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'Flying Saucers' to Go On Sale Soon

gihan_ripper writes "Perhaps the ultimate nerd acquisition, the flying car, is to go on sale in a few months. Speaking to the BBC, the inventor Dr Paul Moller described his creation, dubbed the Flying Saucer, as a VTOL aircraft designed to hover at 10 ft. above the ground. The flying saucer has eight engines and is expected to sell for $90,000. Dr Moller expects to produce a successor within six years, a 'Skycar' capable of a climb rate of 6000 ft./min. and an airspeed of 400 mph."

3 of 327 comments (clear)

  1. Moller by Alioth · · Score: 0, Troll

    Moller's been expecting to build the Skycar (volantor as he calls it) "in six years time" for the last 30 years. Don't believe him. None of his aircraft have managed an untethered flight outside of ground effect - every so often he pumps up some publicity, presumably to get new funding after the last lot of venture capitalists see that he's going nowhere.

  2. Too dangerous 4 me by heroine · · Score: 0, Troll

    Saw his flying saucer demo from the 70's that everyone else has seen. That thing is so unstable, has so many moving parts, it looks like it would flip over or malfunction at any minute. Sticking to the good old fashioned helicopter.

  3. Cranes by giles+hogben · · Score: 0, Troll

    Nobody seems to have noticed that in the background of all those BBC vids, there is a massive crane! Yes that's right - the thing is not flying at all - it's on a string hanging from a CRANE. And then there's the crap he spouts about it - I'm disappointed in the BBC for believing this crank. "We have this wonderful natural resource above us," Dr Moller told the BBC. "Look at the sky above us - how many aircraft do you see? It's a great space that is not being utilised. That is what we plan to use. Cars are finished as a means of getting around. It's only a matter of time." Reality is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.