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OP again. I have realized on further consideration that the biggest obstacle to flying cars is noise reduction. Propellers and fans are too noisy for urban environments. Rich assholes and "ancap retards" buzzing around in quadcopters are going to become a serious public nuisance in the near future. The question will then be how to optimize aircraft for noise reduction. Propellers are optimized for energy efficiency but generate the most noise. Enclosed fans reduce noise somewhat, but are still very loud. The optimal propulsion system for noise reduction is a flapping wing. Flapping as a mode of propulsion has serious drawbacks, however I believe ornithopters will be economically viable in a very specialized niche. Tethering to a wire that supplies traction current is essential to making ornithopters viable, because it supplies a lot of power and eliminates the need to carry fuel or batteries. The second major drawback is that ornithopters need runways to land and cannot takeoff without assistance. A hybrid aircraft could be equipped with fans for VTOL but that would increase the weight. If VTOL cannot be achieved, a network of landing strips would have to be built with launch assist devices. Perhaps these launching devices could even be installed on elevated landing strips on top of buildings in urban areas. Perhaps a network of elevated landing strips and power lines could be built across the tops of buildings. Or perhaps not. There may need to be a technological breakthrough of some kind to make ornithopters economically viable. A breakthrough in artificial muscle fiber technology could give flapping wings an edge over traditional modes of propulsion. It may never happen, but I wanted to share this idea with you because it would be really cool if it did happen.
