Uber? Google? Zee.Aero? Flying Car? New Area 51?

(Photo Credit: Steve Eggleston via Aviation Week)

It would appear that there is yet another entrant in the (nearly 100-year-old) race to develop a marketable "Flying Car". The article at the link below implies that the vehicle has been under development for at least 3 years and is already in flight test. The only photos that I have found do not make it appear to be very roadable, so this may be some kind of early concept demonstrator. You can't discern much from the profile, but if you look closely at the shadow, you will see what look like long, unswept wings, each with 2 (perhaps 3?) extensions from both the leading and trailing edges with some kind of pods at the ends of each extension. This is corroborated by what appear to be red propeller tips visible at the rear of the aft pods. The article has no technical details to speak of, but clearly quotes folks who say they have seen it fly.

http://www.montereyherald.com/article/NF/20161023/NEWS/161029863 

Textron Scorpion Jet Displays Weapons Integration

The story at the link below is more about systems demonstration than about systems test, but it does show the state of readiness of a system that has been in development for a while. As I look at the pictures at the link, I am a bit surprised at the shallow dive angle as well as the low angle of attack. Early launches will often tend to have a wider dispersion and higher CEP than proven systems, so a shallow dive angle allows that wider dispersion to spray munitions over a lot of real estate. It also looks as if the aircraft is operating somewhere near its maximum delivery speed, given the low apparent angle of attack implied by the rocket plumes of the weapons.

http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12271191/scorpion-jet-successfully-completes-first-weapons-capability-exercise

Cessna Citation Longitude Completes Maiden Flight

There are not many details in the story at the link below... a bit about some of the items in the flight profile. A couple of "eyebrow raisers" for me: The gear was evaluated. I presume that this means it was raised and lowered, which is something that is often delayed until subsequent flights. The other item was the pilot comments regarding the "intuitive" nature of aircraft systems. This evaluation was not really a result of the flight test. This assesment took place weeks - maybe months - earlier during evaluations done in ground simulators and hot bench testing. About the best we could expect to hear regarding systems on a first flight would be that they "worked as expected". Presumably they did.

https://disciplesofflight.com/cessna-citation-longitude-first-flight/

UCI Students Launch Human Powered Design on Maiden Flight

This kind of project is so rewarding. In fact, one or two of the students involved listed the project as the high point of their college careers.  The best part was the ingenuity and determination that they showed when it was apparent that modifications would be needed to their plane if it were going to fly. They rolled up their sleeves and made the mods right then and there!

http://engineering.uci.edu/news/2016/9/human-powered-airplane-team-learns-lessons-flight-test