Flying Cars

Left: Dr. Paul Moller, and the M200M.

"As a young boy in the foothills of the mountains of western Canada, I would sometimes have to walk to school through snowdrifts taller than I was.

One day, a hummingbird got caught within one of our farm buildings. I caught it, and released it outside. It hovered for a few seconds, then vanished. I thought to myself, that would really help in getting to school."


The Explorit Science Center, almost across the street from DMTC, had a problem: their projected audience for the Skycar lecture would be too big for their facility. So, DMTC hosted the lecture this time around. Steve counted 155 attendees, but it looked like more to me - the DMTC theater was nearly full.

The Explorit Science Center explained the lecture thusly:

Explorit Science Center in Davis will host a Science Café on Tuesday, March 18 featuring Paul Moller, inventor of a flying car called a Skycar. The event is the third installment in Explorit's Science Café and Lecture Series, sponsored by Intel. The public is invited to attend the free event, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. with coffee, cookies and informal conversation. At 8 p.m., Moller will give a talk titled “Flying Cars and the Future of Travel.”

The event will take place at Explorit’s neighbor in east Davis, the Davis Musical Theatre Company, 607 Peña Drive. The first part of the evening will take place in the theater lobby. Guests will then proceed into the theater itself for the talk. One of Moller’s Skycars, a red two-passenger model called the M200M, will sit on the stage for viewing.

Moller is founder and chairman of the board of Moller International, which is developing and marketing the Skycar, now in flight-testing. According to its Web site, moller.com, the Skycar is formally known as a personal vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle.

“You’ve always known it was just a matter of time before the world demanded some kind of flying machine which would replace the automobile,” the Web site says. “Of course, this machine would have to be capable of VTOL, be easy to maintain, cost effective and reliable. Well, we at Moller International believe we have come up with the solution. That solution is the volantor named M400 Skycar.”

At the Science Cafe, Moller will give an update on the Skycar’s progress toward the marketplace. The company is taking refundable deposits for the vehicles, which are expected to have a list price of close to $1 million.

The Skycar has has been featured on a number of TV programs including CBS’ “60 Minutes,” “Highway In the Sky”, NBC’s “Today” show, Today’s “American Story" and the History Channel’s “Greatest Movie Gadgets: Then and Now.”

Left: This prototype dates to about 1989. The vehicle has no frame - the exterior shell is the frame. Without engines (as here), the vehicle weighs 800 lbs.: with engines, it weighs 1,200 lbs. It is fueled with an ethanol fuel containing 30% water, so as to be safe in the event of a crash. Reliable, rotary Wankel engines power the fans.

Left: Take me to the food court, James!

The car is guided by software - the passengers do not pilot it. The car will simply travel too fast for human reflexes to be reliable.

Left: Greased Lightning.

As with all entrepreneurs on the frontier of technological development, Moller seemed haunted by the effort to raise money for what often amounted to an avocation than a vocation. He has succeeded in several businesses, but plowed as many of the proceeds as he could spare into flying car development.

Left: Steve helps out, by generating some theater fog.

Left and below: Informative slides.

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