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Buy a Moller SkyCar Prototype on eBay
HobbySpacer writes "Moller International has announced that it will offer its first working Skycar for sale on eBay starting January 31st - Press Release. The M400P prototype has repeatedly flown short hovering flights on tethers in tests since 2001 (see videos). The company warns that although '[a]ll systems are operational. Potential buyers are cautioned that this is a prototype model and considered an experimental aircraft.' Also, 'the Skycar has not yet been approved as a road vehicle.' A more powerful 2nd gen production version is currently under construction for longer untethered test flights this year."
Uh huh. What I don't get is once it collapses into a briefcase, how did Moller reduce the mass so you can actually lift the briefcase?
In case the sarcasm tag wasn't on, I no more believe that Moller can actually make a reliable flying car that gets 28mpg (running on good old Texaco Regular of course) @ 350mph @ 20k feet @ 65dba than they could accomplish the aforementioned mass-reduction-briefcase trick.
What they will offer is a hunk of red, expensive vaporware that sits in your garage like the Russian shuttle they tried to sell on ebay a year or so ago.
Maybe ebay should have a "got too much money sitting around?" section....
"The pie shall be cut in half and each man shall receive.....death. I'll eat the pie."
The way autorotation works on a helicopter (not a gyrocopter) is truly amazing. It converts stored energy (height) into rotational energy (you rotate (twist) the blade to decrease their angle of attack "bite" so they spin really fast). Meanwhile you plummet. That's not true. You don't plummet. (But it sure looks that way.)
When you get close to the ground (one chance!) you convert the rotational energy into lift. You retwist the blades generating enough lift to slow you to landing speed.
I've only watched practice sessions. But I think the next step is to change your shorts.