Posts by Dave Clarke
10 Things You Always Wanted to Know About Flying Cars
Who invented the world’s first successful flying car? Waldo Waterman, a San Diego, California-based aviation developer and pioneer, invented the first flying car in 1932. The tailless monoplane was dubbed the Whatsit because that’s the question most reporters asked first. The Waterman Aerobile followed in the late 1930s. Painted “Buick blue,” this flying car was…
Batteries, Batteries, Batteries: Putting the e in eVTOLs
Thomas Edison, he of light bulb, phonograph, and kinetoscope fame was, to say the least, a prolific scientist and inventor. He also had more than a passing interest in batteries. You know, the things we are staking the future of eVTOLs and urban air mobility on. Industry focus is on lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries, but as Professor Dr. Martin…
Are Actuators the Linchpins of Urban Air Mobility?
Collins Aerospace (Collins), a Charlotte, North Carolina-based design, engineering, and manufacturing firm, is one of the world’s largest suppliers of aerospace and defense products. With about 68,000 employees working in more than 300 locations worldwide, Collins, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, is poised for takeoff when it comes to the burgeoning urban air mobility movement….
When Will There Be Flying Cars?
When it comes to urban air mobility (UAM), flying cars, eVTOLs, if you will, people want to know: “When will there be flying cars?” Good question. Clearly, (pardon the pun) the wheels are in motion. But the question becomes, what has to happen before some of us, let alone all of us, are airborne in…
Urban Air Mobility Meets [Native] American Ingenuity
Like many Native American people, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) maintains a long-held respect for the earth and sky. But perhaps unlike some other tribes, the CNO also has a strong understanding of American-style capitalism, especially as a means to communal economic prosperity. Following in the tradition of the Wright Brothers, several years ago,…
World’s First Urban Air Mobility Vertiport to Be in Coventry UK
If you thought the world’s first vertiport would be in Singapore, Japan, or South Korea, you thunk wrong. Yes, those locales are at the forefront of urban air mobility, but an announcement by UK-based Urban-Air Port (part of the Six Miles Across London Limited small initiative) to launch a vertiport by the end of 2021…