[ExI] ape haulers again: was RE: The silent PV revolution

[BillK]

On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 4:35 PM, spike wrote:
> Even this may be unnecessary.  Yesterday I was at the San Jose Tech Museum.
> They have a new display about high efficiency ape haulers.  One of their
> ideas is a three wheeled single seater, two wheels forward, one aft.  It
> still used standard mass production tires, so if we accept the weight
> penalty and rolling drag penalty of those wide tires, then current standard
> road surfaces would still work.
>
> Another alternative is to take the paved surfaces currently being converted
> from carpool to toll lanes, use that for low-speed lanes.  I am imagining a
> series of overpasses at each freeway exit which lift the low-weight narrow
> vehicles over the exiting and entering high-speed traffic.  That would also
> allow the use of bicycles on the freeways and autobahns of the world.
>
>


Or alternatively you could have your three-wheeler car and make it fly as well!!

<http://pal-v.com/>

The PAL-V ONE is a two seat hybrid car and gyroplane: a personal air
and land vehicle. What makes the PAL-V ONE attractive is the
convenience of fully integrated door-to-door transportation.

On the ground this slim, aerodynamic, 3-wheeled vehicle has the
comfort of a car with the agility of a motorcycle thanks to its
patented, cutting-edge, ‘tilting’ system. The single rotor and
propeller are unfolded to make the PAL-V ONE ready to fly.

The PAL-V ONE has a very short take off and landing capability, making
it possible to land practically anywhere. When not using controlled
airspace, you can take off without filing a flight plan. Flying a
PAL-V is like a standard gyrocopter. It is quieter than helicopters
due to the slower rotation of the main rotor. It takes off and lands
with low speed, cannot stall, and is very easy to control. The
gyroplane technology means that it can be steered and landed safely
even if the engine fails, because the rotor keeps auto rotating.
-----------

They have just completed flight tests - see press release.


BillK