"MAGIC TRIPS EVERY WHERE"

The Dream of a flying car never dies, it just gets faster

By Patrick Cooke Forbes FYI Spring 2000

In the summer of I926, renowned inventor Henry Ford did something for which he would not become famous. He introduced the "Ford flying flvver," his version of a flying car. Ford was already late to the race to get cars into the air. A decade of utopian visionaries had foreseen thousands of workers fleeing cities aloft. One optimist wrote that Americans would soon be "rising like homing birds" and landing at "cool mountain retreats." The flying car would make possible, he believed, "magic trips to everywhere."

Some 70 years later, anyone wishing to escape to a cool mountain retreat still has to fight traffic on the road. But the dream of door-to-door aviation lives on with Paul Moller, a Davis, California, engineer who has spent a lifetime and at least $50 million developing his invention, the Skycar.

"The real problem with past attempts is that they were never realistic," says Moller. " You want to produce a craft that's light, low-cost, economical to operate, powerful and doesn't use a runway. We've done that."

The Skycar works much like a Harrier jump jet: vertical liftoff, hover, then straight-line flight. In each corner of the car is a pod, or "nacelle," with two engines in each pod. The engines are a Wankel derivative, meaning that there are few moving parts, thus less risk of breakdown. The Skycar is capable of up to 900 horsepower, and the thrust from each pod is directed by "vanes," a kind of louver-doors system that determines direction.

"We estimate 650 horsepower for takeoff," says Moller, "then less than 200 horsepower for straight-line flight." The Skycar's average speed is 300 mph. It can stay aloft for five hours and carry up to four passengers.

Those who just can't wait to get behind the controls will have to. "Owners will only be allowed to be passengers, at least at first," the inventor says, adding that the initial cost per craft will be $1 million. "They're not going to be driving."

Bummer. But perhaps it's for the best. The prospect of chaos in the skies has always been one drawback to flying cars for the masses. This problem too, however, Moller believes will eventually be solved.

For the short term, the Skycar will pretty much fly it self with the aid of the Small Aircraft Transportation System, a global-positioning network being developed by NASA and the FAA. Skycar "pilots" will simply log on to the tracking system via onboard computers, then stick around for any arising emergency tasks, such as deploying the craft's parachute in the event of a catastrophic power failure.

So how soon will all this be possible? "The satellites are up," insists Moller, citing breathless testimonials from engineers, including those at NASA and Boeing. "I think we're five years from large-scale controlled airways. Most certainly it will happen in your lifetime."

From your lips to God's headset. Then again, we've been here before. In 1945 Macy's department store went so far as to include a flying car in its inventory, according to Joseph Corn's delightful history, The Winged Gospel: America 's Romance ·with Aviation 1900-1950 (Oxford). The Ercoupe was a two-seat craft that the builders characterized as "foolproof' for the average citizen to fly. Perhaps the masses didn't care to escape the hellish metropolis after all. For whatever reason, the Ercoupe vanished.

Better luck this time, Mr. Moller. We're rooting for the Skycar. And we'll be watching Macy's window. .