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Flying Car by end of year

Posted by Hemos on from the i-want-my-jetpacks dept.

James Green writes "CNN is reporting something will surely make everyone want to duck - the SkyCar, an invention by Moller International, of California. Quote, "The Batmobile-shaped vehicle will seat four people, do about 5 miles per liter of gas, have a top speed of over 600 mph and will take off and land vertically." It is due for a maiden journey in the next few weeks. "

5 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Yada, yada, yada.... by Davorama · · Score: 5

    Moller's been out on his ranch making anouncements like this for decades. Nothing ever comes of it. I've known folks (fellow students at Davis) who have worked with him on the project. They were good students but I've never heard of this thing doing any more than a hover and a short (unmanned) run. Of course, that's how the wright brothers started.... but the Wrights only took about 5 years to go from a bike shop to the first controlled, powered flight....

    --

    Davo -- Free speech, free software, AND free beer.

  2. Reuters got the speed wrong by Captain+Nitpick · · Score: 5
    Moller's web site states that the cruising speed is 350 mph, and top speed is 390, not the 600 mph Reuters (or possibly New Scientist magazine, Reuters' source) claimed. According to statistics provided by Moller (so the veracity of the numbers isn't guaranteed), it should have a comparable passenger miles/gallon to a 737.

    The site also states that the rotary engines that power the Skycar run on ordinary gasoline.

    --
    But then again, I could be wrong.
  3. 6 feet? by Captain+Nitpick · · Score: 5

    The Skycar's estimated maximum ceiling is 30,000 feet. It's definitely an aircraft =) They're limited to low altitude for the tests because their insurance won't cover much more until the vehicle is proven.

    Now whether or not it will actually work well enough to even get off the ground, I don't know.

    Top speed is also an estimated 390 mph, not the 600 mph in the Reuters article, and the estimated milage is 15 mpg on standard unleaded gasoline, with a maximum range of 900 miles.

    The definition of exactly what the vehicle is has been set by the FAA. It is classified as a "powered-lift aircraft." This contrasts with fixed wing for standard airplanes, and rotary wing for helicopters.

    As for takeoff and landing, that will have to occur at airports, although Moller says that the FAA is planning to build several hundred "vertiports" to handle vehicles like his own and a civilian model V-22 Osprey.

    --
    But then again, I could be wrong.
  4. Flawed unit quoting by Captain+Nitpick · · Score: 5
    I hate to reply to myself, but after finding a link to the original New Scientist article, the source of the error became obvious. From the New Scientist article:
    ...road-going vehicle, it has the shape of a Batmobile and a top speed of over 600
    kilometres per hour    . There is one other unusual thing about the "Skycar": it takes off...

    From the Reuters article on CNN.com:

    ...people, do about 5 miles per liter of gas, have
    a top speed of over 600 mph and will take off
    and land vertically.

    --
    But then again, I could be wrong.
  5. Speeding Tickets Anyone? by shogun · · Score: 5

    If these things become commonplace does that mean that traffic cops will be armed with surface to air missiles?