Anna Mracek Dietrich: A plane you can drive

http://www.ted.com A flying car -- it's an iconic image of the future. But after 100 years of flight and automotive engineering, no one has really cracked the problem. Pilot Anna Mracek Dietrich and her team flipped the question, asking: Why not build a plane that you can drive?

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Cars
• Design
• Flight
• Invention
• Transportation
• TED
• TEDTalk

[Bzdi138]

cop chases would be epic!

[kebakent]

So she basically copied the old designs, but made them comply with regulations. That was indeed the only problem with the old versions. Good job on not wasting money. Bravo.

[ciabyoung]

I hate to say it ,..because I love innovation but it's just not realistic. There's back up at airports already. This country needs to invest in the rail system again! I would much rather ride a train along the eastern sea board or across country than fly or drive. It would help struggling cities and states ,..and create new jobs all over. The fact that you could have taken a train to Florida from Pennsylvania 60 years ago and can't now is sad. Why not Trains!!!

[AmiJurgl]

I already hate all you small time pilots buzzing over my airspace and fucking with my peace. I can imagine what the noise pollution would be like if there were millions of these hybrid car/planes circling overhead! What about the liability, safety, and privacy issues? Not gonna happen!

[AllOthrNamesWereTakn]

@Bzdi138 lol... Call in the air force, the bank robber just achieved lift off

[lightandbeautiful]

Homosexual activists understand the power of words.

Please visit my channel to watch a one-minute video clip in which popular atheist author Richard Dawkins admits that homosexual activists "hijacked the word 'gay'".

The word "homosexual" is more appropriate and accurate because it, unlike the word "gay", actually describes the behavior/attraction/relationsh­ip being discussed.

The word "gay" helps homosexual activists push their agenda.

[LobsterPotsticker]

lol nice 80's music

[maxairspace]

imagine this....all electric car/plane so no pollution....swappable battery like "Better Place" at every airport and along the highways like Israel will be soon....solar at home to recharge...recharge station at work...see the NASA/C.A.F.E challenge results for electric planes flying 1 person 400 miles on the electric equivalent of 1 gal of gas at 100mph(and that is real now)..imagine you living someplace "nice" outside the city and getting to work in the city in under an hour during "rush hour"

[omma911]

@schaskins1 But you have to agree that it would be kind of cool to just drive out of your garage, lift off in your street, fly to work, and never ever experience a bloody traffic jam again. Now that google is kinda far with self driving cars, we only need hmm anti-gravity engines or something like that. ;)

[schaskins1]

@omma911 It would seem to me that being able to sidestep the security and baggage issues would make using the airport as a place to land (especially small private landing strips) a workable solution. I do not see another alternative with a trsditional aircraft that requires a significant distance to stop. VTOL is the other option but that is not what they are attempting with this craft.

[jtai36]

very cool :) critics and naysayers aside, the very first airplane the wright brothers made wasn't some fancy vehicle either. but it was necessary. and ultimately what made the cool fancy vehicles possible. i hope you keep developing this thing, cause in 20 or 30 years when i maybe can afford one, it probably will be much cooler than owning any ferrari ^^