Shape of things to comeDARPA unveils details of Transformer TX flying car
DARPA is inviting proposals for flying car and accompanying technologies; in addition to being a capable ground vehicle, the TX should be able to lift off and land “without forward motion” and thereafter climb at least one unit upward for every six moved forward at sea level, or a minimum of 1:10 at higher altitudes; it should cruise in forward flight mode at speeds “representative of a light single-engine aircraft” and be able to achieve altitudes of 10,000 feet
Important news on the flying-car front: DARPA has unveiled the details of its plan to produce what can only described as a flying Humvee or sky-jeep type vehicle — and have a prototype flying by 2015.
Plans for the Transformer TX were revealed in Pentagon budget documents last year (see “The First True Flying Car: DARPA’s Transformer TX,” 27 May 2009 HSNW), but details were sketchy. Now a full announcement (pdf) has been made, inviting proposals both from companies or organizations capable of designing the entire vehicle and others who would develop enabling technologies.
Lewis Page writes that it appears that DARPA has decided to try for a real, no-nonsense flying car: and probably not just an ordinary car, but an off-road one to boot. DARPA does not want a light plane that you can drive on a road, like the Terrafugia Transition (see “Flying Car’s Proof-of-Concept Testing Now Complete,” 6 June 2009 HSNW). They do not want a paramotor, either. According to the Transformer TX announcement issued yesterday:
The Government’s envisioned concept consists of a robust ground vehicle that is capable of configuring into a VTOL [Vertical Take Off and Landing] air vehicle with a maximum payload capability of approximately 1,000 lbs.
The sky-jeep should be able to carry four fully equipped troops, or alternatively one stretcher and one medic. It should be no bigger than 30 feet long by 8.5’ wide and 9’ high in ground configuration — on the order of two Hummers nose-to-tail — and should have wheels and suspension giving “road performance similar to an SUV” and “capable of handling light off-road travel.”
In addition to being a capable ground vehicle, the TX should be able to lift off and land “without forward motion” and thereafter climb at least one unit upward for every six moved forward at sea level, or a minimum of 1:10 at higher altitudes. It should cruise in forward flight mode at speeds “representative of a light single-engine aircraft” and be able to achieve altitudes of 10,000 feet.
What branch of the U.S. military should be interested in the TX?
The TX should be able to cover 250 miles on a single tank of fuel, using a combination of flight and ground movement: DARPA has specified several desired mission plans. One, for instance, would see a TX lifting off from a forward base in Afghanistan and flying sixty miles to leapfrog over the belts of
