The flexible tire idea is from a Michelin tire called a Tweel, which I wrote about in 2005. In the referenced article, I compared it to the smartwheels from Neal Stephenson's 1992 novel Snowcrash.
I like the idea of turning them sideways and using them as a turbine for lift. It's a slightly less radical (but possibly workable) version of Doc's idea for a flying car from Back to the Future.
(There aren't any roads in Back to the Future)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/7/2019)
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
Origin F1 Humanoid Robot's Facial Skin
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.'