Opportunity Nightmare

Credit: autoblog.com

I had a nightmare two nights ago featuring a black on black Pagani Huayra.  That's a blue carbon Huayra roadster pictured above, which is not the one from my nightmare.  I felt that roadster looked better and it helped to calm my frayed nerves.  You see, I'm not a fan of the Huayra.  I much prefer the naturally aspirated Zonda over the twin turbocharged Huayra.  I know its weird for me to write that since AcMo tries to twin turbocharge everything with a propulsion system, but this is a special case.

A Zonda is a hot north wind from the Andes.  Huayra is short for Huayra-tata who is an Andean wind god.  Horacio Pagani likes his Andean winds.  This is my subconscious telling me what I have to do since AcMo now has considerable experience handling hurricane mitigation through superior driving speed.  Ground control is nice, but we want to have air superiority as well.  Nothing says professional more than an organization that possesses ground and air superiority.

Credit:  Pagani History

That is the one-off Huayra Futura.  It is not the car from my nightmare either, but it could have been.  The nightmare started when I couldn't find the keys to my Huayra.  I didn't realize I was dreaming and I couldn't remember having bought a Huayra.  The purchase of a $1million+ US car is something I should remember doing.  Cars move in and out of AcMo facilities all of the time, and it is hard to differentiate between personal and client vehicles, so this isn't that unusual for us.  My Huayra was blocking the driveway when I needed to go for a drive.  I was scheduled to do some backroad testing to refine the suspension.  I only had a small amount of time available for this task, and it was being wasted since I couldn't start the car.  I found the key in my pocket after an exhaustive search.

I drove to the canyons being certain to warm the tires, brakes, and engine before going loud.  I entered my favorite canyon road and started working the car to see where it needed help.  I approached the first hairpin at triple digits.  High speeds are easy for a car like the Huayra.  The drive became a problem when I pressed the brake pedal and nothing happened.  I confirmed I was pressing the pedal and then activated panic mode.  The car wasn't slowing and my only two options were to plow into the guardrail and hope I didn't go over the edge of the cliff, or smack the side of the mountain.  I didn't like my available options, so I chose to activate flight mode.  Because this was a nightmare and I hadn't yet developed flight mode, it didn't work out how I had hoped.  The car did get airborne, but it just as quickly returned to the ground and began rolling down the cliff.  I wondered how anyone would be able to find my body when I awoke from this terrible nightmare.

The immediate rush of adrenaline and fear fueled an innovative idea.  I now had a plan to turn the Huayra into a road car that could also fly.  How hard could it be?

Credit: Pagani History

This Huayra has the optional Pacchetto Tempesta (storm package) showing off the rear flaps.  I am not convinced that these active flaps are more efficient than traditional aerodynamic body parts, but they were important in developing a prototype for the new automotive category AcMo will dominate.  Flying cars are just a matter of overcoming a few minor physics issues and generating enough speed to produce an adequate amount of lift.  The Huayra has the speed thing handled, and with some redesigned front and rear flaps, the lift part will be super easy.

It took longer than I wanted to confirm the engineering for this project.  I have now realized that we are going to need to add F-14 style folding wings to the doors to generate sufficient lift for takeoff.  Once in the air we will have to fly the Huayra inverted to maintain or increase lift.  The only remaining issue is the propulsion system.  Spinning wheels, even at 100,000 rpm won't provide an adequate propulsive force in the correct direction.  My initial design is for a folding propellor to emerge form the rear of the vehicle.  This propellor will be connected to the differential through its own gearbox.  The use of the correct ratios will allow the engine to run at a steady 3,000 rpm while turning the propellor at 18,000 rpm.  We'll know if that produces enough force when we test our first flying Huayra.

The AcMo flying winds car project is the natural evolution of our pioneering work with hurricane mitigation.  I am excited for the day when we hold a flight competition with our mech suit against a flying Huayra.  I think I know which one will win, but the test will be exciting regardless.  Everyone benefits from AcMo's extensive testing procedures.  Soon being stuck in traffic on the highway will be obsolete, and mid-air collisions by distracted pilots will become commonplace.

We *may* have an opening for a new beta tester.  We are looking for someone who doesn't ask a lot of questions and is willing to drive and/or fly untested prototypes for little to no pay.  Contact AcMo today if this sounds like your type of assignment.  The position won't be available long, or at all, if our beta tester returns soon.