BLADE RUNNER'S 2019 IS HERE - SO WHERE ARE THE FLYING CARS?

 “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.” – Roy Batty,  Bladerunner

Ridley Scott's 1982 dystopian sci-fi classic Blade Runner takes place in 2019, so the obvious "how much came true?" stories are flooding the Internet. The basic plot, if you need a review, is that a group of fugitive, rogue "replicants"- enhanced humanoids - escape back to Earth and cop Harrison Ford has to track them down.

I'll spare the rundown of comparisons to the real 2019, and leave that to the folks at Filmspotting (one of the best movie review podcasts, btw). Except to say that this weekend I got a preview of Sony's new Aibo, and that thing is frighteningly close to being a real dog, except smarter and it'll take photos of your home while you're gone, and probably upload them to all your friends. So maybe we're close to a "replicant" dog.

Ford's character zooms around in the slums of Earth in the ultimate sci-fi vehicle, a flying car that doesn't blow over the trashcans on the street. So is the dream (nightmare) of flying cars here yet? Of course not. But realistic goals of new urban mobility and regional mobility are now at least in the sphere of legitimate conversation.

Numerous companies - some of greater credibility than others - are promoting VTOL aircraft designed for short-haul within-city transportation. Even Airbus, the world's largest aircraft manufacturer, has pitched its fanciful design. CNET calls it for what it is: "wacky". Uber, which has never built anything other than an app, actually says it will have a flying electric VTOL ready for testing in Dubai next year. There's also a bridge in Brooklyn I could sell you.

The race for actual, practical, economically and environmentally viable VTOL aircraft will be won by the doers, not the dreamers. And several start-up companies are doing the hard work of engineering prototype aircraft, to be followed by manned prototypes, to be followed eventually (they hope!) by certification from regulators. They are working, simultaneously, on building the necessary infrastructure (where will these things land and takeoff from?). And working on gaining pubic acceptance of new aircraft.

We need new ideas to solve the urban and regional mobility crisis. Sci-fi movies give us the spark of imagination, but not the actual blueprint to get it done. The immediate future of real VTOL aircraft glitters brighter than C-beams in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate.

Andrew is the CEO of Hopscotch Air and the Vice President of Marketing of VTOL start-up Transcend Air