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A foldable aircraft

· Aerospace & Astronautics

This is very cool.. I reckon 007 should get Q to make him one with all those lovely “additional features”.

June 13th, 2008 |

9 comments to A foldable aircraft

  • Nick M
    June 13, 2008 at 12:30 pm

    You think that’s cool…

    How about this.

    Oh, and JP I have not a Quantum of Solace for your Bond fixation 😉

  • Johnathan Pearce
    June 13, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    Nick, I know, I am still dreaming of getting a car that can go under water with a stunning Russian spy at the wheel…….

  • Billy Beck
    June 13, 2008 at 12:45 pm

    That’s not going to work. It’s far too expensive for its market.

  • WalterBoswell
    June 13, 2008 at 12:51 pm

    “Nick, I know, I am still dreaming of getting a car that can go under water with a stunning Russian spy at the wheel…….”

    I know an ugly Russian brute who’ll push your car in the river for free.

  • WalterBoswell
    June 13, 2008 at 1:20 pm

    BTW: Looks like mah county men have said a big noes to teh EU constitution. Hurrah.

  • Petronius
    June 13, 2008 at 2:39 pm

    Bah!, We’ve done better! In the mid 1950s Goodyear Rubber created two versions of an Inflatable Airplane for the US government. It could be rolled up in a bundle and dropped from a regular aircraft. The inside surfaces of the wings were connected by fibers that maintaned aerodynamic shape against the internal pressure. With a compressor running off of the tiny engine, the inflatoplane could even fly while leaking from rifle shots fired by the Volpos as you escaped from the Eastern Zone.

  • Alisa
    June 13, 2008 at 5:02 pm

    “Nick, I know, I am still dreaming of getting a car that can go under water with a stunning Russian spy at the wheel…….”

    I know an ugly Russian brute who’ll push your car in the river for free.

    LOL!

  • steveH
    June 18, 2008 at 1:35 am

    “It’s far too expensive for its market.”

    Heck, a new-build J3 Cub can list at over $100K these days.

    Sadly, in the current Light Sport Aircraft market, their quoted price of $139K puts it just a bit above the average for a new production LSA with better than bare-bones VFR instrumentation. And pretty much in the ballpark for factory-built amphibians.

    For example, one of the best sellers in the US market, the Flight Designs CT, goes for $110K, basic VFR, no options.

    You can save some by making your own (figuring your time to be donated), or flying a glorified ultralight, but it will have fairly severe limits on performance.

    Something like the Diamond DA-20 trainer, just a little north of LSA weight limits, goes for about
    $170K, and it’s up from there.

    40 to 70 year old trainers are selling for more than they did new, lots more if they’ve been well overhauled.

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