Post scripts: flying cars and seat belts with air bags

One of the things I was thinking about when I started work on the "towards a safer light aircraft" idea was a plane that was similar to a car to drive. The controls are different - they have to be, to some extent, but one of the features of having wings in a hexagonal shape that I was going to try and work on (probably by having the ailerons in the lower part of the shap larger than those in the upper) is to try and get the correct bank for a turn automatically (this is obviously not a design for advanced flying!)

Interstingly, someone has now come up with a car that can, by means of folding wings, convert to a plane. See http://www.terrafugia.com/, and http://www.theage.com.au/drive/motor-news/flying-cars-closer-to-reality-20091113-idqt.html. The cruising speeds are OK: 185kmh in the air, and 100 kmh on the ground.

On another topic, someone has developed a seat belt with an air bag: see http://www.theage.com.au/drive/motor-news/seatbelts-with-airbags-20091113-id9y.html. That's a good alternative to my "Increasing G absorbance of seat mounts" post. All we need is for someone to start applying car safety technology to planes.

Oh, that's what the inventors of the flying car have started doing ....