What we dream and what happens to us

It is not disputed that all the visits of our president to foreign countries and statesmen are historical, because the course of history has changed so many times because our president sat on Trump's stool, went to Macron's (again) to buy "firecrackers" or watched Putin's parade, and that was just him and the president of Slovakia and no one else from Europe, I guess all the other European statesmen were tidying the basement that day or driving their car for technical inspection. However, among all those historical events, those that have become legends stand out, are remembered and retold, have entered folk folklore and will one day be sung in the top ten. The first songs in that new cycle of heroic folk songs called "The Golden Age of Alexander the Great" will certainly be dedicated to the Chinese president, because whenever our president goes to China, such good news comes from there that it surpasses even all our happiness in the previous months, caused by cheaper kulen and baking powder.

FLYING CARS IN FRONT OF THE DOOR

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For example, do you remember - and who could forget - the legendary visit of our president to China in September 2018? It was the time when we came up with a new strategic approach to trade with this populous country: we gave them chicken legs, pig heads and hooves, everything that we were throwing away until yesterday, and then we found out that the Chinese consider it a specialty. The image of the late Palma Jagodinski waving a bag containing some poultry waste while he is blushing and explaining to journalists: "This is what our president sold to the Chinese! This!" In return, such was the deal, we will receive from the Chinese various electrical devices, electric car and truck factories, and not only that...

Vučić clearly told his hospitable hosts that we know they have a flying car prototype (is there anything our president doesn't know?). "Let's do something like that in Serbia. We have some ideas that I got after talking with Sheikh Muhammad Bin Zayed, they are doing something together," said Vučić. A contract was signed with the Chinese company CRBC, after which Minister Siniša Mali said: "When you cross Pupin's bridge on the left, in the next couple of years a huge industrial park will be built on 320 hectares... The total investment will amount to around two billion euros." Flying cars have arrived in Serbia.

I mean, they would have made it there for sure, if only something hadn't gotten stuck. The value of the project was revised to a much more modest 300 million euros, but the goal remained to accommodate over a thousand technology companies and create at least 10-25 thousand new jobs. One would say: a lot of talk, a little concrete. Whether it was because of the corona or because the whole story was, God forbid, invented or inflated beyond measure, nothing came of that grandiose investment. When you cross Pupin's bridge, there is a ditch on the left, as it always was. Serbia was left without flying cars and other wonders of modern China, and it is not even known whether the export of chicken legs, pig heads and hooves, of all kinds, in which we definitely do not have a shortage, has started.

photo: tv pink printscreen

ŽELJKO THE INVENTOR AND HIS FART

But when a Serb wants to fly, there are no "cold chains" that would keep him tied to the ground. There are many smart, innovative people in Serbia who are ready to finance their imaginative ideas from their own modest means. Such, for example, is Željko Mitrović, the owner of "Pink" and the research center with the sound abbreviation ("PRDC"), who addressed the public on January 24, 2021 from an unnamed field in the vicinity of Belgrade: "I believe that today will be written in the history of Serbian and European aviation." And then he put a black helmet on his head, sat in his "octocopter" (a big red pan with eight holes for eight propellers) and soared into the sky under the clouds. Well, maybe not exactly under the clouds, since the vehicle never reached a height of more than a few meters during the three-minute flight, swinging dangerously to one side, then to the other, as if the pilot, far away, was driving under the nose or nose. Fortunately, the aircraft was tamed a few meters before it started cutting the corn. And then the announcement was made that very soon that same flying car will triumphantly fly over the whole of Belgrade, right above our heads.

It didn't happen.

And the "PRDC" turned to some other things, such as a blood ozonizer and a fire extinguisher.

REAL WORLD, 1. DEO

But when the president says something, then it's decided, then it has to be, it's all just a matter of time. Like the subway, like the "Mubadala" chip factory, like the 200-meter flagpole, like the "Prokop" station, like the factory of electric cars and trucks... This year we have another legendary trip of the president to China, again with the president of Slovakia, to another parade of various military devices and devices. It is true that our president was at the back of the column of world statesmen led by the Chinese president, so it looked as if our president was rolling up the red carpet behind those who had already stepped on him, but this is just an optical illusion: he was the last in the column because the dignitaries were lined up by height. If Vučić was only half a meter shorter, he would be right next to President Xi, maybe even in front of him, as is the order.

It doesn't matter, what matters is what our president says from here: "It will be as I promised, I don't worry about ridicule. I had talks with Ixpeng ("Xpeng"). I expect that they in China will get a license for flying cars, which are now worth about 300.000 dollars, which means about 270.000 euros. I believe that by December 1 next year, we will be able to show how flying cars work on the territory of the Republic of Serbia and that we will have application and use during the specialized Expo in our country, so we will see if they will continue to make fun of me".

In the text published by "Vreme" in 2018, I tried to look more broadly at the story of flying cars. And at that time there were companies that tried to cross a car with an airplane, drone or helicopter. Some of it flew, some didn't, but the prediction from the text that commercial production of flying vehicles will not be started in the near future - came true. To reiterate just a few key reasons…

Flying vehicles must be made of light but strong enough (usually composite) materials, have a strong, compact propulsion system, then numerous safety mechanisms and redundant components, as well as a navigation-control system that is able to avoid sudden dangers and eliminate pilot errors. Having so far built a few prototypes that can take off under tightly controlled circumstances is just the first step: scaling the prototype and building a commercial vehicle that can safely carry multiple passengers is still a daunting task. A particular limiting factor is the batteries required to power the propellers on flying cars. Despite all the advances in this field, the capacity of batteries in relation to their mass and size is still small. Experts would say that the energy density in today's batteries is insufficient for a flying car to be able to fly long distances.

The risks of exploiting flying cars are also huge. On the ground, cars are crashed every day, usually without casualties, because most of the driving is done in cities, where the speeds are relatively low. In the air, however, even a close pass between two fast flying objects can throw one of them into a "covit" (an uncontrolled "tumble" that usually has fatal consequences). In the event of a collision, the flying cars would shower their pieces on people in the streets, who might not even be aware that a catastrophic collision had just occurred above their heads. Finally, there are failures - if the engines stop for any reason or the software that controls their operation fails, the flying car will fall from the sky like a rotten pear. In short, flying cars have a much higher "destructive potential" than your "punto". In order to avoid something like that, it is necessary that flying cars have systems to avoid collisions, that passengers are equipped with parachutes, that there are procedures for emergency landing and that all critical systems are done "in duplicate". The implementation of all these protection mechanisms increases the weight and complexity of the vehicle, thus increasing its price.

Besides, the sky above us is already overloaded with traffic. Even the driving of relatively small drones is legally regulated: in Serbia and Montenegro, SMATSA ("Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency") is responsible for flight control and issuing appropriate permits. According to the current regulation, only drones lighter than 250 grams are not subject to significant restrictions. All drones weighing more than four kilograms, anything that flies at a height of more than 100 meters, that can fly at night, above people or has a flight radius of more than 500 meters must be registered in the state books. Flights at altitudes greater than 100 meters, with a radius greater than 500 meters or within a radius of five kilometers from the airport must, after a preliminary announcement, be approved by SMATSA. The distance from people must not be less than 30 meters, and when it comes to sensitive infrastructure and military facilities, the rules are even more rigorous.

Now imagine the sky above the city with thousands of flying cars. In order to avoid incidents, it is necessary to design a completely new flight registration system with an automated flight control system that would be coupled with vehicles in the air. Such systems not only do not exist, but no one is currently working on their development. Without such systems, flying cars would only add to the chaos in the air.

Also, flying cars can't just take off by crashing, spreading their propeller arms or wings, and peeling off the ground. Infrastructure is needed for that, specific places where these flying devices can land, a service network and stations to refill fuel or batteries are needed. In already overcrowded cities, where it is difficult to find a place even for a new street kiosk, this will require a new urban plan and investments whose size is measured in billions of euros.

There is also an environmental aspect: all existing aircraft (future flying cars will be no exception) are very noisy, regardless of whether they use jets or propellers. People who live in the immediate vicinity of high-frequency airports are exposed to such noise levels that they are often forced to move to a quieter place. Although today's aircraft engines are incomparably quieter than those of a few decades ago, the noise level is still unacceptable for urban areas. When you add to the already existing level of city "acoustic pollution" the buzzing and buzzing of powerful flying cars, staying in the city will become unbearable. In addition, if flying cars do not use renewable energy sources for their propulsion, air pollution will be even greater.

Finally, there is the main limiting factor: price. Flying cars typically cost several hundred thousand euros, and some of them as much as a million. If their serial production were to start one day, production costs will decrease and prices will also be lower. But not so much that in the next couple of decades, flying cars will become accessible to the masses and countries "impaired in development", where the price of kulen and guz-paper is the main topic of the central news show. Let's not be too blunt: Serbs will drive flying cars when all Americans drive rockets.

PARK BY THE MOON

That's why our president's statement about flying cars from China, with all its wisdom that cannot be disputed, is a bit absurd. If the time has come for flying cars of 300.000 euros, then why is he talking about a cheap Parisian, about how Minister Mali saved 15 percent by buying some trinkets that he doesn't even need in a market he entered twice in his life (to make a comparison), why pay attention to the news. which was announced by the reborn television N1, that electricity has become more expensive, who cares how much a cubic meter of kulen costs, a centimeter of hot dog, a liter of boza... Let's talk about what is really important and current, about what awaits us in a year! How are these flying cars parked, in the air or on the ground? Will that parking lot also be zoned (my proposal: first zone up to 100 meters high, second zone - troposphere, third zone - stratosphere, free zone - everything from the moon onwards). Will we, who have a driving license for category B, automatically get a license for flying cars or will we have to take a pilot test? How will traffic officials regulate traffic and collect fines? By hanging from drones, or directly from helicopters? Will rooftop parking and neighborhood spying be allowed? Who is going to patch up the holes in the air that flying traffic is sure to produce? The same service that (doesn't) fix potholes? How will the transfer of passengers from one to another city transport flying bus be resolved?

It is not advisable for the bus to land every hour: we need flying bus stations that would be connected to the ground by an elevator, and considering that our elevators break down every hour, there must also be ladders as a backup solution. With due respect to the president, I'm just drawing attention to the fact that we have a lot of unsolved problems in this area, while irresponsible members of the government are fooling us with some kind of potatoes and detergent.

REAL WORLD, 2. DEO

But let's go back to the company "Xpeng" mentioned by the President of Serbia. That company really exists (did anyone doubt it?), its headquarters are located in the city of Guangzhou, in the Chinese province of Guangdong, and there are also branches in Germany and the USA. The company has about 15.000 employees and annually produces about 190.000 electric cars. The company's annual revenue is estimated at around 5,7 billion dollars. "Xpenga" shares are freely traded on the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges. The company currently offers seven richly equipped models in the "sedan" and "SUV" classes. All models are decorated with a modern design and a rather high price, which is around 30.000 dollars on average. But you get a lot for that money: comfort, safety and plenty of equipment (lidar, radar, video camera), with which the car computer ("XPilot") can compile a complete picture of the environment, even in bad weather conditions. Thanks to this, "Xpeng" cars have a second degree of autonomous driving: the car itself controls the speed and direction under certain conditions, but the driver has to keep his hands on the wheel. Currently in development is support for the third level of autonomous driving, where the car controls the entire vehicle, but the driver still needs to be alert, ready to take control.

In 2020, "Xpeng" bought the company "AeroHT", which was engaged in research in the field of flying cars. Under the new name "Xpeng AeroHT", the company continued to develop much faster: two flying models were produced, "Voyager X1" and "X2", which have little to do with cars as they look more like octacopters (they have four arms, with two propellers on each). Aircraft do not have wheels but are supported on rails, and take-off and landing is done vertically.

What our president is talking about is probably a "Land Aircraft Carrier", something that looks like two vehicles in one. It is a large transporter that carries a packed aircraft in its trunk. When the trunk is unfolded, the aircraft begins to slide along the rails and gradually unfolds its landing gear, until it is on the ground. After that, the aircraft unfolds to go from a compact to a flight configuration. It all feels like watching "Optimus Prime" in the movie Transformers: the whole process is automated and takes no more than a few minutes. In the unfolded state, the aircraft looks impressive: it is a "hexacopter" (six arms with propellers), with two additional horizontal "fans" that push the aircraft forward or backward, with a cabin that can carry two people, one of whom acts as a pilot. The aircraft is light but strong because it is mainly made of composite materials of the latest generation. It has numerous safety mechanisms, is capable of returning to the take-off point without pilot intervention, is able to fly even if half of its electric motors fail, and all critical systems are redundant. The transporter is also technically impressive: it has six wheels, three axles, a hybrid electric drive, enough space to accommodate the aircraft and five additional people, while also serving as a charging station: it has enough electricity for six consecutive flights.

The whole project is currently at a turning point: a license for commercial use has been requested from the Chinese authorities. In the absence of regulation, the approval process will certainly take time. The company has already received a flight permit in Dubai, where they like everything that looks like a circus and a tourist attraction, even if it carries a certain amount of risk. In the meantime, the company is wasting no time and is heavily preparing for serial production. 2000 orders worth around $600 million have already been recorded. "Xpeng" is currently building a new factory, which will be able to make 10.000 vehicles per year, and the first deliveries are already planned for 2026. In parallel, the infrastructure is being developed: 60 mini-airports have been prepared so far, mostly near attractive tourist locations. The company deftly defends itself against remarks that its product is intended exclusively for the rich: "Remember, every new technology was first expensive, and only then became affordable."

The best of "Xpeng" is yet to come. Currently under development is a real flying car (so far without an official name), an octacopter, four arms with two propellers on each. When driving on the ground, the arms with propellers are hidden under the movable roof. In its original form, the car does not look like something that can fly at all. But when the roof is raised and the arms are spread and fixed, it becomes obvious that it is an aircraft. The interior of the car is luxurious and completely futuristic: with its blue-white, argon-xenon shades, it would fit perfectly into the film Tron (who has seen the movie, knows what I mean). The roof and floor of the car, as well as many other elements in the cabin, are made of glass, for better visibility during the flight. In the cockpit there is a folding steering wheel (for driving on the ground) and a joystick (for controlling the vehicle in flight). If development continues at the current pace, it is expected that the first "Xpeng" car will take off in 2030 and will not cost more than $150.000 (which is comparable to the most expensive Mercedes or BMW models).

THE CHARMS OF THE CAPITAL

And until that flying "Xpeng" car arrives at the Expo in Serbia, we need to solve some minor problems, so that we don't get embarrassed when the crème de la crème of the whole world shines at our place, to see everything that has been posted on the Internet for a long time. Because nothing can discourage a foreigner like coming to a city of two million people in which 30 percent of the territory is not covered by sewerage, so during every heavy rain we walk not only in mud but also in... You already know.

But that's why instead of the metro, we have three museum railway lines on which passengers are transported by scratched-up trains whose ruined wagons still have plates with the inscription "Made in the USSR. Riga wagon-building institute". Then there is the passage through the central railway station "Prokop", which leaks even during the drought, which was only open because it was only half finished before it immediately began to fall apart, and then driving through the streets where every grate of the drain has collapsed into the pavement by at least half a meter, and some even as far as Japan...

What an intellectual stimulus is offered by solving city puzzles in the form of roundabouts, with and without traffic lights, which are dotted like Dennis Rodman, to make people laugh a little before they collapse following the meaningless lines on the asphalt that intertwine like untied spaghetti. How many people will be alone on Slavija trying to get to the city's biggest fountain, before they realize that the fountain is not there for water and refreshment, but for music. Each of them will want to take a photo of our newly imported trams, which were painted Nemanjic blue by the Turks (there is no irony here, work is work), or more precisely, the moment when they try to pass each other in a curve, but they can't because they are too wide.

Let's not skip the fact that public transport is free and that our city vehicles are overcrowded, often without automatics, sometimes because they don't work, and sometimes because the driver from Bangladesh begins to lose vital life functions if the air temperature drops below 35°C. The road necessarily leads through Belgrade on the water, where our guests will be able to see... hmmm... for example, solitaires whose gray-brown color looks better than any bensedin.

And so, slowly, all the way to the last station, where the gendarme says "no more", to our pride, to what Sholak's and Gitler's mercenaries mockingly call "Ćaciland" but is actually the student dormitory "Pionirski Park", unique in that 100 percent of the students, five of them, want to study there, while in the world's college centers that percentage is incomparably lower. Just going through that dry distillate of intelligence, mental toughness, scientific enthusiasm and creativity will make our guests smarter, maybe one of them will stay there permanently to be fed with knowledge from that fountain of youthful inspiration.

And finally, there is "Belgrade on a tent", our "Storgrad", our "Tentarium", a settlement built in the middle of Belgrade's largest boulevard, at its widest point. What is the purpose of the ghostly chadors in which only the occasional confused person sleeps in a plastic chair with his head on a plastic table or just breathes and thus kills time between two sandwiches, is unclear to us, but there must be some higher meaning. When I asked one of them if there was, perhaps, something to be shared, to take, to take, my wife likes when I bring her a pad, a pencil, a staff, the man mysteriously said to me: "We share good will"! I heard from him that there is a legend that says that our "Shanti-Town" was founded by an Organizer whose organizing license has not yet expired. Unfortunately, the name of the Organizer has been lost in the corridors of time. There, in that place, our guests will be able to spend hours trying to solve the enigma of the "ghost town" and if they are lucky, they will be able to witness the filming of a Hollywood blockbuster that fits perfectly into the scenography that needs no finishing (Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Forgotten Fairground).

So, there is a lot to see, and it is yet to be seen, there is Belgrade for the Expo to be as beautiful as a doll, like New York in The fifth element, just to get a little dirty, polished and squished here and there, with or without a flying car. It won't be Bruce Willis like in the movie, but Jackie Chan and Usain Bolt will, I guess on behalf of the World Pensioners Organization. Unfortunately, I will not be able to go to that Expo because I have an appointment with a mechanic on those very days: the tire on my car is banging, I have already bought a new one with a small dent. It doesn't fit, but they say it can swell, it just takes time. As things stand, the greatest experience in my life will still be a long-ago visit to the Belgrade Fair when, as a musty provincial boy from elementary school in Trstenik, I watched a certain Floyd drive a motorbike in a barrel. Is Floyd still alive, did he maybe slip out of the barrel and fly off after the flying cars, who knows... And because of that, I envy all of you who have already stood in line to buy tickets for the Expo or for a ride in a flying car, if our dear guests from Bulgaria haven't already bought them all.