GTP Cool Wall: 1947 Convair Model 118 Prototype

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1947 Convair Model 118 Prototype


  • Total voters
    95
  • Poll closed .
Flying cars are seriously uncool. Cars that have been fitted with an airplane engine(i.e. Rover SD1 V12) are sub zero.
 
Unnecessarily pointless, like a bicycle that doubles as a canoe. Too many compromises are needed to make it work effectively. Apart from not having to move your luggage or wake up grandma once you get to the airport, what solution does it provide?

Seriously uncool.
 
On the last two commercial flights I've taken, I have sat next to an extremely nervous man who appeared a couple of seconds from a panic attack the entire journey, and a woman so large she needed the little extending bit of the seat belt so it could fit around her colossal frame.

If I could drive to an airport in my own car, attach some wings and simply zip away to my destination, without the hassle of check in, having my foot run over by some clumsy git with a wheeled suitcase, or just not needing to deal with the general public, I would take that option in a heart beat.

It's fun, quirky and unique. It also flies, which to be honest, is all you need to know, really. So very, very cool.
 
If I could drive to an airport in my own car, attach some wings and simply zip away to my destination, without the hassle of check in, having my foot run over by some clumsy git with a wheeled suitcase, or just not needing to deal with the general public, I would take that option in a heart beat.

You can. It's called buying an airplane and a car. ;)
 
Yes you can, of course. If you have the means.

However this car was created so the average Joe who wasn't a millionaire can have a private airplane.

Did it actually cost any less than a cheap car and a cheap plane?
 
Did it actually cost any less than a cheap car and a cheap plane?

It was only a prototype. Projected cost was $1,500 in 1947, according to Wiki. About what an average V8 Ford cost in 1947.

By comparison a Beechcraft Bonanza personal airplane cost $7,000+ in 1947.
 
I don't know... Seriously uncool because a car shouldn't fly, but then you'll be the only one in the block to put some wings and fly on your car and that's very cool.

No wonder they crashed... The weight of, you know, pilots' genitalia must have been huge...
 
Interesting that impracticality and inefficiency are now apparently measures of coolness. Forget all the oogling this would get anywhere, this is lame because I can't fly land it in the grocery store parking lot (despite its ample storage space).

Interestingly, Wikipedia indicates this car was mainly intended to be rented at airports, though I'm sure they expected consumers to buy them as well. Perhaps, oddly enough, farmers with loads of flat fields and open airspace could get the most out of it. They'd certainly be the coolest farmer around.

It's also worth noting that the original idea was proposed as a possible raid vehicle for WWII, though I suspect it would be better suited to confusing the enemy before bringing out the real planes.

In any case, if I didn't live in such densly forested area, I'd want one.
 
I am genuinely astonished that it actually worked (at least once anyway). Seriously uncool lol.
 
You don't need a plane to fly.

Plastic wings may make you cry.

Kites are made for windy days.

Launch air with balloons.. fly away!

Inflatable pants... you may as well sleep.

If you want to fly, all you need..

Is friendship. Yeah.


Seriously uncool.
 
Designed both to drive and fly, it makes it all badly. I'd rather have two vehicles for each purpose. A Corvette C1 and a Yak-3 (a replica).
 
I am indeed alive.
I've even fired up my PS3 in the last month or so. LOL
I've been hanging out on the AGF.
More time with my Guitars than GT6. LOL
 
Solid cool. Its a proper car that flys properly, well it did fly properly and it was a proper car. The fact that you can't get a hold of one knocks it down from Sub Zero.
 
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