Engineering News Blog

Engineering News

Latest news of interest to engineers. Sourced from GlobalSpec's Engineering News

Previous in Blog: Record-Breaking 320-gigapixel Panorama of London is a Cause for Celebration, Vertigo   Next in Blog: Microchip Implant Lets Blind Patients See Shapes, Skip the Prosthetic
Close
Close
Close
13 comments
Rate Comments: Nested

Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

Posted February 21, 2013 9:36 AM

From Autoblogs:

We will never stop being bitter about the lack of flying cars in our personal lives. It's not that we trust the drivers on the road with us to have yet another axis of travel to concern themselves with, but rather that we've been promised personal flying transportation our entire lives.

One ultralight pilot seems to have taken matters into his own hands, by stopping at a standard fuel station to top off his tanks. After he's finished at the pumps, he simply fires up his engine, taxis to the highway and takes off into the wild blue yonder.

Is the move safe? Probably not, but the path to excellence is often littered with danger. You can watch the whole show in the video below for yourself. As for us, we're going to start shopping for a personal aircraft of our very own.

Watch the video

Reply

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: by the beach in Florida
Posts: 33392
Good Answers: 1817
#1

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/21/2013 10:15 AM

Ooops...

WATCH OUT !! Oh ,,,,too bad....

PULL UP PULL UP !! Oh well.....He's fine,, I'm sure he'll be ok....

Ouoowww....yeah, that's bad...

RIP....dude....

__________________
All living things seek to control their own destiny....this is the purpose of life
Reply
Guru
Engineering Fields - Optical Engineering - Member Engineering Fields - Engineering Physics - Member Engineering Fields - Systems Engineering - Member

Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Trantor
Posts: 5363
Good Answers: 647
#2
In reply to #1

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/21/2013 3:37 PM

...and your point is?

__________________
Whiskey, women -- and astrophysics. Because sometimes a problem can't be solved with just whiskey and women.
Reply
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: by the beach in Florida
Posts: 33392
Good Answers: 1817
#3
In reply to #2

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/21/2013 4:07 PM

Why must I have a point? What is your point?

OK then, only this, I prefer to fly only when necessary, and then with attractive women waiting on me with strong drink....

But to each his own....

__________________
All living things seek to control their own destiny....this is the purpose of life
Reply
Guru
Engineering Fields - Optical Engineering - Member Engineering Fields - Engineering Physics - Member Engineering Fields - Systems Engineering - Member

Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Trantor
Posts: 5363
Good Answers: 647
#5
In reply to #3

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/21/2013 7:52 PM

Oh I was just wondering if you were trying to show those things are dangerous or something. Just because they crash. A lot. (A friend spent months and $$$$ building his own ultralight that crashed irreparably on it's maiden flight. Luckily, my friend walked away ok.)

I prefer to fly only when necessary, and then with attractive women waiting on me with strong drink...

No disagreement there!

__________________
Whiskey, women -- and astrophysics. Because sometimes a problem can't be solved with just whiskey and women.
Reply
Guru

Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 8006
Good Answers: 286
#8
In reply to #3

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/22/2013 1:09 AM

Apparently Captain Kangaroo had good taste.

.

Those are the Kangaroo-ettes, right?

__________________
Eternal vigilance is the price of knowledge. - George Santayana
Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 11119
Good Answers: 918
#4
In reply to #2

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/21/2013 7:36 PM

...Every take off is guaranteed a landing.

Reply
Guru

Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 719
Good Answers: 25
#9
In reply to #4

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/22/2013 4:33 AM

And, any landing you can walk away from is a good one!

jt.

Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings, we simply continue to fly...
Usually on a broomstick. We're flexible like that.

Reply
Guru
Engineering Fields - Electrical Engineering - Been there, done that. Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Long Island NY
Posts: 15602
Good Answers: 982
#10
In reply to #4

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/22/2013 3:02 PM

Almost every take off.

This take off had a pivotal part that never landed.

__________________
"Don't disturb my circles." translation of Archimedes last words
Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 11119
Good Answers: 918
#11
In reply to #10

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/22/2013 10:42 PM

Wait.

Reply
Guru
Engineering Fields - Electrical Engineering - Been there, done that. Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Long Island NY
Posts: 15602
Good Answers: 982
#12
In reply to #11

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/22/2013 11:31 PM

For what? Pioneer 10 reached solar escape velocity long ago. This coming Monday is a decade after the last transmission. The nuclear fuel to power the transmitter decayed so low that transmission is not possible and even if it could it is questionable if we could receive it. Now it can be debated that unknown to us this could impact something eventually but I would not call it a landing. Should the very remote probability of it landing somewhere become true, there's many orders of magnitude even less probability that anyone on Earth will know in 1.7 million years when this craft drifts near Aldebaran.

For all practical purposes, she's not going to land. Ain't that grand.

__________________
"Don't disturb my circles." translation of Archimedes last words
Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 11119
Good Answers: 918
#13
In reply to #12

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/23/2013 8:14 AM

It will probably land somewhere. :)

Gravity (somewhere) will have its way with it if we wait long enough. Forever is a long time.

However, I am not going to stay up for that and I suspect that neither will you. :)

Reply
Guru

Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 989
Good Answers: 14
#6
In reply to #1

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/21/2013 10:10 PM

Is one of these John Denver's?

Reply
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: by the beach in Florida
Posts: 33392
Good Answers: 1817
#7
In reply to #6

Re: Ultralight Makes a Runway-Free Gas and Go

02/21/2013 10:58 PM

No, he crashed into the pacific ocean at high speed.....not much left to photograph....




http://www.avweb.com/other/ntsb9905.html

__________________
All living things seek to control their own destiny....this is the purpose of life
Reply
Reply to Blog Entry 13 comments
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

129CBRider (1); Anonymous Hero (3); jt (1); redfred (2); SolarEagle (3); truth is not a compromise (1); Usbport (2)

Previous in Blog: Record-Breaking 320-gigapixel Panorama of London is a Cause for Celebration, Vertigo   Next in Blog: Microchip Implant Lets Blind Patients See Shapes, Skip the Prosthetic

Advertisement