Experimental Flying Car crashes after unexpected takeoff during taxiing tests

[onetrack]

Well, it looks like the Flying Car concept has had another setback. IMO, the way this thing has fallen apart after a relatively low speed, low altitude crash, tells me the designer needs to go back to the drawing board and design in some acceptable cabin strength - let alone find the problem/s that caused it to get airborne unexpectedly.

 

Aviation Safety Net - WD-1 prototype flying car crashes during taxiing tests

 

 

[turboplanner]

Funny how some people have never been able to make the transition from car to aircraft.

 

One concept which has come close to fruition was shown in Popular  Mechanics in the late 1950s

 

It looked like a late ‘50s convertible with a ducted fan through the bonnet and another one through the boot. Add two fans for stability and you’d have today’s drone layout.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

looks like a really draggy design, I am guessing he pulled the throttle once it lifted off and it stalled.

 

 

[facthunter]

 The canard design is usually very pitch sensitive. The Wright brothers found that out long ago. An aeroplane is already a big enough compromise without giving it another task to Perform. . I'm totally skeptical of the concept. The environment a car operates in is a contact sport. Planes don't like getting bumped around.. Planes are  in their element once the wheels don't touch the ground.. Rolling along the ground should only be for the absolute minimum time. Nev

 

 

[kasper]

 The canard design is usually very pitch sensitive. The Wright brothers found that out long ago. An aeroplane is already a big enough compromise without giving it another task to Perform. . I'm totally skeptical of the concept. The environment a car operates in is a contact sport. Planes don't like getting bumped around.. Planes are  in their element once the wheels don't touch the ground.. Rolling along the ground should only be for the absolute minimum time. Nev

Yes and absolutely no. 

 

The wrights has the CofG set up so that the canard was not loaded sufficiently to have it stall first - deliberately so as their aircraft were deliberately UNSTABLE in all axis. Any modern canard is stable in all axis and CofG set to mean canard stalls fort and main wing never should.   Modern canards are not particularly sensitive in pitch just limited in pitch range.  And a few have had issues when using laminar flow sections on the canard and losing pitch authority but I’ve not found/heard of pitch sensitivity on any of the ones I’ve flown or the owners of ones I’ve not flown. 

 

 

[facthunter]

 Not convinced of the concept re stalling of a control surface.  The idea of the forward wing actually stalling and providing  a safe feature that way is pretty simplistic and good in theory.. but it has shortcomings. Ie you wouldn't particularly want to do this near the ground, but when  a bit too high. When the "small" leading wing stalls you have no real control till it unstalls . When a rearward stabiliser stalls in either mode it's not very safe, either, but preferable in forward Cof G limit where you have to land faster or you can't flare predictably rather than rear limits where it's extremely dangerous. as you stall the plane inevitably  when the elevator stalls, It can't be avoided.

 

        Having both wings providing lift is more efficient so often/usually these Canard types are better performers. My post possibly reads as if I'm skeptical of the Canard. It's meant to refer to the car-plane hybrid only. after" long ago", in the first line..Tthe reference to the canard design ends there. It's the Car-Plane I'm skeptical of

 

 To flare  a plane on landing by applying a down force anywhere is counterintuitive. I've always believed that myself and some short coupled planes exhibit a landing technique idiosynchracy where you can flare by pushing the stick forward just before mainwheel tyre contact. from a relatively high nose attitude.  This works when the fuselage is long and has  significant mass at each end and therefore has a high rotational moment of inertia  about the C of G..Having a constant download on the horizontal stabiliser on a normal plane for stability is also an efficiency robber. This is moreso with an amphibian which has a high thrustline., angled to push the tailplane down in flight and on take off. An aerodynamic download has the same effect as an equal value Mass. The supporting wing knows no difference and still has to provide sufficient lift to cover  it. More lift . More Drag.  Nev