back to article Google flying car spotted?

A flying car prototype funded by Google parent company Alphabet's boss Larry Page has reportedly been seen hovering over the California town of Hollister. The vehicle, built by secretive aviation outfit Zee.Aero, is powered by electric fans. It can take off vertically and also has wheels for road travel. The company is backed …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A "flying car" that looks exactly like an airplane

    But is more expensive since it has to handle VTOL would never be anything but a toy. Few cities would allow such things to land anywhere in city limits due to worries about power lines, noise, loss of control etc. nor would they allow something with wings sticking around to drive on public roads.

    It is basically an airplane that can use a short runway, the only place it would be useful is if you lived in a rural area where you could land it on your property, but you don't have enough property for a proper runway for a small plane.

    1. Adam 52 Silver badge

      Re: A "flying car" that looks exactly like an airplane

      Could be useful if you wanted to hop from, say, Moffet Airfield to the Google campus (but a regular car or bicycle just as easy).

      Or any number of offices to wherever your bizjet is parked, or even the local hub airport (you could sneak in on a helicopter route away from the fixed wing traffic).

      Or any number of offices to the golf course.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: A "flying car" that looks exactly like an airplane

      Given that helicopters are the commuter vehicles of choice for the 1%, in large urban areas, it might not be as niche as you might think.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: A "flying car" that looks exactly like an airplane

      Indeed, that was my first though...looks like a duck, walks like a duck...etc. etc.

      But the Mercury News article was enlightening '...The aircraft has been described as a flying car because it can take off and land vertically...', oh, really?. and there was me thinking that to be worthy of the monicker 'flying car' the thing also had to capable of travelling along public roads as well...not with the apparent wingspan it has and an unguarded 'pusher' prop it won't.

      From the article again '..Witnesses said they saw the aircraft hovering on two occasions before it returned to earth and was towed back to Zee.Aero’s facility...', what?, and no relevant ubiquitous phone camera footage of a mysterious blob in the sky?

      In summary, a non-story featuring both hype and a particularly ugly looking aircraft prototype.

  2. Mark 85

    "It was known they wanted their privacy," said Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez. "I just believe in people's privacy."

    It's Google... they don't seem to care about people's privacy so it's only their own privacy.

  3. W4YBO

    Duck!

    I've seen the way some of you drive.

    Excuse me while I figure out how to armor the house.

  4. TRT Silver badge

    I hear...

    it has a lot of fans.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Make mine a Moller

    Nearest practical thing to a flying car I've seen is http://www.moller.com/moller_skycar400.html although I do think that http://www.flyskyrunner.com/ looks fun!

    1. Swarthy

      Re: Make mine a Moller

      I thought Moller had pretty much been exposed as a bit of a fraud in the flying car department. I would rather go for the PAL-V One, or the Terrafugia (Transition, if I must; but the TF-X would be much cooler, if it can get off the ground)

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