.
Olympic opening ceremonies are always grand events, and hosting countries try to make theirs one of a kind. Beijing and London made convincing ceremonies, but if the flying car plan were to be successful, it would set the bar even higher.
PROGRESS SO FAR
The Cartivator group has dedicated their time and resources to making the flying car a reality, with the SkyDrive project having kicked off in 2012. The team recently received funding to the tune of 40 million yen from Toyota to make the dream a reality. The engineers at Cartivator sure do have a tight timeline to beat if they are to convert what they currently have into a functioning flying automobile.
What the team currently has looks very inviting to the eye; with its space-age look and rotating blades protected by rounded bumpers. It is a single seat version with the driver’s seat reclined beneath a clear canopy. It is however, functionally challenged. A recent test drive was encouraging as the “car” rose up to eye level and then crashed after a few seconds. The team had mechanisms in place so that it wouldn’t be damaged, and it proceeded to try more flights before giving up. Despite the positives, it is clear they are some way from developing a car that will light an airborne Olympic torch.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE CEREMONY?
If the current plan is brought to fruition and they actually create a functioning flying car, the team hopes to make commercial versions of the same car available by 2023. The group’s leader, Ryutaro Mori, further claims that they plan to start mass production by 2030 and the plan they have neatly outlined has people flying in the sky “anytime anywhere” by 2050.
“DRIVING” IN THE AIR
If this were to come to pass, then the travel industry would surely be up another level. Mr. Mori was quick to point out the advantages his team’s creation would bring. First, with the urbanization of the world happening so fast, road traffic jams will only get worse. Secondly, roads are expensive to build and maintain, and the budget dedicated to them can better be used elsewhere if the roads were no longer a necessity. A convenient flying car would be more environment-friendly since it is all electric. The sky has space to infinity as it is 3-D, and if space is controlled, jams would be a thing of the past.
THE DRAWBACKS, AS WE SEE THEM
You know, just because you know how to drive a car doesn’t mean you can fly a “car”, right? Well, if the public were to come to own the flying car; pilot licenses would have to become commonplace. Secondly, it may be so expensive that only Bill Gates and his family would be driving it. By Bill Gates, I mean all the rich and mighty of the world. All in all, we wish the Cartivator team, and the likes of Uber Technologies, Airbus and The Flyer of the U.S all the best in their race to the enter the skies!
