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"I'm very taken by mythology. I read it at a very early age and kept on reading it. Before I discovered science fiction I was reading mythology."
- Roger Zelazny
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| Aerocab (Aeroflyer) | ||
| A electric flying taxi, or car. |
| From the stores Ralph took his guests to the roof of an aerocab stand and they boarded a fast flyer. "Take us about 10,000 feet up," Ralph instructed the driver. "You haven't much time," the man answered, "at 12 o'clock all cabs must be out of the air." "Why?" "Today is the 15th of September, the night of the aerial carnival, and it's against the law to go up over New York until it's all over. You have twenty-five minutes left, however, if you wish to go up." "I forgot all about this aerial carnival," said Ralph, "but twenty-five minutes will be time enough for us if you speed up your machine." The aerial flyer rose quickly and silently. The objects below seemed to shrink in size and within three minutes the light became fainter. |
| From Ralph 124c 41 +,
by Hugo Gernsback. Published by Modern Electrics in 1911 Additional resources -
|
Private air vehicles are called "aeroflyers":
As soon as Ralph and Alice appeared a dozen voices began to call: "Aerocab, sir, Aerocab, this way please!" Ralph, ignoring them, walked over to a two-seated flyer and assisted his companion to the seat; he then seated himself and said briefly to the "driver," "National Playgrounds." The machine, which was very light and operated entirely by electricity, was built of metal throughout; it shot up into the air with terrific speed and then took a northeasterly direction at a rate of ten miles per minute, or 600 miles per hour.
Compare to the aircar from A Matter of Size (1934) by Harry Bates and the High Kavalaan aircar from Dying of the Light (1977) by George RR Martin and the flying car from Blade Runner.
Being much interested in sports, she desired to know presently how the modern New Yorker kept himself in condition and for his answer Ralph stopped at a corner and they entered a tall, flat-roofed building. They took off their coasters, stepped into the electromagnetic elevator and ascended the fifty odd stories in a few seconds. At the top, they found a large expanse on which were stationed dozens of flyers of all sizes. There was a continuous bustle of departing and arriving aerial flyers and of people alighting and departing.
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'Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons...'
'...without burning a single hydrocarbon molecule to injure the diseased atmosphere any further.'
'Bird-like robots now descended from the ceiling of the theatre...'
'The efficient robot waiter of the Sky Club had cleared away the remnants of an epicurean meal.'
'...in the tank the new body and the new mind and memory and life has taken almost instant form.'
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