no speed limits

In the last two years I have been commuting, daily, 97.6 km to work.
That’s the distance between Rotterdam and Antwerp. I first covered it by car even if it was impossible to get passed third gear, since in rush hours the freeway can get more crowded than a vernissage with open bar.
Then I decided to turn to the famously efficient public transport, confident that a responsible citizen should make use of a collective mode of transport. And that’s when things went really nasty.
Despite many years of European Union, the schedule of the trains between Holland and Belgium, two countries the size of a donut, is planned by people who seem to hate one another, and everyone else on those trains too.
After the Fyra disaster, involving a big drawback for the italian engineering pride, there was only one ride every 2 hours to reach my destination. And most of the time these trains were cancelled, resulting in long and frustrating waits at the platform. You know your fellow commuters by the desperate look they have when confronted with the fact that NO, they won’t be able to kiss goodnight their kids, again.
So, I was thinking, is there a solution to this congested mobility? If we can’t save the common man while he is at work, we can perhaps free him on his way there.
How? flying.
First of all, flying is much cooler than driving, or sitting in a stinky train wagon. Infact it’s three dimensional freedom of movement.
However, there is one major problem with flying, and that’s landing. You can only land in designated airfields, which are usually in the middle of nowhere. That’s how Ryanair made a fortune selling overpriced bus tickets.
But there is a solution to all this as well:
This is Spurce Creek, in Florida. Founded in the ‘70s, is the oldest fly-in community of the world. In the map below you see how the roads for cars are inter weaved with roads for planes and.. golf courses. Necessary, I suppose, after a long flight.
This is Casa de Aero, north of Chicago, with a rather rational plan. And no golf courses.
The idea is simple: Once you landed your plane, you taxi all the way to your home, or to your dentist, if he lives in one of this communities, and park your plane in the hangar. It’s the same of a garage, just larger.
From the hangar, one can access directly his living room. no check-in, check-out, no passport please, no you can’t bring that drink on the plane and no you can’t smoke here!
So, is this the idea that will put an end to public transport, in favour of personal flying machines, giving us the ultimate freedom of movement? Maybe. But while we wait for the prices to go down a little, here are some plans showing how your plane could be parked meters away from your kitchen.
House plans and info are from Living With your Plane
Love this stuff!