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| 4 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 9 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1381701268021340300 |
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| 12 | [[quoteright:350:[[Film/ChittyChittyBangBang https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/apwcelebrity_20110831184031844369-420x0_8711.jpg]]]] |
| 13 | [[caption-width-right:350:"[[Film/BackToTheFuture1 Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads...]]"]] |
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| 19 | |
| 20 | -> '''Luke:''' Professor, where did you learn to fly a plane?\ |
| 21 | '''Layton:''' Plane? This is an automobile. |
| 22 | -->-- ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture'' |
| 23 | |
| 24 | %% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | It's TheFuture and you want to show how far technology has advanced. Or, your present-day Earthling heroes are visiting an alien planet whose society is light years ahead of us. Or the story is set in present-day Earth and you simply want to give your hero a CoolCar, but what do you do when missiles, NitroBoost and {{Ejection Seat}}s don't suffice to show just how much of a badass he is? Simple: flying cars! |
| 27 | |
| 28 | In a setting more similar to the present day, a flying car can be used to show off the credentials of a {{superhero}} or a character who's rich enough to be one of the Fiction500. Or sometimes it's just a way to demonstrate that a show is set in a far-flung time and/or place. If flying cars are sufficiently common in the setting, they may lead to WeWillAllFlyInTheFuture--nothing screams "futuristic (or alien) city-scape" better than giant buildings with all the space between them [[FuturisticSuperhighway crammed with flying shiny specks]]! Either way, you need a flying car! |
| 29 | |
| 30 | The lack of flying cars in RealLife is a [[IWantMyJetpack common complaint]]. When people think of flying cars, they generally mean a vehicle that looks, drives and behaves exactly like an automobile... except flying. Otherwise you could say we already have them in the form of helicopters and small planes. This would require some rather fanciful technology for a vehicle to get off the ground without wings or a rotor system in place. This is usually handwaved with some mention of an antigravity device. Nowadays, this trope is rarely played straight, at least not in its most literal form. The idea of flying vehicles being as common as cars in the future is still frequently used, but in modern works they're more likely to look like [[FutureCopter futuristic VTOL aircraft]] than actual cars that fly. It's also possible that with climate change now a primary concern, and with it the realisation that car emissions contribute a huge chunk to greenhouse gases, pollution and climate change effects, depictions of cars flying en masse may start to smack of environmental disregard, especially as fewer and fewer people today are opting to drive ''on-the-ground'' cars, in favour of taking—or demanding, if they don't have—mass public transit. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | There have been some real-life attempts at combining cars and aircraft, but rather than flying cars, they're better described as "road-able aircraft," basically small planes whose wings can be folded/removed so they can be driven on normal roads. However, the idea has never gotten off the ground (pun intended) for the same reason combined baseball/football stadiums went out of style: their functional needs are so different, making something that does both only succeeds in making it ''lousy'' at both. Such vehicles are expensive, clunky to operate in either form, and not the least bit fuel-efficient. In addition, ones whose wings need to be removed don't actually offer the go-anywhere utility that people seeking a "flying car" want: you'll always have to drive back to wherever you stored those wings if you want to fly again. One of the more serious problems is that as they are, in the eyes of the law, both automobiles ''and'' aircraft, meaning they require ''both'' [[RequiredSecondaryPowers a driver's license and a private pilot's license to operate]]. Still, there are attempts to fix this problem. The most difficult problem to solve will be that flying a plane requires significantly more skill and training than driving a car.[[note]]This is why far fewer people have pilot's licenses than driver's licenses, and why professional pilots are a better-paid and more prestigious job than most (though not all) professional drivers.[[/note]] |
| 33 | |
| 34 | See also: LookMaNoPlane. If the car in question is flying through the air in many small pieces due to an explosion, see Main/ExternalCombustion. The AmphibiousAutomobile is a similar concept, albeit one that is more successful in real life since it's much easier to make a car float in the water than in the air. |
| 35 | ---- |
| 36 | !!Examples: |
| 37 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 38 | |
| 39 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 40 | * ''Manga/BakusouKyoudaiLetsAndGo'' has Magnum mini 4WD series' "Magnum Tornado", the NitroBoost making them able to fly and spin in the sky for a short time. |
| 41 | * There's lots of flying cars in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. |
| 42 | * '''FP'''s, short for '''F'''lying '''P'''latforms, are quite common in ''Anime/EurekaSevenAo''. |
| 43 | * ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'' shows us the SteamPunk version, with flapping wings and steam engines. |
| 44 | * [[TeamChef Satsuki]] of ''Manga/NeigmaMagisterNegiMagi'' has a flying ''Dining-Car Restaurant''. Having two MadScientist friends sure is handy. |
| 45 | * The Moore capitol police force uses them in ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamThunderbolt'', which is strange because all the cars featured in the series up to that point were fairly normal-looking wheeled ones. This may be due to Moore being one of the richer colony clusters before being destroyed in the early days of the One Year War. They appear to use similar engines to the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam'''s Type 74 hover-truck, though that one can't actually fly, presumably due to the extra weight. |
| 46 | * Wallace's Air Car in ''Manga/PokemonAdventures''. It can even be controlled remotely, a fact Ruby exploited twice during the final battles of the ''Ruby/Sapphire'' StoryArc. |
| 47 | * Flying cars exist in ''Manga/SilentMobius,'' but have yet to replace ground vehicles. The AMP uses 'spinner' patrol cars and Rally has a flying limousine. |
| 48 | * ''Literature/TrinityBlood'' has an aerodynamics-challenged version. |
| 49 | [[/folder]] |
| 50 | |
| 51 | [[folder:Asian Animation]] |
| 52 | * ''Animation/MotuPatlu'': Dr. Jhatka invents a flying car in "Pilot Training" that functions similarly to a plane. |
| 53 | * ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': Throughout the ''Marching to the New Wonderland'' series, the goats' cars can fly in the air. |
| 54 | [[/folder]] |
| 55 | |
| 56 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 57 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': |
| 58 | ** The Batcraft flown by Jim Gordon III, in the computer-generated {{cyberpunk}} {{Elseworld}} comic ''ComicBook/BatmanDigitalJustice''. |
| 59 | ** In Creator/GrantMorrison's ''[[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Batman and Robin]]'', Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne have a flying Batmobile. |
| 60 | ** In John Byrne's ''ComicBook/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations'', Clark Wayne as Knight-Wing operated a flying Batmobile. |
| 61 | ** The Batmobile itself became a flying car, as well as a submersible (!) in Creator/FrankMiller's ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder''. |
| 62 | * ''ComicBook/{{Cavewoman}}'': Gramps had a flying motorcycle. |
| 63 | * ''ComicBook/{{Chassis}}'': The comic book series was built around the sport of rocket car racing. |
| 64 | * ''ComicBook/{{Copperhead}}'': The comic uses magnetic levitation cars and trains that hover less than ten feet off the ground. It's handwaved that maglev-equipped vehicles are cheaper and easier than building and maintaining roads. |
| 65 | * ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': In one WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck story, some aliens crash-land on Earth and, seeing Donald's pie delivery van, mistake it for a spaceship since it looks very much like their spaceship and subsequently turn it into a literal flying car while trying to "fix a few things." |
| 66 | * ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': The Fantasti-Car. |
| 67 | * ''ComicBook/FunkyKoval'': This is common in the comic. Some even have special features like onboard defense systems. |
| 68 | * ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'': Gina patented (and often destroyed) "Gina Mobile" can turn into one when needed. |
| 69 | * The heroes' main transportation in the first half of ''ComicBook/IHuntMonsters'' is one named Kirby that they use to get around the world. |
| 70 | * ''ComicBook/IronMan'': Tony Stark's flying Ferrari. |
| 71 | * ''ComicBook/Marvel2099'': Maglev cars are standard in Nueva York, not least because it's a LayeredMetropolis where nobody who can afford it goes to ground level. |
| 72 | * ''ComicBook/NinjaHighSchool'': Asrial converts a junked car into one as part of a challenge if she qualified for a job as a mechanic. It's later used as the protagonist's main transportation around town. |
| 73 | * ''ComicBook/TheScrameustache'': Hover Tanks are used by the invading aliens Togons. |
| 74 | * ''ComicBook/SheHulk'': She-Hulk has a flying car (a gift from a benevolent alien) but later lost it in space after it became too damaged. She would later regain it in ''ComicBook/TheSensationalSheHulk2023''. |
| 75 | * ''ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}'': S.H.I.E.L.D. has a small fleet of flying cars. |
| 76 | * ''ComicBook/SpaceCabbie'': The titular character is a cabbie. In space. He ferries his fares around in Cab #7433 in the second half of the 22nd Century. |
| 77 | * The Star Rocket Racer, the rarely-seen personal flying auto of both the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Star-Spangled Kid and [[ComicBook/StargirlDCComics Stargirl]] of the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica. Ever since she got her Cosmic Rod she hasn't really had a need for it. |
| 78 | * ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': |
| 79 | ** In ''ComicBook/ActionComics #481'', Superman had lost his powers, and needed something to help him fight Amazo. So he invented the Supermobile, a flying car capable of duplicating most of his powers, constructed of a super-hard metal, and Kryptonite-shielded. |
| 80 | ** ''ComicBook/LastDaughterOfKrypton'': Before Krypton's destruction, Zor-El used to own a sleek flying vehicle which he used to take [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} his daughter]] to his lab. |
| 81 | ** ''ComicBook/StrangersAtTheHeartsCore'': Villain Klax-Ar salvages and repurposes the remains of a broken-down ComicBook/{{Superboy}} Robot into a weaponized, flying sled. |
| 82 | ** ''ComicBook/SupermansReturnToKrypton'': Every vehicle in Krypton is a flying car. Superman even happens upon a jet-taxi. |
| 83 | ** ''ComicBook/TheImmortalSuperman'': In the year 121,970, everyone in Metropolis uses flying cars. All vehicles are equipped with a device which turns them intangible in case that the car is going to crash into a building. |
| 84 | ** The Whiz Wagon, used by Jimmy Olsen and the Newsboy Legion during Creator/JackKirby's ''ComicBook/NewGods'' series. |
| 85 | * ''ComicBook/TrishTrashRollergirlOfMars'': All vehicles on UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} have semi-circular devices in place of their wheels that propel them off the ground. |
| 86 | [[/folder]] |
| 87 | |
| 88 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 89 | * ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': In one Sunday comic, Calvin daydreams that his parents let him drive the family car. He then makes the car fly simply by driving so fast that the speedometer breaks. |
| 90 | [[/folder]] |
| 91 | |
| 92 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 93 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' fanfic ''Fanfic/EgyptOnAnurKhufos'', hovering landspeeders are a common technology on the titular planet, being the fastest way to cross its desert terrain. |
| 94 | * The police car on Dandond in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached''. George wants to take it home with him. |
| 95 | * During the ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' fanfic ''Fanfic/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilSecretsOfTheMysteriousHollow'', Jackie Lynn Thomas' older sister owns a 1970s periwinkle-purple van which Jackie 'Borrowed', and upgraded with magic thanks to the magic wand charger that Marco kept ever since [[Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS1E8QuestBuy Quest Buy]], in order to help rescue Star from Mewni. It's also used once again when the gang needed to travel to London after [[MissedTheBus missing their flight.]] |
| 96 | * Nora speculates an Atlesian troop transport she and her friends obtain in "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13858618/1/ Attack on Titan A New Path]]", can fly. Everyone dismisses it as one of her flights of fancy. Cue the transport starting to [[InstantlyProvenWrong lift off]] the ground. |
| 97 | [[/folder]] |
| 98 | |
| 99 | [[folder:Films — Animation]] |
| 100 | * ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'' featured a fantasy sequence by Lightning [=McQueen=] where he becomes '''Dinoco Lightning Storm [=McQueen=]''', flies through the air, and dispatches evil tripods with missiles. Given that his very next fantasy involves opening nights and the Hollywood Walk of fame, he ''may'' have been fantasising about film-star ambitions. |
| 101 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars 2}}'', espionage agent Holly Shiftwell can fly. Mater manages to do so when he deploys both his parachute and his rocket thrusters. |
| 102 | * Flint Lockwood made an attempt of building one without wings in ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'' [[spoiler:though actually builds a working and winged one by the climax]]. |
| 103 | ** A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRdVL3toO4E deleted scene]] from [[WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs the sequel]] shows that Barb actually has a working wingless flying car powered by thrusters on the bottom. |
| 104 | * In ''WesternAnimation/Home2015'', Oh rebuilds Tip's broken car so it can fly, under the impression that it was supposed to do that. |
| 105 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'', Good Cop/Bad Cop's police car can transform into a hovercar. |
| 106 | * Common in the future presented in ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons''. The Time Machine is even engineered from one a la ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture''. |
| 107 | * Present in many of the futuristic scenes featured in ''WesternAnimation/TheMindsEye'' series. Most often shown to be barely car-like but nonetheless the common vehicle for the intended period. ''The Gate'' features these with visible aerodynamic surfaces and thrusters, and a particular sequence follows one vehicle driving like [[DrivesLikeCrazy an absolute lunatic]], bouncing off scenery and having a head-on with a clearly-marked wall. |
| 108 | * ''WesternAnimation/Nimona2023'': As part of the film’s ScienceFantasy aesthetic, flying cars and carriages are quite common in the kingdom. |
| 109 | * ''WesternAnimation/Planet51'' features cars that hover a foot off the ground via some pad. |
| 110 | [[/folder]] |
| 111 | |
| 112 | [[folder:Films — Live-Action]] |
| 113 | * ''Film/TheAbsentMindedProfessor'' puts flubber into a car, and bombards it with gamma rays to make it levitate. |
| 114 | * ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'' makes flying cars commonplace by [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture the year 2015]]; even the [[CoolCar DeLorean time machine]] also has hover circuits allowing it to fly. Apparently the writers really liked this idea, because it was one of the few things from the original script of the first movie to survive. Spoofed in ''Website/CollegeHumor'''s "Back to the Future in ACTUAL 2015" when Doc Brown explains that not only aren't there any flying cars, people are too scared to fly for fear of fundamentalist hijackers. |
| 115 | * The 2009 Russian film ''Film/{{Black Lightning|2009}}'' is a superhero movie where the protagonist is given a '66 Volga that has been used for a SovietSuperscience project. There's a UpgradeVsPrototypeFight involving a flying Mercedes with upgraded technology piloted by the BigBad. |
| 116 | * The Spinners from ''Film/BladeRunner'' have inspired replicas in countless boxsets. |
| 117 | * ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger''. The IWantMyJetpack aspect is spoofed when Howard Stark presents a prototype to an awestruck public at a 1940's technology expo, saying that in a few years (thanks to the amazing technology being developed by Stark Industries) cars will not have wheels. The demo car then [[DisastrousDemonstration blows a fuse and crashes to the floor]]. Stark recovers by making a joke of it. "I said a few years, didn't I?" |
| 118 | * Director Nick Fury's SUV reportedly has flight capabilities that were disabled during the attack on him in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. The air conditioning however was full operational... |
| 119 | * In ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'', the eponymous car can sprout wings and propellers and fly. |
| 120 | * {{Defied|Trope}} with The Bat in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'': |
| 121 | -->'''Selina:''' My mother warned me about getting into cars with strange men.\ |
| 122 | '''Batman:''' This isn't a car. |
| 123 | * The French film ''[[Film/{{Fantomas}} Fantômas se déchaîne]]'' ("Fantômas Unleashed") ends with the titular villain escaping in a Citroën DS that converts into an airplane. |
| 124 | * ''Film/TheFifthElement'' has lots of these, given the very distant future the movie takes place in. TheHero even drives a flying taxi for a living. |
| 125 | * ''Film/TheFlyingCar'', a short film taking place in Film/TheViewAskewniverse. Stuck in traffic, Randall and Dante discuss what they would hypothetically be willing to do to get the flying car. Randall badgers Dante by upping the ante until the latter relents and says he would be willing to have his foot hacked off and be sodomized by a MadScientist in exchange for the flying car. |
| 126 | -->'''Randall:''' [[HypocriticalHumor You'd do it with a bunch of guys just to get a car?]] |
| 127 | * In ''Film/JustImagine'', everyone has their own propeller-driven personal airplane with horizontal props inset in each wing so they can hover in midair, allowing their occupants to chat or burst into song. In a TakeThat against the anti-semitic Henry Ford, all the car manufacturers have Jewish names. |
| 128 | * In ''Film/TheLastStarfighter'', Centauri's CoolCar is both a Flying Car and a starship. |
| 129 | * In ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'', [[BigBad Francisco Scaramanga]] escapes with a winged AMC Matador. It becomes humorous when [[BondGirl Mary Goodnight]] hides in the trunk before he gets away and thinks the car has stopped, only to open it and [[OhCrap find herself 20,000 feet up]]. This was inspired by the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVE_Mizar a real-life modification]] designed to turn a car into this trope. |
| 130 | * Perhaps the earliest example in film would be the small personal airplanes seen flitting amongst the buildings in ''Film/{{Metropolis}}''. They may not have looked like cars, but they seemed to fill the same function. This was probably also the {{Trope Maker|s}} for the whole "throw in some flying cars zipping between giant buildings to establish that we're in TheFuture" thing, and it remains popular to this day. |
| 131 | * The ending of ''Film/RepoMan'' has [[spoiler:the much sought-after 1964 Chevrolet Malibu flying up in the sky, and ending up in space]]. |
| 132 | * The students of ''Film/SkyHigh2005'' go to school in a flying bus. |
| 133 | * In ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'', Lone Starr's flying Winnebago, the Eagle V. Princess Vespa's space car also qualifies. It was a Mercedes! |
| 134 | * Establishing shots of UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' films usually feature vehicles flying across the skyline. Apparently, people can't just [[ReedRichardsIsUseless beam themselves to work]] -- it's the ''states'' after all. People there need the pleasure of driving like pedestrians need oxygen. Not to mention that this is the [[Franchise/StarTrek franchise]] which [[TropeCodifier codified]] the TeleporterAccident trope. Anyone who saw ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' would prefer to take a shuttle. Subverted in [[Film/StarTrek2009 the 2009 film]] with a young Kirk having a car which very decidedly could ''not'' fly, although he was still pursued by a cop on a flying bike. |
| 135 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'': |
| 136 | ** All sorts of military and civilian [[AntiGravity repulsorlift]] vehicles abound. Speeder bikes (from ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''), airspeeders, hovertrucks, pod racers, swoops... |
| 137 | ** ''Film/ANewHope'': Luke's speeder is only ever a few inches off the ground, but it does fly, technically. |
| 138 | ** ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'': The Coruscant speeder chase takes place through a SkyscraperCity where the air between the towers is criss-crossed by multiple layers of flying car traffic lanes. |
| 139 | ** ''Film/TheLastJedi'': According to supplementary fluff, the ski-speeders were originally designed for racing, similar to the pod racers in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''. The Rebel Alliance acquired some of them and modified them as combat craft during the Galactic Civil War, and [[spoiler:the Resistance was forced to use a very beat-up handful of the remaining ski-speeders against the First Order a generation later]]. |
| 140 | %%* ''Film/{{Thunderbirds}}'': Lady Penelope's pink Ford limousine. |
| 141 | [[/folder]] |
| 142 | |
| 143 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 144 | %%* ''Literature/ThirdWorldProducts'': Although these are vans to small bus size and larger. |
| 145 | * ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': The graphic novel shows LEP cruisers being able to fly, which they can't actually do in the books. |
| 146 | * In ''Literature/TheBoxOfDelights'', the sorcerous villain has a car that can not only fly but take off and land vertically. |
| 147 | * In ''Literature/CaptainFrenchOrTheQuestForParadise'', they are common on developed worlds. Very useful for traveling great distances. The primary non-aquatic mode of transportation on Solaris, as the scarcity of land means that roads are a no-no. How they work is never explained, especially since it's clear that ArtificialGravity hasn't been discovered in this 'verse. |
| 148 | * ''Literature/ChittyChittyBangBang'': At first Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang is just a big and powerful car, but as the book progresses the car surprises the family by beginning to exhibit independent actions. This first happens while the family is caught in a traffic jam on their way to the beach for a picnic. The car suddenly instructs Commander Pott to pull a switch which causes Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang to sprout wings and take flight over the stopped cars on the road. Commander Pott flies them to Goodwin Sands in the English Channel where the family picnics, swims, and sleeps. |
| 149 | * The Aesir in ''Literature/TheDreamsideRoad'' is a flying camper. Though it operates on roads and [[AmphibiousAutomobile water]], flying is Orson’s preferred way to travel. |
| 150 | * ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'''s ornithopters (or just "thopter"s) probably count, although they may be more equivalent to helicopters. Note that ornithopters are a real invention, people have been attempting (and failing) to build practical ones for a century now. |
| 151 | * From Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/FoundationSeries'': In "Literature/ThePsychohistorians" the taxi Gaal uses to arrive at the Luxor hotel can fly vertically as well as accelerating in the air. It's used to indicate that events are taking place in the far future, when such [[ArtificialGravity antigravity]] transportation might be common. |
| 152 | * ''Literature/GalaxyZack'': All of the vehicles on Planet Nebulon are of the flying variety, also the trains according to Zack's dad. The Nelsons come to Nebulon in one in "Hello, Nebulon!". |
| 153 | * ''Literature/TheGanymedeTakeover'' by Creator/PhilipKDick and Ray Nelson had "ionscraft". |
| 154 | * Played hilariously straight in ''Literature/GoodOmens'' when Aziraphale decides that 4-5 miles an hour on a small scooter is not fast enough to prevent the apocalypse. So he makes it fly. Very, very fast. |
| 155 | * The combat cars used by ''Literature/HammersSlammers'', like their [[HoverTank tanks]], are actually hovercraft. Civilian aircars are also commonplace on highly developed planets, and popular among plutocrats on the less-developed worlds that usually hire the Slammers. |
| 156 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'': |
| 157 | ** Sirius' flying motorbike. |
| 158 | ** In the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets second book]], Arthur Weasley enchanted a Ford Anglia to make it able to fly. [[LoopholeAbuse Because of a loophole]], it wouldn't be considered illegal as long as nobody flew in it. The car becomes ''sentient'' thanks to the Forbidden Forest's innate magic and comes to Ron and Harry's rescue later in the book. |
| 159 | * In Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series, aircars have pretty much replaced ground cars, with the latter only being used on backward planets in fringe sectors. There are limousines, vans and sports cars, all of which can operate on different altitudes. They're also handy for [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident disposing of troublesome people]] by certain less scrupulous organizations. |
| 160 | ** ''Literature/StephanieHarrington'' shows how perfectly normal aircars are in the distant future, with Stephanie's parents, as a gift on her fifteenth birthday, allow her to take the test to get her Aircar license. |
| 161 | * The ''Literature/InDeath'' series, set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture. Then, as now, cop equipment is crappy. But they ''do'' have flying cars, ''and'' [[TheParalyzer laser stunners]], ''and'' offworld travel is more or less routine. I'd say the trade-offs are worth it. |
| 162 | * ''Literature/LivInTheFuture'': The cars in the year 3000 are shown to be able to hover. |
| 163 | * Asimov's ''Literature/LuckyStarrAndTheRingsOfSaturn'': While on Titan, Lucky is impressed by the [[{{Technobabble}} diagravitic]] hovercars built by the Sirians. They're driven by robots, of course. |
| 164 | * Isaac Asimov and Creator/JanetAsimov's ''Literature/TheNorbyChronicles'': The flying police cars, taxis, and other vehicles have [[ArtificialGravity antigrav motors]]. |
| 165 | * The [[InsistentTerminology volantors]] of Chasm City seen in Creator/AlastairReynolds' ''[[Literature/RevelationSpaceSeries Revelation Space]]'' series. Their most explicit appearance is in the novella ''Diamond Dogs''. They become partially LostTechnology by the time ''Chasm City'' takes place, where they are effectively replaced by terrifying bring-your-brown-pants gondolas that use multiple telescoping arms to swing across the cables hung from the dome covering Chasm City. |
| 166 | * Lowly Worm from the Creator/RichardScarry books apparantly drives an apple-shaped car that also serves as a helicopter since its "leaves" actually function as the helicopter's blades. Except how the heck is he able to drive it if he doesn't have any arms? |
| 167 | * Creator/RobertAHeinlein |
| 168 | ** ''Literature/TheNumberOfTheBeast'' by features one of the coolest cars of all time: Gay Deceiver. It doesn't just fly, it flies at hypersonic speed with retractable swing wings. It is capable of vertical take-offs and landings. It can even do semiballistic sub-orbital flights just past the edge of space. Oh, and it gets upgraded with a time machine that can visit alternate universes, some of them fictional ones, including [[Literature/LandOfOz Oz]] and [[Literature/AliceInWonderland Wonderland]], as well as the ability to teleport within the same universe. Seats four, six if they're really friendly. Plus, it has a magic annex (thanks to one of those visits to Oz) with a pair of fully-functional bathrooms and a never-empty picnic basket. And a superintelligent talking computer autopilot with a wicked sense of humor and a sexy contralto voice. And a highly illegal (but well-hidden) laser cannon. |
| 169 | ** Pretty much all of Heinlein's "Future History" stories have flying cars. One of them (''Literature/ThePuppetMasters'') even describes the North American radar net as being called the "[[Literature/TheBible No Sparrow Shall Fall]]" network that tracks every car (note there are about 250 million registered passenger vehicles currently in the USA). Despite the fact that he was considered one of the "kings" of Hard Science Fiction, he never would admit that flying cars are AwesomeButImpractical. |
| 170 | ** In ''Literature/SpaceCadetHeinlein'', the protagonist is picked up by a helicopter, which doesn't seem too strange [[{{Zeerust}} until you realise it's a personal helicopter that his family fly themselves]], their version of a family car. Earlier, the FarmBoy protagonist mentions [[KidsDrivingCars getting his copter license at the age of 12]]. |
| 171 | * In ''Literature/TerraIgnota'', flying cars are essential to the world, since they have been developed far enough to circle the globe in mere hours, allowing people to live in Europe, work on another continent, have lunch in a third, and return home in time for dinner. They’re one of the contributors to the end of the nation-state: borders lose all meaning when citizens of any given country spend most of their lives outside it. They’re also automated — a large portion of the plot is centered around the bash' house that runs the flying-car system for almost the entire world, something they have been doing for generations. It all can only function because set-sets, [[WetwareCPU human computers]] specialized to an extreme for the calculation of millions of flight routes at once, have been developed, and even then there are a handful of collisions every year, which are invariably fatal given the speeds involved. [[spoiler:That number is being artificially boosted by said bash’, which is involved in a GovernmentConspiracy and deliberately crashing cars containing passengers their set-sets have calculated to be threats to world peace.]] |
| 172 | * In SA Swann's ''Literature/TerranConfederacy'' universe, flying cars start out as vectored thrust vehicles mostly limited to the rich, but after the invention of contragrav they become much more common. |
| 173 | * The title character of ''Literature/{{Tinker}}'' invented magically powered hoverbikes, and now races them. |
| 174 | * In the ''Literature/TowersTrilogy'', the {{Magitek}}-powered cars of the City are capable of flight. This is necessary for travel between the titular {{Mage Tower}}s, which float in the air and are constantly changing location. |
| 175 | * ''Literature/{{Valhalla}}'' features flying cars called "pogos," named for their bouncing nature. |
| 176 | * The aptly named [[XtremeKoolLetterz SkyKar]] in ''Literature/VillainDotNet''. |
| 177 | * Like most SpeculativeFiction settings with mature AntiGravity technology, Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' has a wide variety of flying vehicles: |
| 178 | ** Float bikes (flying motorcycle analog) |
| 179 | ** Lightfliers (2-4 passenger, high performance) |
| 180 | ** Aircars (4-8 passenger. Police/security models have varying armament options) |
| 181 | ** Lift Vans (mass cargo/passenger transport) |
| 182 | ** Anything larger will usually have orbital capability, moving into cargo shuttle or DropShip territory. |
| 183 | * In the ''Literature/ZacharyNixonJohnson'' series, most cars are flying cars. Zach is frequently mocked for having an antique non-flying car. |
| 184 | * In the ''Literature/AgentG'' series by Creator/CTPhipps, these are known as Vertifical Lift Off (VLO) vehicles. They appear by the third book and become a plaything of the rich as the setting moves from TwentyMinutesInTheFuture to {{Cyberpunk}}. |
| 185 | [[/folder]] |
| 186 | |
| 187 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 188 | * The final scene of the SeriesFinale of ''Series/ThirtyRock'' has flying cars pass outside the window to show the story has advanced decades in the future when the [[spoiler:never-aging]] NBC President [[spoiler:Kenneth]] is pitched a show totally set at 30 Rockefeller Plaza by [[spoiler:Liz Lemon's great-granddaughter]]. |
| 189 | * The TV side of the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' has a few: |
| 190 | ** In the series finale of ''Series/AgentCarter'', Howard Stark reveals he perfected the prototype he demonstrate in the above-mentioned ''First Avenger''. It's promptly destroyed in the process of closing a black hole. |
| 191 | ** The final scene of the first episode of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' has Agent Coulson quoting Doc Brown verbatim while flying away in his CoolCar, [[ICallItVera Lola]]. He flies it several times in later episodes. |
| 192 | * ''Series/AlteredCarbon'': These are shown to be the norm in the future, and are capable of flying high enough to break the cloud layer. |
| 193 | * ''Series/{{Automan}}'' could have Cursor instantly convert his CoolCar into a CoolPlane. |
| 194 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 195 | ** The Third Doctor (while grounded on Earth by the Time Lords) briefly used a futuristic flying car dubbed by fans as "The Whomobile". It only flies briefly, since part of the point was that (unlike Bessie) the prop was actually road-legal. |
| 196 | ** The Fourth Doctor's companion Romana once remarked that she was given a flying car for her [[Really700YearsOld 70th birthday]]. |
| 197 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E1NewEarth "New Earth"]] features flying cars. In the planet's second appearance, the cars have the worst traffic jam in the history of the universe in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E3Gridlock "Gridlock"]]. |
| 198 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E15PlanetOfTheDead "Planet of the Dead"]]: A London double-decker bus is modified with alien tech to be able to fly in order to escape back through a wormhole. |
| 199 | * Flying Motor Bikes from ''Series/{{Galactica 1980}}''. |
| 200 | * Professor [=McClaine=]'s flying car in ''Series/{{Joe 90}}'' has about the most uncool design a flying vehicle ever had. |
| 201 | * One of the first things Billy did in ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' once he started getting savvy with alien technology was make a flying Volkswagen Beetle he dubbed the "Rad Bug". Yes, they could, technically, teleport if they wanted to, but even Billy could tell that a flying car was cooler. And it did come in handy the times they ''couldn't'' teleport. They even bring it back in the [[Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersOnceAndAlways 30th anniversary reunion special]]. |
| 202 | ** ''Series/GekisouSentaiCarranger''/''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'' has two sentient cars, one of which could convert to a flight mode. |
| 203 | ** Also, Speedor of ''Series/EngineSentaiGoOnger''/the Eagle Racer of ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' is a zord that's half-sports car, half-bird (condor in ''Go-Onger'', eagle in ''RPM''); and has a flight mode in line with the "bird" half. ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' and ''Series/PowerRangersMegaforce'' later introduce its successor Machalcon / the Turbo Falcon zord (half-formula racer, half-falcon) who likewise has flight ability. |
| 204 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'' frequently showed a small number of flying vehicles to remind us that we're TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture. Oddly, the ''Ranger's'' vehicles were all either ground-bound or full-blown aircraft. |
| 205 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': One of these is seen in the background on Earth in [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E24AllGoodThings the series finale]]. |
| 206 | * ''Series/{{Supercar}}'' from the Gerry Anderson series of the same name. |
| 207 | * ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': At the end of "Welcome to Winfield", TheGrimReaper Griffin St. George's car rises above the ground and he flies back to HeavenAbove. |
| 208 | * ''Series/VRTroopers'' has Kaitlyn's late-80s Mazda 323, which [[TheMentor Professor Hart]] upgrades to be able to fly (though it doesn't have any weaponry, which forces Kaitlyn to rely on flight and trickery whenever Grimlord's air forces start chasing them). This was carried over from one of the source series, ''Series/ChoujinkiMetalder'', where the car (known as the Metal Charger) belonged to Metalder/Ryusei (since his counterpart Ryan had his own civilian motorcycle, they instead gave it to Kaitlyn). |
| 209 | * ''Series/TheWheelOfTime2021'': There are several outside the window in the scene "3000 years ago" in episode 8. |
| 210 | [[/folder]] |
| 211 | |
| 212 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 213 | * Music/ChuckBerry's "You Can't Catch Me" - "I got a brand new Airmobile/it's custom made, t'was a Flight De Ville" |
| 214 | * In Music/JagaJazzist's AnimatedMusicVideo for "Animal Chin", the band travels in two ordinary-looking cars, which bounce wildly on the ground before inexplicably taking to the skies. |
| 215 | [[/folder]] |
| 216 | |
| 217 | [[folder:Other Sites]] |
| 218 | * ''Website/SCPFoundation'', [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1122 SCP-1122 ("The House of Tomorrow")]]. One of the technological items found in the House is a working flying car. |
| 219 | [[/folder]] |
| 220 | |
| 221 | [[folder:Pinball]] |
| 222 | * The third Doctor's Whomobile appears in Creator/WilliamsElectronics' ''Pinball/DoctorWho''. |
| 223 | [[/folder]] |
| 224 | |
| 225 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 226 | * In ''Podcast/InterstitialActualPlay'', the party's inter-world vessel is a take on the Regalia Type-F from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV''; specifically Criss Angel's Bugatti with airship propellers attached. |
| 227 | [[/folder]] |
| 228 | |
| 229 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 230 | * ''Radio/DimensionX'': In "[[Recap/DimensionX29Shanghaied Shanghaied]]" mentions "taxi-copters", implying that sometime in the future [[TheTaxi taxicabs]] will be replaced by flying taxis. |
| 231 | [[/folder]] |
| 232 | |
| 233 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 234 | * Flying cars exist in ''TabletopGame/{{Aberrant}}'', but their use is restricted to police, emergency services and the military. |
| 235 | * In ''TabletopGame/CarWars'', one of the available modifications for your WeaponizedCar is the capacity to deploy helicopter blades and fly. In game rules, a "tri-phibian" vehicle is one with this modification ''and'' the other available environmental modification: the capacity to become an AmphibiousAutomobile. |
| 236 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk2020}}'' has hovercars too, of course with the aerodynamics of a brick and only available to those with good amounts of dough. Most known are the hoverambulances of ''Trauma Team'', that provide a sort of a rescue service to those in trouble... of course for a price. |
| 237 | * ''TabletopGame/D20Modern'': The additional book ''D20 Future'' supplies a number of these vehicles as gear for [[TechLevels Tech Level 9 (Fusion Era)]] campaigns. The more notable example of said vehicles is a flying taxi that can be modified with extra armor, as a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheFifthElement''. |
| 238 | * Flying cars are fairly common on Mars (lower gravity) and Venus (inhospitable surface) in ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase''. |
| 239 | * In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' rocket cars and trucks are the go to choice for the rich and well off. There are enough of them to turn the skies of New York into something akin to Coruscant. |
| 240 | * The Air Car has an entry in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} Ultra Tech'' as a [[TechLevel TL-9]] technology, powered by four pod-mounted fans. The vignette at the start of the Vehicles chapter features an air-taxi driver in a superscience setting complaining that AntiGravity is putting him out of business. |
| 241 | ** They're reasonably common in ''TabletopGame/TranshumanSpace'', although they're something of a luxury vehicle; four times the price of a (ground) smartcar, and the "What the Cost of Living Gets You in 2100" table in ''Changing Times'' puts them at Status 3 ("arcology mayor or rising enterpreneur") and are seen as a personal aircraft rather than a fancy car. |
| 242 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' has a selection of hovercars in addition to normal cars, helicopters, and airplanes. The really fun thing is that if you have a reasonable DM, it is possible to afford a hovercar at character creation (it will eat up around half your cash, though) |
| 243 | * ''TabletopGame/TeenagersFromOuterSpace'' has spacesters that look like a car, move like a flying saucer. No teenager can afford to buy one -- but a clever human/alien pair can ''build'' one by, yes, cannibalizing parts from a car and a flying saucer. |
| 244 | [[/folder]] |
| 245 | |
| 246 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 247 | * ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': Set in a futuristic cyberpunk city, vehicles hover around to travel, even while moving on roads, they still float a bit. |
| 248 | * ''VideoGame/{{Apocalypse}}'', set in the distant future, has a level where you leap on the roof of an airborne taxi while being pursued by enemy mooks, and must leap from one flying vehicle to another in an intense chase scene. |
| 249 | * ''VideoGame/BeamBreakers'' was a computer game in which you drove antigravity cars in a ''Film/TheFifthElement''-esque city. |
| 250 | * A common power-up for your tank in the ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster'' series. |
| 251 | * Some of the ''VideoGame/ChoroQ'' games have {{jet pack}}s and wings as add-ons which allow your car to fly. |
| 252 | * ''VideoGame/{{CrossOut}}'' has "Hover" wheel parts, which can turn any vehicle they are attached to either into one of these or a HoverTank. |
| 253 | * The racing vehicles of ''VideoGame/FatalInertia'' seem to be a hybrid between a ground-effect fighter jet and an Indycar, which hover several meters in the air and use jet engines to accelerate to 500kph+. Their wings allow racers to hug the ground or temporarily soar into the air to avoid obstacles. [[DesignItYourSelfEquipment They're also highly customizable]], and [[WackyRacing armored to fight off weapons from other racers]]. |
| 254 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has flying taxicabs and other small flying vehicles in the [[CapitalCity Imperial City of Archades]], the wealthiest and most technologically advanced (or {{Magitek}}-advanced?) city in the game. |
| 255 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' has the Regalia Type-F, a flying car that serves as this installment's [[GlobalAirship airship]]. You'll need to beware of street poles while taking off or landing and avoid collisions mid-air though, as crashing it while in the air would result in a NonstandardGameOver. |
| 256 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}''[='=]s Battle Royale mode features an improvised flying bus called the Battle Bus. Its main components are a purple school bus and a hot air balloon, and its purpose is to load up 100 combatants who then parachute off the bus onto the island where the fighting takes place. |
| 257 | * Hover cars seem to the norm in ''VideoGame/FutureCopLAPD'', even if they still use roads. |
| 258 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoOnline'' saw the return of the Deluxo (previously only seen in ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCityStories Vice City Stories]]'' as a land-based vehicle based on the [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture DeLorean DMC-12]]) as one of these. It also has [[WeaponizedCar a small arsenal]] onboard. The Oppressor Mk. II, meanwhile, is a hoverbike with a similarly robust arsenal. Both vehicles, incidentally, have [[DemonicSpiders a rather storied reputation]] among the game's fans as the weapon of choice for every {{troll}} and {{griefer}} due to how easy it is to kill other players with them. |
| 259 | * The video game adaptation of ''VideoGame/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' has Harry and Ron unable to navigate an aircraft, get lost and then get nearly killed by a Jumbo Jet. |
| 260 | * ''VideoGame/{{Loopmancer}}'' is set in 2046, and the skies are filled with flying vehicles. Including the one where you drive to work. |
| 261 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': |
| 262 | ** ''VideoGame/MarioKart7'' features cars that can turn into hang gliders. They activate this function whenever the drivers go through chasms or very deep descents. |
| 263 | ** ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'': The karts transform into a hovercraft for certain portions of certain tracks. Complete with fold-down wheels ala ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture''. |
| 264 | ** ''VideoGame/WarioLand4'': You can upgrade Wario's car into a hovercraft by beating the game on Super Hard Mode. |
| 265 | ** ''VideoGame/WarioWare'': Dribble and Spitz's taxi is capable of flight and space travel. |
| 266 | * Common in ''Franchise/MassEffect'', due to the ubiquity of Element Zero-based technology. In the "Lair of the Shadow Broker" DLC for ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', you even get to pilot one in a scene reminiscent of ''Film/AttackOfTheClones''. In the "Citadel" DLC for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', a lawyer can be overheard telling someone that this makes [[AmbulanceChaser chasing ambulances]] a very bad idea. |
| 267 | * ''VideoGame/NightStriker'', an "Into-the-screen" ShootEmUp has you play as one. |
| 268 | * ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture'' features the Laytonmobile, a decidedly dated car...which, thanks to Don Paolo, can sprout wings and an airscrew and transform into a fully functional aeroplane. |
| 269 | -->'''Luke:''' Professor, where did you learn to fly a plane?\ |
| 270 | '''Layton:''' Plane? This is an automobile. |
| 271 | * ''VideoGame/Rockman7EP'': The Sisi Truck from ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'''s Turbo Man stage appears in Freeze Man's stage as its midboss, converted into an aircraft. |
| 272 | * The ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'' games have a cheat-only flying Buick Electra convertible as an EasterEgg. |
| 273 | * ''VideoGame/SpaceTaxi'' simulates a flying taxi controlled by thrusters. |
| 274 | * In ''VideoGame/SpeedKills'', the more expensive vehicles hover above the ground (albeit not high enough to leave the track except by the [[RampJump same means]] that wheeled vehicles do). |
| 275 | * The intro of ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'' depicts a future Earth full of flying cars and floating buildings. They've even put the Statue of Liberty on top of a tower, presumably so New Yorkers can see it better from their flying cars. |
| 276 | * The ambulance in ''VideoGame/TheStretchers'' gains the ability to glide in the air after Professor Doctor installs wings onto it. This, combined with the nitro he already had installed in it before, allows it to get some serious air. |
| 277 | * ''VideoGame/TexMurphy'' has one which is used to travel between locations. In ''Under A Killing Moon'', it can even ''go into SPACE'' when Murphy visits the off-planet Broken Skull bar. |
| 278 | * The Phoenix Hovercar in ''VideoGame/XCOMApocalypse''. Together with the [[CoolBike Hoverbikes]], they're excellent vehicles for {{Zerg Rush}}ing {{Flying Saucer}}s in the early and mid game. |
| 279 | * In ''VideoGame/XRebirth'', the Consumer Compact Craft seen around space stations bear striking resemblance to cars and trucks, minus the wheels, and come in a wide variety of models from delivery to sleek and sporty. They fly around in lose three-dimensional "lanes" that thread the stations and the space between them as police compact craft move about scanning for contraband. CCC's have no capacity for weaponry and are roughly the size of modern traffic vehicles, whereas even the smallest proper SpaceFighter is significantly larger, comparable to a modern jet fighter. |
| 280 | [[/folder]] |
| 281 | |
| 282 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 283 | * In ''WebAnimation/TheStump'', everyone drives a flying car. |
| 284 | [[/folder]] |
| 285 | |
| 286 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 287 | * The standard mode of transportation in ''Webcomic/BreakpointCity''. Ben's doubles as a TimeMachine. |
| 288 | * John takes his dad's car, and does the windy thing to make it fly in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. |
| 289 | * ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': Flying cars have been standard for hundreds of years. They use the same technology that the military uses for their high-end uniforms (which double as PoweredArmor), but much bulkier and cheaper. Of course, that same bulk means that traffic is far too dangerous for soldiers to fly around in, even with their expensive uniforms. But then, the self-driving algorithms that flying cars use mean that they are very good at preventing injuries. Several characters who fly into traffic find that their biggest problem with the traffic is that they can't touch any of the cars for HoodHopping. |
| 290 | * ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': When Riff first encounters Dr. Schlock, a time traveller from the future, and tries to ask him for help to build a new time machine to recover his friends from the past, Schlock says that he hasn't been a scientist in twenty years and has no future technology with him. Then he tries to fly away in his car. |
| 291 | * [[http://xkcd.com/864/ This]] ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' features Cueball whining to Megan, wanting to know why there aren't any flying cars. Megan points out that they not only have awesome technology that fits in the palm of your hand, but that Cueball would probably crash his flying car while texting and playing ''VideoGame/AngryBirds''. |
| 292 | [[/folder]] |
| 293 | |
| 294 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 295 | * {{Deconstructed|Trope}} by Website/{{Cracked}}, courtesy of their "[[http://www.cracked.com/article_15655_5-awesome-sci-fi-inventions-that-would-actually-suck.html 5 Awesome Sci-Fi Inventions (That Would Actually Suck)]]". |
| 296 | -->''(on [[Franchise/StarTrek matter replicators]])'' The end of everything will come on the day when anyone can make anything. Except a flying car, those will still be useless. |
| 297 | [[/folder]] |
| 298 | |
| 299 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 300 | * In ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' episode "Last Dance for Napkin Lad", Carl hunts down Meatwad and Frylock by transforming his ride into a hover car. It notably has a higher AnimationBump to the rest of the show. |
| 301 | * About half of the cars in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', including the Batmobile, can fly. There are still roads though, covered with wheeled vehicles. |
| 302 | * ''WesternAnimation/CoolMcCool'': The Coolmobile is capable of flight, provided that Cool doesn't press a wrong button first. |
| 303 | * British cartoon hero ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' had what looked suspiciously like a flight-capable version of Film/JamesBond's [[ShoutOut Lotus Esprit]]. |
| 304 | * The Falconcar on ''WesternAnimation/DynomuttDogWonder''. |
| 305 | * In the second series of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantomcat}}'', plenty of these are spotted in Metrocity. |
| 306 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', all cars are flying cars. Nobody even knows what wheels are (though how much they know varies from episode to episode as RuleOfFunny dictates). And yet they still crawl along in traffic jams down roadways. |
| 307 | * Goldie of ''WesternAnimation/GoldieGoldAndActionJack'' has a flying limo. |
| 308 | * ''WesternAnimation/HongKongPhooey'': The Phooeymobile is capable of flight, provided that Phooey doesn't press a wrong button first. |
| 309 | * ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'': Heroes aren't the only ones to get the sweet rides: Dr. Claw had his getaway car which could function as both a jet and a submarine. |
| 310 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons''' jet-car, probably one of most-cited examples of a flying car as far as the general public's concerned. |
| 311 | * ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': Do hovercars count? |
| 312 | * ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': |
| 313 | ** Due to being tricked out by her twin super genius brothers, Kim's car has this capability. |
| 314 | ** Dr. Drakken has his own flying car. |
| 315 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicKey'': Zandoodle from “Zandoodle And The Wheezlebang” invented the Wizmobile, a {{Magitek}} one. |
| 316 | * A few examples in ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}'' including the Thunder Hawk, Firefly, Raven, Manta, and the Goliath's race car. The Condor and Vampire were flying motorcycles. |
| 317 | * Bob's car in ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' is a flying car, which tends to break down and drop like a stone. |
| 318 | ** Since the wheel doesn't seem to exist (outside of games that is) just about every vehicle in ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' is a flying vehicle. Along with Bob's flying classic car, this includes the system's airforce of [=ABC=]s and their villainous counterpart the [=CPU=]s which look like flying police cars. |
| 319 | * Pop's car, Carmenita, from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow''. |
| 320 | * The ATV series of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rupert}}'' featured a cart named "The Chariot", which was capable of flight. The CGI series featured a more modern looking flying car. |
| 321 | * The [=SheHicle=] in ''WesternAnimation/SheZow'' has a flight mode, as explained in the show's ExpositoryThemeSong: |
| 322 | -->''[=SheHicle=] revs with power supreme\ |
| 323 | Becoming a plane and a submarine'' |
| 324 | * {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/SkysurferStrikeForce'', the heroes have cars that fly, but only if they are transformed into [[HoverBoard hoverboards]]. |
| 325 | * ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' featured the Neutrino Star Crusers, flying cars from Dimension X that resemble 1950s hot rods, complete with copious amounts of chrome detailing. The Neutrinos leave one for the Turtles, though it later gets stolen by Shredder. It was depicted in the toy line as the Foot Cruiser (which could [[WeDontNeedRoads convert between land and air modes]]), although it only appeared as such in [[VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheArcadeGame the arcade game]] and not in the series itself (and even in the game it was reduced to being a conventional land car). |
| 326 | * Tracks' alternate mode in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' was a Corvette Stingray with pop-out wings. |
| 327 | ** All the Cybertronian land-vehicle alternate modes in the first episode of the G1 cartoon were hover vehicles[[note]]although Bumblebee got sent tumbling at one point and appeared to have wheels on his undercarriage--blink and you'd miss it[[/note]]. |
| 328 | ** Blurr from ''[[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie the Movie]]'' onward was also a Cybertronian hovercar. Averted with his contemporaries Kup, Hot Rod, Arcee, and Springer, whose Cybertronian car modes all had wheels. |
| 329 | *** Springer brings it around again, though, by being a Triple Changer who can also transform into a helicopter - which is basically his car mode with the rear end and front bumpers folded, stretched, and extended outward to form the tail and wings, respectively, of the helicopter mode. |
| 330 | ** In ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'', Optimus' vehicle mode has a flight configuration. The side panels swing out and then rotate down to become large wings, and the ladder/cannon on either one swings around so that it still faces forward. His vehicle mode? A fire truck. That's right, he turns into a ''flying fire truck''. |
| 331 | *** Megatron's vehicle mode in that series was a Cybertronian dragster that could also turn into a jet by mainly swinging his front bumpers around to the side and folding them out, and rotating his spoilers. |
| 332 | * ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'': Dick Dastardly's Mean Machine is equipped with helicopter rotors that can make him airborne and take the lead from the other racers ("The Baja Ha-Ha Race"). But instead of actually trying to win the race via those means, he [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat stops for]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption one his regular failures to stop the others]]. |
| 333 | ** Red Max's Crimson Haybaler, the Gruesome Twosome's Creepy Coupe and Pat Pending's Convert-a-Car are also capable of flight when needed. |
| 334 | [[/folder]] |
| 335 | |
| 336 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 337 | * ''Series/TopGearUK'''s James May made a [[http://www.open2.net/jamesmay/come_fly_with_me.html documentary on the subject]], concluding that despite the safety concerns the main problem with flying cars would be the paperwork. |
| 338 | ** Not forgetting that he actually created a flying caravan by combining it with a blimp. Okay it isn't technically a car, it drifted into the airspace of an airport (and path of incoming aircraft), and he didn't get anywhere near where he wanted to go...but at least he threw his hat over the wall. |
| 339 | * {{Vaporware}} example: the [[http://www.moller.com/ Moller Skycar]]. |
| 340 | ** The Moller website does have some lovely quotes, though: |
| 341 | ---> You've always known it was just a matter of time before the world demanded some kind of flying machine which would replace the automobile. [...] No matter how you look at it the automobile is only an interim step on [[EvolutionaryLevels our evolutionary path]] to independence from gravity. That's all it will ever be. |
| 342 | ** Several others have been tried. |
| 343 | ** [[https://web.archive.org/web/20071211121646/https://www.fordpinto.com/mitzar1.htm There was even a flying]] [[EveryCarIsAPinto Pinto.]]. |
| 344 | ** Of course making it fly safely is only the first step, you then have to get FAA approval and find backing. The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Aerocar Taylor Aerocar]] managed the second step, but not quite the third. |
| 345 | * The [[http://www.parajetautomotive.com/ ParaJet SkyCar]] is an unusually simple example. It looks like a dune buggy with a parawing and a propeller strapped to the back. Largely because that's exactly what it is. But it works! As a bonus, if the engine fails or runs out of fuel, the buggy will simply glide to the ground with its "wing" acting as a parachute, rather than suffer a deadly crash. Judging from the design, the main purpose will be fun and recreation, so impracticality isn't a concern. |
| 346 | * [[http://www.urbanaero.com/Urban_Main.htm Urban Aeronautics']] proposed VTOL aircraft certainly ''looks'' like a large flying car, though flying cars is not what the company intends to create (they want to build aircraft useful for rescue operations, and other non-personal uses). However, the goal is to build a compact, safe, quiet, relatively easy-to-control aircraft that is capable of operating in an urban environment, including safely manoeuvring between buildings while dealing with turbulence, and is capable of remaining airborne while in contact with a physical object (like, say, the side of a building). It certainly sounds like the company may inadvertently take a big step towards creating working flying cars if they succeed. Currently they have a scale prototype undergoing extensive flight testing. |
| 347 | * ''Boeing'' sunk six million dollars into something called the "Sky Commuter" program in the 1980s. [[http://boingboing.net/2008/01/12/sky-commuter-vehicle.html This prototype]], which was apparently sold on Ebay in 2008, is all that remains. It looks beautiful, and very much like a proper science fiction flying car, but it seems it never flew. |
| 348 | * [[http://www.terrafugia.com/ This lot]] look like they might be close to actually selling [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} transforming]] flying cars commercially. Hope you have $200,000 on you, though. |
| 349 | * While other flying car designs are more like "airplanes you can drive on the road", [[http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=635469588001 this I-TEC design]] is more like "a car that can also fly". It only gets 40 MPH in the air, but it's pretty speedy on the road (see around 2:50 in the video), and the company seems to have serious plans for what they want to do with it. |
| 350 | ** Despite coming at the same problem from opposite directions, both the Transition and the I-TEC exhibit the same problem as all similar vehicles: They either make lousy cars and worse planes, or lousy planes and worse cars, so there's little reason why anyone who actually likes flying or driving would want to own either of them. |
| 351 | * The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_VZ-9_Avrocar Avrocar]], best noted for its "unsolvable thrust and stability problems." |
| 352 | * Volkswagen's China branch appears to have come up with [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/05/09/volkswagen_s_people_s_car_project_creates_hover_vehicle_concept_video_.html a floating car]]. This particular concept car relies on magnetic levitation instead of conventional engines, meaning it'll require a lot of specialized infrastructure to be drivable. Unfortunately, the video relies completely on ComputerGeneratedImages, despite the explanation given. |
| 353 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovercraft Hovercraft]], technically. Well, they don't actually touch the ground when in motion. It happens that their flight ceiling is about an inch. |
| 354 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-effect_vehicle Ground-effect vehicles]] (ekranoplans), especially those of smaller size, are even closer to this than hovercraft (to the point that the term arguably suits them a bit better). The only downside is that they work best above flat environments, such as the surface of the sea. While hovering, these vehicles can reach impressive speeds. Though most [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ground_effect_vehicles modern GEVs]] are commercially manufactured (e.g. the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u5YuFA20WQ Ivolga]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJaObIx5pPg Burevestnik-24]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYFEFekPzDM Airfoil Development AirFish-8]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lqss99f21Q Wingship Technology WSH-500]], etc.), one Russian biology researcher living near Lake Baikal built his own home-made GEV in the early 2000s, by heavily modifying an old floatplane. Though his little ekranoplan can't fly at various altitudes above the lake anymore, only hover above it while getting around, the lake is famously huge. He can use virtually its entire surface as a roadway for his ''de facto'' home-made hovercar. In summer, it can hover down onto the water and land like an ordinary flotplane, and in winter, it carries skids instead of floats, for landings on the frozen lake. |
| 355 | * [[http://www.hammacher.com/Product/11812 It's yours for only $350 grand!]] |
| 356 | * Aviation pioneer [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont]] liked to tool around Paris in his one-man airship. |
| 357 | * Meet [[http://www.aeromobil.com/ the AeroMobil 3.0]], "[[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/02/flying-car-aeromobil-vienna-pioneers-festival the first genuine flying car]]" |
| 358 | * And [[http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/dont-miss/19899425-story Toyota has filed a patent for a flying car]]. |
| 359 | * [[https://lilium.com/ Lilium]] is working on one with ''all'' the bells and whistles; it's quieter than a motorcycle, it can be summoned with a smartphone(''that'' needs to be in the next ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'' game), and it's '''electric''' - with a 300 km range ''and'' per-hour speed. |
| 360 | * Starting in the late 2010s, there has been a trend for proposing that human-carrying quadcopter drones could fill many of the functions of cars, such as taxis, police vehicles, ambulances, and even personal transport. Dubai, for example, hopes to introduce "drone taxi" services on a trial basis sometime in the 2020s. While the drones certainly look nothing like cars, their intended function makes them in many ways the most recent incarnation of the age-old flying car idea--and quite possibly the most likely to see widespread use. |
| 361 | * The Hoffman Flying Jeep of 1943 was a genuine attempt to take the standard utility car used by the Allies and make it ubiquitous in a third dimension. It could be viewed as a genuine international collaboration: designed by a German refugee working for the British, who took an American car, redesigned it with a more aerodynamic body and tailplane, and added a massive helicopter rotor that transmitted the engine power into flight. The drawbacks were that the rotor blade was three times the length of the vehicle, it took a four-engined bomber to tow it into the air, and it wasn't all that aerodynamic when it flew. Despite this, Hoffman also experimented with a flying light tank on the same principles: but its rotor blades would have needed to be eight times the length of the tank to make it viable. |
| 362 | * The ill-fated Toronto Peace Festival was being planned while Music/JohnLennon and Music/YokoOno, who were supposed to have creative control, were in Denmark studying with Don Hamrick. (They thought his methods would help them stop smoking.) Amid [[https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1970/7/1/the-ups-downs-of-a-great-canadian-peace-festival the general chaos]] as the Peace Festival/Peace Foundation organizers attempted to... well... organize, Hamrick proposed debuting his "air-car" invention at the festival. It could be driven like a car or flown. The alleged blueprint was a pastel drawing of "a combination helicopter, midget racer, automobile and airplane". How was it supposed to fly? Psychic energy! See, the overall length was 22 feet, because 22 is (supposedly) a very important number in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Egyptian_mythology Egyptian numerology]], and the rear wings were at right angles that were the same degrees as [[https://thatsmaths.com/2014/07/10/gausss-great-triangle-and-the-shape-of-space/ The Great Triangle]]. These and other things built into the design were supposed to enable it to get off the ground. The festival eventually evolved into the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Fields_(Canadian_festival) Strawberry Fields Festival]] at Mosport in Ontario. ([[http://tittenhurstlennon.blogspot.com/2009/07/have-we-all-forgotten-what-vibes-are.html Here's what John and Yoko had to say about the festival and the organizers.]]) |
| 363 | * Overall, the biggest obstacle to flying cars isn't so much the cars themselves (after all, several designs have been shown to be ''very'' viable for the commercial market), but, as mentioned in the Top Gear entry above, the paperwork and the infrastructural nightmare it would be to make it accessible to the common commuter. A flying car operator would need ''two'' licences, one for driving, and one for flying, and an absolute mountain of registration and documentation to go with it. And those who have worked as an ATC or have listened to realtime ATC communications will know how chaotic a large airport can be on a busy day--now imagine taking that chaos and adding it to '''every major city''' in the world. Now add to that the law enforcement resources required for safety. And now add costs for the infrastructure of "skyways" and how in the world one plans to keep this all in working order. And now add where one intends to land and park the flying cars when they get to their destinations...and the task of creating standardized rules and regulations that will be easy to follow for flyers worldwide, and then....yeah. Suffice to say, calling this undertaking monumental is an understatement, to say the least. |
| 364 | [[/folder]] |
| 365 |
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