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"I don't know why I write science fiction. The voices in my head told me to!"
- Charles Stross
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| Flycycle | ||
| Combination flying motorcycle, kitchen and autodoc. |
Puppeteer-designed flying vehicle using thrusters for propulsion. Each has a self-contained medical unit, water distillation unit and a "kitchen", which can take organic matter and create edible "bricks" of food. It also contains a slave circuit that allows it to be controlled by another flycycle.
| The flycycles were miracles of compact design. Aside from their individualistic saddles, they were built all alike: a pair of four foot spheres joined by the constriction that held the saddle. Half the rear section was luggage space, and there was harness for stringing additional gear. |
| From Ringworld,
by Larry Niven. Published by Ballantine in 1970 Additional resources -
|
Surely these are the Harley-Davidson's of Known Space. Just think of it; trading the joys of the open road for the joys of the open - sky?
For a real-life version of a flycycle, see Paraglider to fly from Greece to Egypt.
See also the steel tortoise, a slower but equally cool vehicle developed about 35 years earlier for the story Coventry, by Robert Heinlein.
(Just a little looping video of a "flycycle" (personal flying vehicle from Larry Niven's Ringworld novels) flying over an alien planet orbiting a blue giant star. Software used is Imagine2 and Terragen. Thanks to Rids at Renderosity for use of his magnificent terrain Hallowed Ground, and to Torley Wong for the music titled Xristosphan.)
Compare to the saddle from The Big Front Yard (1959) by Clifford Simak.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Ringworld
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and Technology by Larry Niven
Tech news articles related to Ringworld
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven
Flycycle-related
news articles:
- Paraglider To Fly From Greece to Egypt
- The F-Bike Flies!
- Get Your Speeder Flying Motorcycle From Jetpack Aviation
| HVSD, Kitty Hawk's Electric Plane |
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| Asimov and Musk - Boring Company Tunnel vs. Street Race |
| Arizona Luddites Attack Self-Driving Vehicles |
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