@Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!:
Mmm hmm. And listen to some good Wonder Woman tunage at the same time.

+ Watch video

scarbrtj

First pilot must wear a Wonder Woman suit.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

So does this mean we'll be getting ultra-light planes instead of flying cars?

frndlybnny

@scarbrtj: Why is one of the Geico Cavemen a studio audio Technician?

Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy

which is why it's just won Roland the Lucky Strike Junior Designer Competition. Why would a cigarette company care about being eco-friendly. Unless they anticipate a time when you can't smoke on the ground, and my enter either International waters/skies before you can light up.

Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy

@Hectorvex: With the high degree of flax content in the plane, you could just smoke the seats. Not bad for when you have to set down on a desert island - except for the concommitant ensuing munchies.

Of course, so far the parts of the plane that really matter are made for unobtainium anyway, so, might as well enjoy the seats in the meantime.

ps61318

@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: It's not actually the cigarettes. The Foundation behind this was created by Raymond Loewy, who designed the Lucky Strike packaging, among other things. I didn't see anything about the smokes on the website. However, smoking in a low-oxygen situation might not be a good idea, though it will probably get you high from lack of oxygen.

Hectorvex

I'm a little skeptical of the design. I know it's just a concept, but could an electric engine that small really get this thing airborne? From what I've found on the internet, the design also contains another motor that runs an electric generator. Wouldn't that create a lot of inefficiency converting mechanical energy into electrical energy and then back into mechanical energy? Maybe I'm just being to skeptical of the design. It does look sleek and I like that most of it is clear so that you can see through it.

Aoi

@ps61318: Geez, it seems you can make anything out of unobtainium these days....

Hectorvex

@chueychihuahua: If you read the entire article (and especially the linked story) you'll see that it's really a hybrid - it will do powered flight or glide. That doesn't necessarily mean it will have sufficient juice to take off on its own power, but it does have a prop.

ps61318

@Aoi: it's a glider so I don't think it's supposed to take off a runway unassisted.

chueychihuahua

@Hectorvex: Yeah, you'd think there was, like, an infinite supply of the stuff. Well, the mass transmogrifiers will be crankin' on full when this puppy goes into production.

ps61318

Now it just needs a lavatory behind the seats and a clear bottom so that we can what we hit when we flush (assuming no holding tank).

Aoi

@TickleMeElmo: Those seats will never hold a Puppeteer.

(Thank you for the awesome reference, dude.)

ps61318

Does this mean we're going to have to see Britney's snatch again?

atomx

It looks like it's based on a General Products hull. Maybe a a smaller variant of a #2?

TickleMeElmo

@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: Exactly what I was thinking...wonderwoman transparent glider. :)

billcanada

i went to school with roland for a couple quarters, and in that short time, we became good friends. just wanted to say how awesome it is to see his work up here. congratulations, roland!

tr

So riddle me this, what good does a green glider do you, when you'll have to expend some other form of energy to get it into the air? Also ditto for just transporting it around.

Fail.

Log1c

@ps61318: Unfortunately, the mass transmogrifiers are themselves made of the stuff.

FredicvsMaximvs

I'd love to see the people come out of this after a 3 hour flight on a sunny summer day - they'd look like baked potatoes!

weatherman

This post leads to two logical conclusions:

1) Someday we will all get our daily fiber during our daily commute.
2) Lucky Strike & children make a great team.

I wonder if funding for this competition came as a result of a tobacco settlement, since most, if not all, tobacco companies have set up foundations to allocate settlement dollars. If that is the case, then naming it the Lucky Strike...Competition seems like a sneaky ploy to attract kiddies to their brand, and all in the name of charity and community involvement.

misterwho

i went on a flight in a glider just 2 days ago over boulder, co. it was very beautiful, but i don't see how gliders would be very practical for "transportation"...they can only really fly in the day time, and there is little/no room for cargo. that and they must be towed up to altitude by another plane. i don't think there is any room to label these as "personal air-transport". (i have my private pilots license but not glider certification)

theorieofself

Isn't that a glider? I can already see that "green" glider being towed by a gasoline guzzling airplane.

J. Nadeau

@J. Nadeau: If we follow standard green thinking, they will attach it to planes that are "already going somewhere", so it won't matter that they are also pulling the glider. Of course, IIRC, the wash off most of today's jet planes is pretty severe.

Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy

Where the fuck is the door?

logruszed

I like the look of it, but I'm not sure hwo much it'd help if it has to pulled into the air.

Maybe someone needs to invent a giant catapult to get it up.

falandil

Looks photoshopped...

But seriously, how much C4 can you cram into this and how long until Bin Laden gets his hands on 50 or 60?

Oracle989

Hey! Down here! [knocks window] Tink, tink, tink. It's not a glider, it's a hybrid! It has a propeller! It likely is not necessary to tow it!

Man, it's like talking to my kids here sometimes!

Look at the pictures and read the Linked Story.

ps61318

I don't see these revolutionizing anything, but it looks like it would be fun to fly. It would require a nice day and light winds to get anywhere in particular (and back). I see it more as a sport craft than reliable transportation.

@ps61318: You shouldn't talk about your kids that way. I'm sure they're lovely children. Now some of these yahoos on the other hand...

GadgetPlay

As if I wasn't afraid enough to fly.

TF2Soldier914

Nifty.

"have an aerodynamically-efficient body."
As all planes must have.

5cents

@GadgetPlay: Ow, got me right in the conscience. You're right, I'm sorry, I lost my temper. It's just *snif* so HARD sometimes *sniff* *HONK*... You try and raise the other commenters to *sniff* to be responsible... and *sniff, HONK* read the frickin' article... I get so... so...
Oh, booohoooohoooooo...... hold me, GadgetPlay...

ps61318

the thing about slow flying gliders is..how bullet proof are they?

association of marijuana growers of america

hoselshaft

I'll just be a jerk here for a moment. Even though it IS just a concept...you gotta have at least a tid bit of realism involved...otherwise we might as well start giving out awards to whoever designed the starship enterprise.

Reasons this design is bunk:

#1. electric motors require electric batteries. Time to double or even triple the weight of this thing unless some of those neato unobtanium batteries make an appearance. Solar panels will never be enough.

#2. Is the electric motor a ducted fan unit? If so, it's way too small, and any passengers in this plane will have permanently feathered hair-dos. If they stick a big prop on there instead, it loses a ton of coolness points.

#3. Where the hell are the guages, dials, indicators, etc? All crammed on that lil display between the seats? That should be fun...constantly looking down, switching screens, cranking your neck....airplane guages are designed to be easy to read, with the most important guages right up front...all for the sake of safety.

#4. I don't know what they're trying to do with the weird bent-under wingtips. I know you've gotta compensate for air leaking over the tips(why airliners have mini vertical stabilizers on their wingtips), but this design will do very little to help that problem.

#5. V-tails are a bit harder to fly I've heard. Granted, this thing is apparently designed for the year 3030, at which time, fly-by-wire on light civilian aircraft will be old news...computers will mix it all in so the pilot won't know the difference...but still.

I'm much more excited about planes like these...
[www.iconaircraft.com]

Thunderdome

kinda reminds me of the Edgley Optica, [en.wikipedia.org]

Judd Sandage

Please, please, please STOP ANNOUNCING NON-EXISTENT 'aircraft'!

I may become interested if some of these charlatans actually build a working prototype in which to risk their worthless asses.

Ednonymous

There there, ps61318, there there.

GadgetPlay