Personal Air Vehicle

That was Ian Fleming's X-prize entry.

Heh. Nice.

how about this year?

http://www.airscooter.com/

Now all you need is permission to fly it in the airspace between home and work. And permission from your employer to land on his property. And permission from your neighbors/local government/FAA to land and take off from your home. And a pilot's license. With helicopter rating probably. Is it loud? The neighbors won't like that. What happens if a rotor tip hits a tree//fence/child during takeoff or landing?

It will never happen. You simply cannot allow non-pilots the right to fly their own air vehicle ANYWHERE. Even general aviation requires a good knowledge of where you can actually fly and in a country the size of England, there are one hell of a lot of restrictions. The whole concept is akin to allowing somebody who rides a bicycle the right to drive an AC Cobra GT to work. It will end in disaster.









p.s. I am not being at all bitter because I am paying a small fortune to get my PPL at the moment!

the aircrfat proposed by airscooter will fall under the LSA rule, which makes it very accesible.

Can you give us a cite for that LSA rule Ace? Be interesting to read it.

DKH

It is basically a limited private pilot license for ultralight aircraft.

http://www.sportpilot.org/rule/final_rule_synopsis.html

Apparently NASA is doing its bit to allow more people to access the skys, perhaps some of the technology could be adapted to make a road going plane.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/improv ... ville.html

Ah, yes, the famous Light Sport Aircraft regulations... For those of you not in the US, the FAA recently put laws into effect making it easier and cheaper to get a pilot's license, as long as you operate a small aircraft -- max 2-seater -- with a low speed and light take-off weight.

I don't remember whether you're allowed to fly an Experimental, but I doubt it.

It sounds similar to the National PPL in England then. Its about two thirds of the price of a PPL and cannot be upgraded for instrument ratings, night ratings e.t.c. It does allow you to fly a max 4 seater not weighing more that two and a half tons within the UK though so it 'aint bad for fun flying. Thats good enough for a Piper Cherokee to whisk a woman away on a summer picnic if it takes your fancy.

There's no real comparison to LSA and european specifications... LSA is more like an upgraded ultralight than downgraded PPL, I've understood.

Ultralights could really offer a starting point for more affordable air travel, for instance PIK-26 would be comparable to a bus; fuel conspumption is 4 liters per 100km (or 90 MPG ins SAE terms) and the engine is literally a VW boxer sawed in half. On the other hand, only PIK-26 carries the pilot, 27 liters of fuel and 5kg of luggage, so it's not a really ideal for heavy hauls (for the interested, here's a Link to a PIK-26 builder's homepage.)

I'm thinking more "Honda street bike" than "bus", friend.

That's what you get from typing while dead tired - I meant to say, "...would be cheaper to fly than to ride on a bus"

But you're right, Honda street bike it is

Heh. Been there before.

Hey, where'd you get the green smiley?