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Neiman Marcus Offers First Moller Skycar For Sale
It doesn't come easy writes "Neiman Marcus has just unveiled its 2005 Christmas Catalog of Fantasy Gifts last Tuesday, and one of the items up for purchase is the prototype M400 Skycar from Moller International (for only $3.5 million US). If you've ever dreamed of owning a Skycar, this may be your only chance." From the Skycar site: "Can any automobile give you this scenario? From your garage to your destination, the M400 Skycar can cruise comfortably at 350+ MPH and achieve up to 28 miles per gallon. No traffic, no red lights, no speeding tickets. Just quiet direct transportation from point A to point B in a fraction of the time. Three dimensional mobility in place of two dimensional immobility. No matter how you look at it the automobile is only an interim step on our evolutionary path to independence from gravity. That's all it will ever be. "
This car has been on an "almost ready for production" state since i have memory - i recall reading on Popular Science about it and how it would revolutionize transport when i was a kid! So, are they selling these days? The site's a bit vague about this... and the one mentioned in the article is a prototype - a working prototype, yes, but still.
I was expecting a couple of prototypes, but 75! I'd say they're going onward full bore.
I'm very skeptical when it comes to Moller. The guy has been promising that he was five years away from shipping a product for at least 25 years. I hope I'm wrong, though.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
From the website:
"M400 Skycar Deposit Information
"Deposit is refundable until after a successful transitioning flight has occurred. Thereafter deposits are refundable only if Final Delivery Price exceeds List Price (as adjusted for CPI-W) by 5%, OR Standard Equipment List has been shortened OR Guaranteed Performance Specifications are not met, OR FAA Certification Date of the M400 Skycar occurs after December 31, 2008 or a Purchase Agreement is executed prior to FAA certification. "
"Your required deposit amount is as follows:
"Delivery Position List Price
25-100 $995,000
101-200 $750,000
201-500 $500,000"
So, they're anticipating obtaining FAA approval by 2008. The price for a car depends on how long you're willing to wait. Starts off at one million, and drops to half a million if you're willing to wait till 200 have already been sold.
Hugh
From the Moller website: Moller is currently working with the FAA to obtain certification of the M400 Skycar under the "powered lift normal" category. /../ In addition, the FAA has established a "powered lift" pilot's license. This, together with a thorough familiarization, will be required to pilot a Skycar, primarily to ensure adequate flight management and navigational skills. So, to answer your question: they're working to legalize it, and you will need a licence to pilot one.
Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
http://www.moller.com/news/pressrelease/SkycarInNM arcus2005.html
... after they've finished with it. So the used up and probably modified-badly-between-tests, not-legal-to-fly, hopefully-not-crashed, uglier, prototype is your "for sale" "when it's done" (and we all know how well that's worked for Nukem Forever). For ONLY $3.5 million!
We have offered the prototype "for sale" in the catalog for $3.5 million on the condition that it be delivered after its inaugural piloted test flight scheduled for later this year or early 2006. Well, except that he notes elsewhere they really are "working towards" that day, and have NFI when it will actually happen.
Yep, it's "for sale"! Oh, but not the one in the photo! That's the shiny production version see.
You get the far uglier testing one shown here...
http://www.moller.com/skycar/
Yes, typical Muller all the way! What a visionary!
Yeah, many people have thought that the skycar has been an investment scam, and it probably is. Hey the SEC thinks so!
Although I see that Bernoulli's principle strikes again! Alas, that is not really what generates lift (my modern Physics professor in college used to teach at the Air Force Academy and said they still teach that to pilots... ghastly). While there is a Bernoulli effect that influences lift, there is an assumption and crude explanation (hey the air flows above and below the wing have to meet up).
hereOf course Bernoulli was a natural philosopher which explains why this was easily accepted (thanks Neal Stephenson, for fictionalizing that part of history).
Scientific arguments aside, the Moller sky car graced the pages of Popular Mechanics and Popular Science when I was a kid. No one in their right mind would buy it, it is a silly impractical (not to mention unsafe) idea. Do you know how much work it takes to get a pilot's license? Or instrument rated? Time and $$$$. That is why it is a dumb idea. But hey, rich old men can dream, can't they?
http://web.archive.org/web/20001110012400/http://
In other words, take any deadline that Paul Moller gives you with a big ol' honkin' chunk of NaCl.
4.22. How can I obtain a video of the M400 Skycar?
Since the M400 has not yet been flown, we do not have available video footage. You can however, obtain a Media Kit which includes a compilation video of interviews with Dr. Moller, a BETA master of our most recent flight test featuring the M200X (1990) and informational brochures on Skycar and Rotapower Engines for $50 plus shipping. Please see our Sales page to order.
4.21. Will I need a license to pilot an M400 Skycar?
Currently the Skycar is categorized as a "powered-lift normal" aircraft by the FAA. This means that, yes, you will require a "powered-lift normal" category pilot's license to operate a Skycar. However, it is our intention that the volantor will eventually evolve into a completely automated form of transportation making you a passenger - not a pilot/driver. At that point, no pilot's license would be required as long as you operate within this control network.
He also thinks that almond butter is the key to life extension. Eccentric would be an understatement here. http://www.moller.com/about/history/lifeext/
> On the other hand, if people had to go through as much training to get a driver's license as they do a pilot's license the roads would probably be a better place.
> I was certified to fly gliders only after many hours of instruction that included emergency situations as well as learning how to give myself large safety margins. Just the thinking process of getting my pilot's license caused me to really evaluate my driving habits as well.
How long does it take to get a drivers license in US, and how expensive it is?
Here in Finland, if you're 18 or older, you can get a license. The process is split in two phases, first phase consists of 10 x 1,5 hours of theory and 10 x 1h driving lessons.
Then there's written exam including traffic situation pictures, and finally driving test. If you pass both tests, you get temporary license which is valid for 1-2 years.
(don't recall if the hours are accurate, I've had my drivers license for several years now)
If you manage to drive 1-2 years without too many mistakes (3-strike system, if you fail, you have to do first phase again) you can start second phase.
In second phase, you have few more theory hours, 5 or so, mostly about driving in dark and on slippery surfaces. Some of the theory also focuses on driving more economically. There's practice run on slippery surface track and basically training for driving on icy surfaces. After completing the second phase, you receive your final drivers license which is valid until you turn 70. After that age, you need to take medical and with doctors approval, the license can be extended.
The whole thing costs about $1200-2000, depending on the driving school, more if you fail any of the tests.
There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
Neither in yours, give that it's been falling in the USA for the same period
Reference: All told, 42,636 people died on the nation's highways in 2004, down from 42,884 in 2003. The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) was 1.46 in 2004, down from 1.48 in 2003. The fatality rate has been steadily improving since 1966 when 50,894 people died and the rate was 5.5.
Overall deaths can actually go up while having the VMR and per 100,000 rates go down because the USA, more so than Europe, is still increasing in population.
I don't read AC A human right
This guy has never made a functioning prototype. He has scammed hundreds of venture capitalists over the years promising the inevitable "breakthrough" in just a "few more years." His current iteration (the M400) has been awaiting a non-tethered test flight for 5 years now. First it was the insurance, then it was the engine, now it's waiting for a man-made lake to test this thing over. The reality is that this thing can't get higher than ground effect. He is no closer to a flying car today than he was in 1972. I am so sick of this guy getting press for his failure. There are real flying car vehicles out there, Moller isn't one of them. He's a long-term grifter, nothing more.
"Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."- Steven Wright
The requirements vary by locality, and are getting more restrictive as time goes by. However, when I got my driver's licence, I only had to pass the written test and the "drive arount the block with a DMV guy" practical test. Total cost was negligable. Total experience required was laughable.
Note that making license acquisition even moderately expensive or difficult is a very politally-charged proposition. Leftists tend to argue that a driver's license is required in order to conduct normal day-to-day business, and therefore is a right, not a priviledge. Making license acquisition out-of-reach for the "bottom" of society--those with less resources and less opportunity for proper training--impinges on the rights of these individuals and is an unacceptable form of discrimination.
When I got my pilot's licence, on the other hand, it was after 41.5 hours of flight time (I learn very fast, the national average is 60 to 80 hours before they can perform maneuvers within FAA standards), at a cost of around $4000. Once again, the average cost is closer to $6000-$8000 dollars. The requirements also include a written exam (a REAL test, not the hokey crap you do with the DMV), an oral test, and a practical test. Only the first hour or two of training is spent explaining "how to fly." The rest is spent learning how to safely handle every situation you can possibly get yourself into (of which there are plenty, by the way).
Along with your license, you need a current medical release signed by an FAA approved doctor, which needs to be updated as often as every 6 months or as seldom as every 3 years (depending on age and what type of flying you do). And of course, there's recurring training that must be accomplished every 2 years. Beyond that, there's requirements about flying you must have done within the past X months in order to carry passengers in various situations.
None of this includes instrument or commercial ratings, either, and is only valid for the specific category of aircraft that you trained in.
So, in order to fly, you have to really know what you're doing. The requirements are strict because the stakes are high. If drivers were required to reach pilot standards before getting their license, only 10-20% at best would ever make it, and accidents would be so rare that fender-benders would make the news. Roads would be extremely safe, the automobile industry would crumble, and mass transit would be the norm, rather than the exception.
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is not necessarily a good idea...."
RFC 1925
use hydrogen as a fuel-source For the last time, hydrogen is NOT a fuel source; it is an energy storage medium. That's like saying "Use batteries as a fuel source!" Unless, of course, you know something about portable hydrogen-powered fusion reactors that I don't...
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.