Notes from a panel at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 3, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The panelists are not responsible for any errors here.

Chris Gerrib, Bill Higgins, Mark Huston (moderator), Jeffrey Liss, Henry Spencer

Once upon a time, SF “promised” us all manner of wondrous thing that never came true. Flying cars. Rocket packs. Even aliens (maybe). What happened to these promises? Did something better come along? Were they not practical? Or are we still working to make them come true? How does our view of the future differ from what we once expected? Our panelists explore these questions and more!

• Do we need/want flying cars? Demand and benefits may have been exaggerated.
• Think of television sets. Did we need them? Everybody wants one.
• Helicopters are not the same as flying cars.
• “Roadable aircraft
• Flying cars have been conceived of as mass market things. One in every garage. Fits in my driveway.
• Need smart hardware.
• Want to use same fuel as ground cars.
• Hydrogen fuel for aircraft requires a different infrastructure.
• Cars have heavy stuff for safety reasons. This is a problem for flying vehicles.
• Attempts so far have been neither good aircraft nor good cars.
• V/STOL drives up energy requirements.
• Electric cars.
  • Electric cars are heavier than their gas counterparts. This may increase damage to roads.
  • Carbon neutrality for EVs is at about 80-90,000 miles.
• People are experimenting with electric flying vehicles. The weight of the battery is a big problem. So is the battery lifetime.
• Electric vehicles depend on exotic materials.
• Current proposals for flying EVs are targetting the air taxi market. This may me a foot in the door for the consumer market. The luxury market will come before the mass market.
• Technology matters. Wide body turbofan planes made air travel much more affordable.
• Air space below 1,000 feet will become much more crowded Routing will be in 3-D.
• Speed. 120 mph is not that much faster than what cars can do.
• Flying cars would be nice for long distances, but the early models will be quite short-ranged.
• Jet packs.
  • The term causes some of us older fans to immediately think of Commando Cody.
  • There are some experimental versions. None have a useful range.
  • Use for boarding ships. Currently they work in good weather.
  • Someone has suggested a lunar scooter that could reach lunar orbit.
  • Apparently there is a jet pack or similar device commercially available for $150,000.