Personal plane beats SUVs on mileage

prototypes
We never did get the hovercrafts we were promised as kids, but we're getting closer.

Imagine sailing above the Bourne Bridge on your way to the beach, while consuming less gas than those SUV-driving suckers stuck beneath you in traffic.

Los Angeles-based Icon aircraft last week successfully completed a test flight of its A5 sport plane, an adorable little put-put that runs on auto gasoline and gets 18 to 20 miles to the gallon, according to Icon.

Think of the A5 as a luxury car that moves in three dimensions. It has a dashboard and seats that make its cockpit look like the inside of a BMW. It even has an MP3 port, so you can listen to "The Ride of the Valkyries" while soaring above the White Mountains.

Icon imagines A5 pilots flying in and out of regional airports, but you can also use a lake for takeoffs and landings, the company says. The amphibious A5 has foldable wings, so you can pull it up a boat launch and haul it home on a trailer behind your car.

The A5's top speed is 120 miles per hour, and its maximum altitude is about 10,000 feet, in keeping with its Light-Sport Aircraft classification - a new class created to make personal aviation accessible to more people.

The price tag for the A5, which Icon plans to deliver by 2011, will be about $139,000.

Add to that the cost of flying lessons, hanger charges, or having a garage big enough to store the A5, and you can see that the future of transportation will still be one of haves and have-nots.

Just remember to wave as you pass over the little people, trapped in the big cars they wish they'd never bought.

Green tech

Finding small ways to capture energy

I'm all for renewable energy, but there's no free lunch. Remember the hydrogen economy? That sounded fine, until it became clear we'd have to burn more coal and build more nukes to make all the clean H{-2} we'd need to make the system work. (Not to mention an entirely new nationwide infrastructure.)

Even Honda's new FCX Clarity hydrogen car relies on natural gas.

And while sun and wind energy seem promising, many of us live in places where we can't get enough of either to justify the cost of setting up turbines and solar panels.

That's why I'm starting small, with hand-held gadgets that need only the tiniest of investments.

Miniwiz Ltd. makes something called the HYmini (hymini.com), which resembles a hand-held electric fan and captures wind power while you ride your bike or jog. It sells the HYmini for about $50. (The company also sells a low-cost hand-held solar panel.) Brackets and bands for the HYmini, for attaching the device to humans and bikes, cost a few bucks more.

After 20 minutes of sustained wind time (at least 9 miles per hour is required), the HYmini will have stored enough juice to power your MP3 player for 40 minutes, according to Miniwiz.

Mobile phones

Phone lets you get mail, media easily

Verizon is making it easier to get all of your communications and media - e-mail, SMS, music, and TV - on a single device, and by making a single, monthly payment.

The LG Chocolate 3 fits the bill. It's a "clamshell" flip phone with a wheel on its lid, for sifting through music files and other media. The phone supports MP3 and other formats.

The Chocolate 3 also has an FM transmitter for playing audio on your car radio or home stereo receiver.

But the Chocolate 3 is for media consumers, not creators. Its 2-megapixel camera will not outshine a real standalone picture-taker, for example.

Also, remember that Verizon's digital media plans all come with monthly fees, ranging from $15 to about $80.

The new Chocolate alone will cost you about $130, after rebate, and with a two-year contract.

So take care: If you are hoping for the Chocolate to be your all-in-one media and communications center, you might just find yourself replacing several bills with one, while paying just as much.