Should Flying Cars Become Common in Everyday Life

 Should Flying Cars Become Common In Everyday Life?

Almost everyone knows of, or has watched, the 1985 comedy/sci-fi film Back to the Future starring Michael J. Fox as a small-town California teen, Marty McFly. Most of us have also probably watched the 1989 sequel, Back to the Future II. 

Some of the main features in the sequel were the flying hoverboards and the DeLorean DMC-12 time machine. The use of the hoverboards and the DeLorean in the movie sparked a question in people. “Is it possible to make the flying car a reality?”

When this question was first asked

This particular question is not a new one. The idea of flying cars dates back almost as far as the invention of grounded cars, in 1885. And as early as 1890, there were visions of the future that depicted flying cars. 

In 1940, Henry Ford famously said, “Mark my word, a combination airplane, and motorcar is coming. You may smile, but it will come.”

Early attempts at manufacturing/production

For the past several decades, many have tried to make this dream of the flying car come true. Many models and prototypes were made by different manufacturers.

Some of the models built and tested were:

• Convair Model 118 ConvAirCar or The Hall Flying Automobile (1947)
• AVE Mizar or The Flying Pinto (1973)
• Aerocar No. 1 (1949)

Pros

With flying cars, many advantages and new possibilities could come with them.

• They could help prevent claustrophobia.
• The durability/lifetime of roads, highways, and bridges would last longer.
• Traveling shorter distances to make the same trip as driving; flying cars would allow you to take a more direct route to your desired destination which would save you significant amounts of time. 
• There would be more free roads for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Fewer animals and people would get hit on the road due to car accidents.

Cons

While the invention of flying cars would be a groundbreaking accomplishment, they could also potentially be a great danger.

• If everyone had a flying car there could be traffic jams in the air.
• Some people would make flying cars unsafe for themselves and others because some could assume that if they were caught in traffic, they could just pick up speed and take off above the car ahead of them. This thought process could cause severe and fatal accidents, not just for the drivers involved, but also for the people down on the ground below them. 
• If people crashed into each other in the air, the cars could potentially get knocked out of the air and crash into houses, people, facilities of all kinds, parks, forests, etc. This could lead to the homelessness of humans and animals.
• Finding a landing strip could be a problem; places without landing strips would limit where people could travel.
• They could put airlines out of business, or give them competition.
• Maps and routes in the sky would need to be made so people could find their destination.
• The environment could get polluted by the smoke and excess gas.
• Finding a place to land, park, or refuel your flying car could be a potential problem.
• Carrying as many passengers would be an issue, as well. There would have to be a weight limit so the flying car could take off.
• The cost of these flying cars wouldn’t be cheap. This could limit potential buyers.
• Noise could be a very big problem if thousands of cars were flying in the air.
• People would have to get a pilot license before they could fly the cars.

Is there a future for flying cars?

While there are companies like Moller International, PAL-V, and Aeromobil that are working on producing flying cars, the prediction of them being of practical, everyday use, is very unlikely. 

So the answer is yes, flying cars are a future possibility! Since we live in a generation where a modern look is in style, however, the flying cars would probably most likely look more like sleek drones. But nevertheless, they’re still pretty cool.