Future - Predictions B1

The Future of Transportation

7 March 2022

Old Gyrocopters Could Be the Funky Flying Cars of the Future

(Adapted from: Wired Magazine, August 12, 2019)

In the not too distant future, you might find yourself shuttling to work in a modern spin on
the old gyrocopter. Two companies in particular, Skyworks Global and Jaunt Air Mobility,
say their improved gyrocopters are among the most optimized—and most readily
achievable—candidates for electric aviation. “There were a few things that are really
attractive about gyros in urban air mobility,” says Skyworks’ CTO Don Woodbury. “They
can glide and retain full control, even in a power loss, so they don’t require things like
ballistic parachutes. We think the gyrocopter can be—and needs to be—as safe as
commercial aviation, which is much safer than conventional helicopter aviation.”

Skyworks’ air taxi candidate is called the eGyro, a new, yet-to-be-revealed design that will
use an electric motor to pre-rotate the main rotor, allowing the aircraft to lift off vertically,
and a second motor for the rear propeller.

Because most vertical-lift aircraft have high-power spikes during takeoff and landings, the
batteries and motors must be custom-designed. The eGyro, though, will use adapted
automotive batteries and motors. “The energy profile of a gyroplane is pretty constant,”
says Woodbury, whose Salt Lake City-based company is also developing a 400 mph,
turbine-powered (i.e., fuel-burning) gyro called the Vertijet for military and commercial
users. “It consumes the same amount of energy throughout the flight, and that balanced
consumption allows us to use the same tech as cars do.”

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EXERCISE 1: Vocabulary (words and phrases in purple)

1. What does a modern spin mean in this context? Why is it a play on words?

2. Can you think of a synonym for in particular?

3. What is electric aviation?

4. What is the opposite of urban?

5. Which word in the text also means tailored?

6. Where do automotive batteries come from?

EXERCISE 2: Grammar - making predictions about the future.

When we want to make predictions about the future, we can use the modal verbs
could, might, may, and will. It’s no coincidence that will is both a modal verb and
the verb we use in the future simple. We then also use the going to future tense to
make predictions.

Think about predictions as happening on a scale of certainty:

unsure quite sure

could might/may will going to

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Look at the infographic. Which of these predictions to you agree with? Which
ones do you disagree with? Why?

Now let’s make some predictions about the future of:

commercial aviation

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long-distance travel over land

modes of transport in the city

urban / city planning

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