A down-to-earth view on flying cars

Flying cars have long been portrayed as an answer to all our traffic problems, but Ruth Brandon fears the worst. Flying taxis ride again ( Taxi! But not as you know it, 26 October). The dream of flying cars to overcome road congestion is almost as old as the automobile. It first emerged in 1901, and has been revived, though fortunately not realised, at intervals ever since. Le Corbusier’s City of Tomorrow featured skycars in 1929, as did Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City in 1930; i