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Topic: Way Cool Moller Skycar

swendor
Member

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 231

On my way home this morning, I heard a news report on a flying car. A flying car!? WOW. A machine that can seat up to four, fly at 30,000 feet and cruise at nearly 400mph. But you can't drive it on the street. (I checked the website and found the media just hyped it up making me think I could be driving on the Beltway stuck in traffic and then just decide to go into "flymode.")

None the less, this is a revolutionary product. It even runs on regular gasoline!

Check it out here.

02-26-2001 07:36 PM

dick-richardson
Member

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:
Originally posted by swendor
On my way home this morning, I heard a news report on a flying car. A flying car!? WOW. A machine that can seat up to four, fly at 30,000 feet and cruise at nearly 400mph. But you can't drive it on the street. (I checked the website and found the media just hyped it up making me think I could be driving on the Beltway stuck in traffic and then just decide to go into "flymode.")

None the less, this is a revolutionary product. It even runs on regular gasoline!

Check it out here.

Yeah, but Ginger will do that and MORE!

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Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

02-26-2001 07:54 PM

DBrown
Member

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Midwest
Posts: 232

The Moller Skycar (or earlier versions of it) has popped into the news about every 10 years in the last 30.

Even if it did work, the Govt. would never figure out how to license it. They don't really want everyone flying, or we already would be.

Personally, I'm content to stay grounded. The only kind of plane I want to be flying when it's motor dies is one that will still be able to fly me home and land me safely. They haven't invented that one yet.

Dave

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02-26-2001 08:13 PM

MPM
Member

Registered: Jun 2000
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 216

It's called an Autogyro...

quote:
Originally posted by DBrown
<snip>...The only kind of plane I want to be flying when it's motor dies is one that will still be able to fly me home and land me safely. They haven't invented that one yet.

Dave

Yes they have. Decades ago. It's called an Autogyro. It looks like a helicopter and has a rotor like one. But the rotor is NOT driven or connected to an engine at all. The Autogyro needs foward motion to spin up the rotor and keep it going. The rotating rotor then acts like a wing. The Autogyro cannot hover, but if the engine fails the spining rotor continues to rotate a provide lift. You then just "glide" down to a safe landing.

Helicopter pilots also use a similar "autogryo" technique to land safely if the engine fails.

And you're right, Moller has been showing off that non-functional "skycar" for decades. His early designs were nothing more than ground effect vehicles (hovercraft) and a variant on a helicopter. The "skycar" he keeps showing the public has been around in a couple different designs for decades, but has NEVER flown.

Last edited by MPM on 02-26-2001 at 10:02 PM

02-26-2001 09:55 PM

swendor
Member

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 231

According to what I read on the website the newest model, the M400 has flown successfully. And according to the news report, a 12-yeal-old boy received five minutes of instruction and was flying soon after--nearly everything is handled by computer.

quote:
Yeah, but Ginger will do that and MORE!

Please elaborate...

quote:
The only kind of plane I want to be flying when it's motor dies is one that will still be able to fly me home and land me safely. They haven't invented that one yet.

It may not get you home, but in the event that an entire engine nacelle (each of 4 contains 2 engines) fails there are 2 parachutes built into the body which allow you to land safely.

02-27-2001 01:59 PM

dick-richardson
Member

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:
Originally posted by swendor
Please elaborate...

According to the lastest patent papers Ginger will fly, sing, dance, make coffee, recite poetry, watch the kids, walk the dog, change the litter box, make grilled cheese sandwiches, sync your visor, play tag, and shave.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

02-27-2001 03:34 PM

EricG
Member

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

quote:
Originally posted by dick-richardson

According to the lastest patent papers Ginger will fly, sing, dance, make coffee, recite poetry, watch the kids, walk the dog, change the litter box, make grilled cheese sandwiches, sync your visor, play tag, and shave.

Don't forget Ginger will be warm, fuzzy and friendly, politically correct, environmentally friendly and replace the family dog as man's best friend.

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