Skycar!

by **Padre** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 10:52 am

It's the catalog displaying crap that no one can afford - The Neiman Marcus X-Mas Catalog 2005! Still... it's fun to look.

Check this out:

Then how about a $3.5 million Skycar that promises ownership of a piece of transportation history when you buy the M400 Skycar prototype.

The catalog calls the M400 Skycar the world's first "personal vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft." The Skycar is a three-wheeled, folding-wing craft than can travel 350 miles per hour and boasts an "environmentally-friendly 21 miles per gallon on alcohol."

http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/27/news/midcaps/neimanmarcus_christmas/

by **PudriK** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 12:04 pm

Death trap!!

If just one of those fans fails in a hover, you're going to fall from sky, like broken bird.

And with those stubby "wings," it can't possibly have much of a glide ratio if the engine fails in forward flight.

No thanks.

Well, to be fair, I checked out their web site. http://www.moller.com/skycar/safety/

It has eight engines, Bob. Eight? Eight. That almost guarantees one will fail, although you will still be flying. Plus it has two parachutes. So when it does fall out of the sky, at least you won't break your back. They say it has a good glide ratio, but that's hard to believe looking at it. http://www.moller.com/skycar/technology/ Doesn't specify the L/D ratio, just that it is less than for a conventional plane. It also matters what it's stall speed is (also related to the stubby wings). Too high and it will be hard effect a safe landing.

The president discusses this a bit here: http://www.moller.com/news/

by **deathBOB** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 12:41 pm

"Includes special "flying pills". Just get in the car, start it up, and take the pill. You will be flying in no time!"

I wouldn't trust my life to a rotary engine. What happens if you forget to put oil in it?

Sorry, I will buy one when the real aerospace industry starts making them.

by **A.M. Foxtrot** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:35 pm

Originally posted by PudriK
It has eight engines, Bob. Eight? Eight. That almost guarantees one will fail

How the hell does the number of engines dictate failure rate?

by **cavalierlwt** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 4:04 pm

Screw the skycar, I was hoping we would see a low cost jet turbine for General Aviation. This would mean engines that would drive private planes at 300 MPH, have greater TBO than piston driven engines, yet still cost in the tens of thousands of dollars. NASA teamed up with Williams aviation, but after they completed the project (FJ-22 I think) Williams turned around and sold the engine techonology to Eclipse aviation--who promply shelved the turbine in favor of another engine. Tax payer funded research sold to a private company who just discarded it. That stuff pisses me off.

by **CodeRed68** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 4:09 pm

I agree with Pudrik. That skycar is a death trap! Those kit plane thingys go down all the time. Look what happened to John Denver and numerous others. Helicopters and kit planes go down left and right.

by **=ender=** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 5:30 pm

I used to fly a kitplane (technically an ultralight class, but since it exceeded the max weight to classify as "ultralight" according to the FAR AIM guidelines, it fell under the "experimental" or kitplane class). I met and hung out with plenty of kitplane/ultralight enthusiasts and only knew of one guy who crashed and died (then again, I didn't know the guy... just a local that made the news... stalled his plane over a river and drowned when he couldn't get out due to his injuries). That was about ten years ago and has been the only kitplane/ultralight death in this area since then (don't know about before). Compared to the number of deaths or serious injury just from people driving to work... well... no comparison. Your car is more of a deathtrap.

They're as safe as the pilot and builder are. Cut corners in the build or fly like an idiot, then yes... they're deathtraps.

That Moller Skycar thing is entirely different. The one thing I like about it is that it's a technological step forward for private aviation.

by **cavalierlwt** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 4:49 am

Had to include this clip:
http://cavalierlwt.home.comcast.net/flyingcar.wmv
I can't believe some TV show never hired these guys, they're hilarious (along with Kevin Smith)

by **PudriK** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 6:33 am

To answer your question Foxtrot, it's simply a function of the odds. If each engine has a failure rate of say 2%, then the odds of failure of any of eight engines is .98^8 = .85, a 15% failure rate. 1%-->8% Simply, you have so many there are good odds at least one will fail. The B-52 has the same problem, it is routine for an engine to fail. But in the skycar an engine failure is much more dire. Perhaps not unsafe, due to all the redundancy, but it could keep you from landing in your drivway (vertically), and having to land at your local airport (running landing).

Skycar!

Skycar!

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