You are some 2-3 km in the air. There’s nothing to hold on to. You are sitting on a piece of cloth that is barely large enough to accommodate you. No railings, no seatbelts, nothing to hold on to or stop you from falling to your death if the carpet gets into turbulences or a strong gust of wind makes you lose your balance. And let’s not forget that most depictions of magic carpet flights have the carpet move very erratically because they have a mind of their own.
People think the future has arrived because we have aircraft that marketing departments are calling “flying cars”. However, when we have “magic carpets” that float around with mechanisms not based on aerodynamics or lift, that’s when the future will have arrived.
Sorry, but where did you get your information? Nobody is flying magic carpets above 300m.
Its magic, magic takes care of all of that
“In case of an emergency, Exits are here, here, here, here, and here.”
– Walt Disney’s original Aladdin
“I’m not going to ride on a magic carpet! I’m afraid of grounds!”<br> “You mean heights, and stop being silly!”<br> “I know what I mean! It’s the grounds that kill you!”
– Terry Pratchet, “Sourcery”
It seems dangerous but how often do you hear about accidents?
That’s because they all get swept under the rug.
Likewise, riding a unicorn is completely safe.
How many horse related accidents have you heard of? Many. How about unicorns then? Zero.
All I can say to this is, it’s magic. So, you get to stay on if the carpet wants you to stay on.
That’s is, that’s your protection.
Magic carpets are generally safe. It’s hard to fall and get hurt unless you’re stupid.
If it’s you doing the #levitation magic, it helps to focus on an object underneath you, like a carpet, a broom or whatever. Balancing on it is sitting on a pool floatie. If you got yourself up in the air and lose the carpet somehow, you probably have enough flying skill to land safely without one. Now, if you fly 2-3 km up and lose consciousness from lack of oxygen, you’re cooked, but that’s your own fault.
If you aren’t magical and the carpet itself doing all the work, then the carpet is your mount, like a horse. Well-trained mounts can feel the rider’s weight shift around and try to keep you seated. Just don’t make the carpet angry, or it might buck you off.
In ‘Rise of Endymion’, the ‘Magic Carpet’ creates a kind of force field that keeps its occupants in, and the wind out. But you can still slam and splatter into lots of bits if you hit a rock wall. The force field isn’t that powerful.
The carpet is magic right? Maybe it creates a local gravity field like warp drives, so there is almost no internal acceleration. Or the magic makes you weightless.
most depictions of magic carpet flights have the carpet move very erratically because they have a mind of their own
That might be a good thing. If you fall, the carpet will rush down to catch you
Feels like a good way to break your neck if you land on the carpet wrong…
They typically don’t show the mounting pegs or explain where they fit. Maneuvers with a high “clench factor” end up being safer than they look.
Not to mention the whole thing is one big crumple zone
I’ve only ever ridden mine a few tens of meters above the ground, but you’re right, still high enough to hurt if I fell off. It’s not really as unstable as you make out, more like a floating mat in a swimming pool.
