Building a Flying Car from Frisbie Aerodynamic Principles

[Beginner1]

MENTOR Note: Post moved from General Discussion to Aerospace Engineering

How did you find PF?: I found PF because of a late night idea I had when I was bored, but I have no idea how to do it so I was looking up information when I came across this app.

I'm sure most of you guys on here know simple flight but the example of a frisbee and the 4 rules of flight gave me an idea for a flying car: on the bottom of this car it is frisbee shaped so it will naturally have all 4 flight rules, for the thrust to get the car in the air will be placed on the bottom (1 in the front and 1 in the back) and the thrusters that move the car forward is place in the back and the breaks use a thruster in the front of the car.

 

[jedishrfu]

Welcome to PF!

While its true, the frisbee embodies many aerodynamic flight principles just pasting it to the bottom of a car body does not make the car a flying car no matter how much thrust you apply.

Here's Sara Hummel's thesis on Frisbee flight that gets into its aerodynamic principles:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...nxkZ3Jlc291cmNlczJ8Z3g6MWQ2ZWJmOWIzODYyNTdmNA

Here's some examples of flying cars for inspiration:

 

[FactChecker]

What you are interested in is also very interesting to the military. Keep in mind that a frisbee does not need to lift any heavy weight, but it does have to work while spinning. That makes it very different from a flying car that weighs more and always points forward. So you should consider how to get a lot more wing facing forward. Here is an effort by DARPA and Lockheed Martin to attach a wing to various cargos, including a small jeep (more like a dune buggy). One thought is to rotate the wing so that it points front and back while the jeep drives.

 

[anorlunda]

https://www.boeing.com/features/innovation-quarterly/2021/09/boeing-gofly.page

The Boeing Gofly competition offers a $1 million prize for a flying car that meets their criteria. The completion has been going on since 2017. The link is 27 months old, and the most recent I found. It says:

So far, 855 teams across 103 countries have vied for the $1 million grand prize. New teams are still welcome to join.

That means you too are welcome to join.

 

[Lnewqban]

Welcome, @Beginner1 !

What is your plan on harmonizing human comfort and maneuverability with the natural tendency of spinning frisbees to resist changes from the launch dictated trajectory?