NEW YORK ¨C I¡¯ve always thought that the fastest way to get flying cars would be to spread rumors that China built one first. Well, Dubai¡¯s Roads and Transport Authority just announced that they have a Chinese-made flying car, and intend to put flying taxis in service this summer. Meanwhile, we¡¯re still anticipating the flying cars promised by Uber Inc., Airbus Group SE, Larry Page¡¯s companies, and nearly a century¡¯s worth of aviation pioneers.
Why wait? Airborne urban transport has long existed in the form of helicopters. There¡¯s no legal prohibition against parking one in your backyard and buzzing to work every day. Trade-a-Plane has lots of listings ready to fly for less than the cost of a Tesla Model S. If flying cars can solve our transportation problems, why don¡¯t we have more heli-commuters?
Just like driving would be easy if there weren¡¯t so many other cars, flying would be easy if it weren¡¯t for all the other stuff in the air. We tend to think of blue sky as a free-for-all, but the Federal Aviation Administration has strict rules controlling where aircraft can go. If there¡¯s a lot of commercial air traffic, unscheduled flights will likely be denied. Unless a pilot plans to commute in the middle of the night, the control tower probably won¡¯t want to hear about their request to get to work. And if an airborne car enters the space without prior clearance, the pilot can expect an interception from a military jet or Coast Guard helicopter.
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