Individual Flight – How Science Fiction Failed Us

March 30, 2010 - By Phineas Delgado

Recently, my readers have been asking me to pursue a different line in the idea of how science fiction failed us: the empty promise of high technology in the early 21^st century. Examples, of course, would include flying cars, robot assistants and Jaws 19 (I swear I heard it’s in development somewhere…). While it would deviate from the form of this series to direct my attention to the things we have failed to steal from our works of Science Fiction, I think I would be remiss in my duties to ignore the will of the people (take notes Congress). So, rather than address how Sci-Fi failed us, I’ll look at how these things can go horribly wrong.

By far, the most requested topic is individual flight; a.k.a., jetpacks and flying cars. It’s been on the collective brain of humanity since the ancients gave us stories of Daedalus and Icarus. We didn’t listen to the dangers then either. Jetpacks first crept into our periphery during the 1920’s, but didn’t really light up our eyes until the 60’s. Everyone, even if they haven’t seen the movie, knows about James Bond’s epic flight in 1965’s Thunderball. More recently, we can blame the Fetts, Jango and Boba, for making us want to fly at will. Of course, we’re ignoring the real issue here. Let’s assume that Daedalus and Icarus represent the first attempt at individual flight. Well, we all know what happened to Icarus. I’m not sure about you, but attempting something that started with a 50% fatality rate isn’t high on my list. I mean do you really want to be 100 feet up in the air with the canisters of compressed hydrogen peroxide the only thing holding you up? If you do, you need to hand over your license to handle sharp objects and hop on the truck for Crazytown.

The other popular option for individual flight is the flying car. Considering all the trouble it is to fly with the airlines these days, this seems like the ultimate stick in the eye to the corporate world and a win for the common man. Here’s what he haven’t thought about. According to the NHTSA, in 2008, there were 37,261 traffic fatalities in the US[1]. In that same year, there were only 1,136 aircraft-related fatalities in the US[2]. Comparing the relative dangers of the two (traveling at 50-80 mph along the ground in a steel and glass box or hurtling 7 miles above the earth in an aluminum tube at 500-700 mph) one would think that flying would be something only the insane or stupid did. But the numbers don’t lie, flying is safer. And why do you think that is?

I, for one, think it’s because they don’t let just anyone operate an aircraft. It takes years of training to fly a jumbo jet as a pilot, and only about 16 weeks to get a driver’s license. Moreover, the airways are far less crowded than the highways are, mainly because the majority of aircraft carry dozens of passengers. With flying cars (which have been tried and failed, by the way) in every driveway, we would have to have a system mirroring the highway system in the sky, and let’s face it we have problems with it being on the ground. Can you imagine the moron that cut you off doing it at 3,500 feet? And if I saw someone texting while flying, I might just have to stab them with a grapefruit spoon… after we landed of course.

[2] NTSB – Accidents, Fatalities, and Rates, 2008 Preliminary Statistics – NTSB.gov