Mobile engine propulsion system?

[Vals509]

would it be possible to have a system that has 4 engines on the corners of a 'fuselage' and these engines can rotate about joints giving the plane propulsion and deceleration. also this helps the pilot manipulate tha plane a lot easier (sort of like a helicopter).

NOTE: these are like the planes that they have in terminator 4. Is it possible to actually recreate those.

 

[chayced]

Sure, but the engineering and materials for such a creation is the hard part. Look at the Ospray. We really need annother Howard Hughes.

 

[russ_watters]

Yes, this is a somewhat common configuration for flying cars that never see production:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moller_Skycar_M400

They are not economically feasible (at best).

 

[HempForPres]

loud, inefficient, dangerous, unstable... there are a million reasons that invention will never see the light of day.

Now if only we could move about by manipulating the magnetic fields of the Earth like the gray aliens do...