The discipline of Transportation (i.e., the cooperative systems that enable mobility for humans, goods, and services) remains an anchor for a reliant nation that must safely, equitably, and sustainably evolve in response to societal needs and technological innovations.  Due to a wide variety of complex challenges (e.g., ground infrastructure deterioration, traffic congestion, extreme weather events due to climate change, global pandemics, future “Black Swan” world events), we find ourselves at an unprecedented juncture in human history where trillions of dollars are required to transform a transportation infrastructure upon which we remain increasingly over-reliant.  Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is a bleeding-edge paradigm that enables diverse aviation markets to safely develop an air transportation system – often between underserved locations - using revolutionary new forms of aircraft.  Most recently, despite the immeasurable tragedies associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the time is now for scientists, engineers, and urban planners to re-imagine drastic opportunities to improve transportation logistics for human mobility – along with much-needed improvements to the supporting infrastructure - including re-purposing geography and structures (e.g., vacant land, buildings, surface parking lots).   

The notion of a “Flying Car” has long-seemed nearer to science fiction than science fact, yet, recent technological advances are slowly manifesting these potentially transformative capabilities closer to reality.  A surmised Flying Car network effectively combines ideal characteristics of both planes and cars; vehicles with “hybrid” capabilities that are more maneuverable while traversing 3D airspace as compared to 2D roadways.  It is generally accepted that advanced Modeling & Simulation (M&S) must be substantially leveraged to dictate Test, Experimentation, and Validation of Flying Cars, and to affect a vastly improved understanding of the critical human-machine interface that will pervade their technological evolution and prospective long-term sustainability.

In this timely Emerging Topics Tutorial, we explore the technologically disruptive evolution of AAM and Flying Cars.  To clarify the key challenges associated with wide-scale adoption, advanced M&S will enable testing and experimentation with Flying Car technologies as they continue to incrementally emerge.  Aspects of the Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) taxonomy will be essential to ultimately enable the tactical examination of forecasted operational logistics (e.g., vertical takeoff/landing capabilities, Vertiport layout, placement, and design) and behavioral patterns (e.g., perceived benefits and concerns, use cases, willingness to acquire and hire) associated with the evolving human-machine interface.  Notional aspects of planned M&S innovations related to Flying Cars will be highlighted throughout this presentation.