Effective Faster than Light. Since we cannot actually go faster than light in the real space-time continuum, the shortcut for talking about this is to add the word 'effective' which indicates, "I get to my destination faster than it would have taken light to get there. So what if I took a shortcut through another dimension via a wormhole...don't bother me with petty details." In order to play out any Star Trek type scenarios you have to include some form of EFTL.

Jan, Flying Tiger Line is good too (!)

Send them to the border of France?

and what would we do with all of those idled TSA screeners??? -- j
.

I looked up FTL and found zillions of translations --
the neatest::: Faster Than Light, followed by
Free Talk Live and Flying Tiger Line ... ? -- j
.

you nailed it -- a perfectly good hundred thousand dollar aircraft
which becomes a million-dollar rarity after the faa works it over. --- j
.

AJAshinoff: But the video doesn't actually show this one man machine in action. Interesting though. There was a comical review on that site and I quote it here since it's worth a laugh:

"I can think of a few people I'd like to be test pilots."
"Hope it doesn't use Windows based avionics and flight controls - that is if one values being the pilot from takeoff to landing. Mid flight ransomware - no thanks."

Hahaha -you got that right baby!!

Dr.Z: You dream buster! You really do not think this concept prototype will make it into viable production? Ahhh but it is a thang of beauty! Both the machine and the concept.

Temlakos: They are beautiful machines. And the majesty of being in a small plane among the clouds is unparalleled. I do not have a pilot license for small craft but I do have friends that do and I go up with them when I can. I am currently in the process of obtaining my paragliding certification but I still have another level to go to be able to fly solo.

Term2: +1!

No, I don't. I often wish I had. But I never could afford a private aircraft, nor had any reason to fly privately. Of course, that didn't stop me from researching flight, military and civilian, and thinking of the possibilities of the aircraft types I mentioned.

Herb: Yes. If the USA doesn't allow unrestricted development in this area so as to get it into circulation you can bet that the Chinese will and count on the Europeans to make the design even better.

Temlakos: Do you fly?

This ain't gonna happen. Wing loading impossibly high, rotors insufficient diameter to deliver thrust from a megawatt power system, ducted fan system too short to deliver concentrated thrust. It sucks to be an aerodynamicist, since reality spoils all the neat concepts.

Susanne: You are already so talented and with all this science too! Thanks for the Physics!

Actually,I kind of prefer this one. Hirobo BIT.

http://www.technologicvehicles.com/en...

Bear in mind that in the second installment of the Aglialoro franchise, John Galt flew a VTOL jet aircraft. The Terrafugia TF-X is also a VTOL. In fact it is a classic tiltrotor, not too much different from an MV-22 Osprey. And cruises about as fast as one, too.

lets give Hillary zero gravity and be done with her...

crony capitalism will reign too I suspect

Not anti-gravity but more like an apparent mass reduction device... it's related to the artificial gravity systems on board sci-fi spaceships. Too much of either - you'd either be flattened to your component atoms, or, well actually, because air pressure is a function of the weight of air (eg gravity) you would either be sucked into hard vacuum where you stand, or again, mashed like a bug. You want to reduce the apparent mass of the subject relative to whatever it is near, so the forces of gravity relative between the 2 bodies are reduced - but not within the bodies themselves (otherwise, well... kablewie on an atomic, or possibly subatomic scale).

These aren't insurmountable problems, but ones that have to be worked out before we can go playing with the forces of Physics... And will likely be necessary if we ever expect to explore, in person, some of the larger, denser, and much higher-gravitationally enabled planets.

A glimpse into the future.
If the USA doesn't go in this direction it will be because Mrs. Clinton got elected or some other catastrophe.

Term2: So it begins- they issue a limited number of license for operating commercially and you can bet that you will not be allowed in any city airspace operating privately.
Limitations/restrictions will surely enter the picture as soon as ownership abounds.

You can only really compare it with the cars that are already there, so I think it still works. The people at the trade center don't all drive, many take the trains that go right into the building. Of the many thousand people in the building, and the buildings around it, how many drive, and where do they park their cars now? I know many of those buildings have underground parking, but this just means we need a small spot for them to take off once they reach the surface, which would be easy since it looks like this thing could take off from right in traffic if it had to. Could be a simple as the video shows, from the trade center you drive a block of two to one of the many existing helicopter spots they have already in Manhattan... so that use case is already covered. It still means that car didn't have to use a bridge/tunnel to get off Manhattan, and so reduces the congestion while making a shorter commute for the passengers.

maybe anti gravity could be adjustable so you could go up and down. Sometimes gravity is a pain in the ass, but other times its nice ! Going up stairs when in 1/4 gravity sounds cool to me.