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This thing is not that small. According to their website the previous model has a wingspan of 9.6m and this one looks slightly larger.

This is proportionally much larger than what was depicted in the anime.
If we lived in a fantasy world where the atmosphere was denser, then maybe everyone would be flying like this, but in reality things are a bit more difficult. :)

Where else but Japan would you be able to find a Thanks Tail for your car, letting you wag your car's tail like a dog when someone lets you change lane? You can watch the advert here. Try the Coral cache first.

Where else but Japan would you be able to find a Thanks Tail for your car, letting you wag your car's tail like a dog when someone lets you change lane? You can watch the advert here. Try the Coral cache first.

Or let's make flying vehicles preferable over cars, maybe ? I have been fascinated by this project for quite a good amount of time already.

Fine, I'll fly my Mehve instead.

- Hachiya is looking for a test pilot for the first version made this past year. Applications accepted up to March 15.

- The faq has another picture including something that looks more like an ordinary glider. To answer the question "What kind of project is this?" he writes, "The final goal of the 'Open Sky Project' is to produce a 'personal jet glider' that can be ridden by a single person (a girl up to 50kg)." Phase 2 which he is working on now includes consideration of ideas like those in the photo.

- He is being assisted in phase 2 by Aircraft OLYMPOS, looks like this guy (Mr. Shibe? Yobe? The name reads like "four doors"..heh) knows his planes.. and he says he thinks it is possible.

- The part about a girl being needed is basically a matter of image.. no reason can't be a guy. The point is to have someone as light and strong as possible, so 40kg plus or minus 5 kg, say 55kg max with full equipment. There is a training program for the pilot budgeted. And since he wouldn't put anyone on it without doing it himself first, he's in training now too. Sounds more ballsy and realistic than at first, no? I think we're back to "KEWL!"

- For phase 2 it will be called another name, not Moewe since if there did happen to be an accident Studio Ghibli (Nausicaa creators) would be inconvenienced. Also because when he looked it up it turns out that Mazda owns a trademark for a plane called Mehbeh. He wonders if they are actually thinking of building it?!?!

- Answering the question "Is this Open Source?" he says "Funny you should ask about that, the was originally developed as an Impac project but since it ended up not getting realized there I decided to do it by by myself. Even this phase I plan to make it open source to some degree, for example releasing diagrams and discussing problem points openly and so on. But as for completely open source hardware (?) I've given up on it. That is, when constructing the body someone should take responsibility for designing it, and when putting someone on it, obviously should take responsibility for that. And considering that kind of responsibility, I don't think it's possible to do that and try to get opinions about an under construction aircraft, or get advice on important parts of the project. However, I am looking for staff (link), so if anybody is interested they are welcome."

- Hey people this sounds like it is maybe real. And while he is an artist not an aeronautics engineer, he does have a good deal of clout and Nausicaa is a powerful image in Japan among the general public, in particular I think among engineers.

I'd like to mention the opinion of an older man who took me out for sushi tonight as I think it may be salient. We were talking about the way sushimaking is taught.. He said the difference between Japan and the U.S. is that Japan is a nation of craftsmen, and they don't teach just anyone what they know. In the U.S. everything is written in a manual, anyone (even someone who doesn't really *care*) can learn whatever is needed. In Japan the expert is not going to teach the young man the trade unless he has fire in his eyes.. Oh so you really *want* to know huh? And the student has to "steal" the information.

Well maybe this is a bit off and might have more to do with chefs than aircraft and open source, but I think it is safe to say at any rate whether this has anything to do with it or not, that a huge percentage of aircraft engineers in Japan have long dreamed of building something like Moewe, compared to their U.S. counterparts, and Hachiya does have a pretty strong way of grabbing people's attention with his designs. Anyway I'd like to hear if people think he is right and if open source aircraft is impossible. Seems it is possible but litigous..

By the way I just caught "BPS: Battle Programmer Shirashi" a (new?) Japanese cartoon. Whit

You know these things look cool in cartoons, but you'll probably have bugs in yer eyes, wind noise in your ears, sore arms and it really won't really be any fun.

The design of Moewe in next phase, which test pilot will ride on, doesn't have winglets and looks to be much more faithful to the original design in the movie.

It's possible to build very stable aircraft, but they have high drag, because the stabilizing aerodynamic forces are fighting each other. Engine power can overcome this, which is what they're doing. This isn't a glider.

If this thing is ever flown successfully by a human, it's going to be an experienced test pilot who flies the thing. Someone who's flown very unstable aircraft. It's not going to be steered by leaning; it will need a full set of control surfaces. And they'll have to figure out some way to attach the pilot to the craft.

Well, off to join my buddy Wile E. Coyote, walking off cliffs and holding up little signs and waving bye-bye before I fall and that sort of thing.