Suddenly, two light-emitting elents appeared at the center of the car’s underside, erupting like nozzles spewing flas. In reality, however, what was being emitted wasn’t fla but light from the miniature turbocharged engine’s combustion chamber.
It was the direct transmission of sunlight through the jet nozzles.
At night, they looked more like two lights than flas spurting outward.
By that ti, the crowd had already burst into discussion, "The hovering and straight flight just now were so cool. It felt like watching an animation."
"It’s incredible to actually see such a car. As a child, I dreamt of driving one, but as I grew up, I knew it would never happen in my lifeti. Yet, I was wrong."
"You’re not mistaken because you can’t afford it!"
"Damn— that hit ho!"
While the crowd was abuzz, the car flew to its farthest distance, circled back, and returned. The whole process took roughly two minutes.
Then the car slowly decelerated to approximately the sa height from which it had ascended, stopped, and continued hovering. After that, the wheels shifted back to their normal appearance, and the car slowly descended until it landed safely.
"It’s back already? That was fast!"
"I haven’t had enough. It was just too cool, absolutely aweso!"
"Isn’t the field too small?"
"Indeed!"
"This field is ant for cars to run on it. The speed of a flying car is too fast, and since it goes straight without any need to turn, just showcasing a quick flight is enough!"
"It’s not over yet, haven’t you noticed? The car hasn’t turned off its engine, and I heard from the technicians this morning that there would be two take-offs in the afternoon."
"Two tis?"
Indeed twice.
What had been demonstrated earlier was stationary takeoff and landing. Now, it was taking off while on the move, similar to an airplane taking off while accelerating forward. Soon after, the anti-gravity system was activated, and the car took off directly.
The takeoff of a flying car differed from that of an airplane since it relied on an anti-gravity system. In an instant, the car wasn’t affected by gravity; the force was uniform at both the front and back, and there was no ’tilting up’ motion. Instead, it simply floated up, and throughout the process, the body of the car remained parallel to the ground.
This ti it accelerated to a hundred kiloters per hour and took off without needing to transform the wheels. Once the flying speed surpassed a hundred kiloters per hour, the thrust generated by the wheel transformation chanism beca minimal.
The car quickly completed a circuit in the air. On its return, it decreased its speed while simultaneously descending, landing on the ground without the thud associated with airplanes touching down. Because the anti-gravity system remained engaged, the contact with the ground was smooth, as if a feather were landing.
Once it was fully on the ground, the anti-gravity system was gradually turned off, providing a buffering period. The car wasn’t affected by this process, which was extrely smooth.
The two flight demonstrations concluded.
The distant crowds were still observing and continuously discussing, their excitent palpable. Many felt that having such a flying car would likely be a life goal—
To own one of these flying cars and travel everywhere with it.
So of the wealthier onlookers could hardly wait. Compared with the flying car before them, what was a top-class sports car worth?
Only when it could rise into the air did it count for real!
Having such a car for daily use would be incredibly stylish, and inviting friends to experience it would surely be a matter of great prestige.
It was far more interesting than experiencing helicopters or formula racing cars!
—
For the two days that followed, public opinion revolved around flying cars, as if they had beco all there was to life. Online searches were dominated by related topics, and other dia outlets didn’t stop reporting on them.
anwhile, inside Yixing Technology, the focus was on researching flying cars, specifically manufacturing issues, as well as a debated matter: whether the company should complete the manufacturing, grant technological licenses, or adopt another thod.
This was a matter of developnt.
Yixing Technology core was space exploration technology, and the company’s primary manufacturing was space shuttles. No matter how advanced the flying car technology, it was still just a civilian car.
The faction supporting technology licensing had strong argunts, for even the sealed solar-powered engine technology had been directly licensed out.
The Unlimited Power Company had already split from Yixing Technology, and the two were not the sa company. Whenever there was new technology, it was only licensed out, not given to Unlimited Power Company for direct manufacturing.
Flying cars incorporate many of the latest technologies, such as miniature anti-gravity technology, micro-turbine engine technology, and variable wheel technology, etc., including the variable wheels which are all patented.
The faction supporting in-house manufacturing also had very sufficient reasons.
Because of profits.
Since the solar power transmission capacity of the cars was high, they would be subject to restrictions from the Energy-Gathering Satellite, and the manufacturing volu would be exceedingly limited, facing restrictions for at least a few years, where the high profit per car ant a high overall profit.
The internal eting concluded with a decision for both factions to compromise: the company would produce two batches of cars, then begin selling several core components and license out other patented technologies.
Capable automakers would be able to purchase the relevant core components and patent licenses to produce their flying cars branded with their own nas.
This approach has a benefit in that it could expand the manufacturing and sales volu abroad since foreign automakers could also acquire components and authorization.
If Yixing Technology were to undertake production alone, it could take one year, two years, or even longer to establish sales channels abroad.
Of course, the manufacturing quantity of the flying cars was still controlled by Yixing Technology, as they were selling the core components, which determined the number of flying cars that could be produced.
The first and second batches of cars were still to be produced and assembled by Yixing Technology’s authorized partner enterprises. The higher authorities had already approved this arrangent: 3,000 cars could be produced in the year ahead in two batches, the first with 500 cars and the second with 2,500.
This was an approval under the terms of a trade-off.
Because of the high energy consumption of flying cars, it was imperative to launch more Energy-Gathering Satellites; even for just 3,000 cars, approximately two satellites were required for energy supply.
Therefore, Yixing Technology’s commitnt was to launch two additional Energy-Gathering Satellites within the year, beyond what was planned.
Having made the decision, Yixing Technology internally established a flying car division, which was specifically responsible for the production, sales, and technology licensing of the flying cars.
——
anwhile, Zhao Yi had completed the first phase of flying car driving training.
His learning speed was quite fast, mainly because he had an in-depth understanding of flying cars—arguably, no one understood them better than he did. Additionally, he was very young, with quick reflexive abilities, so naturally his learning pace was swift.
Next up was getting acquainted with the controls to handle various scenarios.
This required accumulating study over ti.
Upon returning to the Z-wave experintal base and his theorist group’s workspace, Zhao Yi was t with all sorts of resentful glances, primarily from Edward Witten and Qiu Chengwen. The flying car had been the main focus of public discussion in recent tis, and with Zhao Yi leaving to learn driving techniques, they naturally had much to debate.
As Edward Witten fantasized about piloting a flying car, he took note of the announcents from the transportation and aviation departnts and then realized he was too old?
Over fifty?
"Who made up these rules? Why can’t you drive a flying car if you’re over fifty?"
"It’s completely unreasonable!"
"This is discrimination! Discrimination against older people—"
Qiu Chengwen shared the sa sentint.
If the rules had stipulated that people under thirty couldn’t learn, he surely wouldn’t have thought it discriminatory. After all, youngsters under thirty driving flying cars might pose a risk due to their impetuous behavior.
Cough cough.
To put it bluntly, it was mainly because the rules directly affected him, not any other issues.
In this regard, Zhao Yi just laughed, "Well, it doesn’t concern . I wasn’t involved in that work, and as long as it doesn’t affect , that’s fine."
In other words, "How does it affecting you concern ? I don’t care!"
The looks from Edward Witten and Qiu Chengwen grew even more woeful.
Zhao Yi had no choice but to say, "Don’t worry, once I get my license, I’ll definitely take you guys up to the sky!"
"That’s a promise," Edward Witten imdiately switched to a smile.
Qiu Chengwen also laughed along, utterly unconcerned about the ambiguity in the statent.
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