Well.... found my next new car

[Joe 1320]

This is one for the "gotta have" list. A little pricey, but hey.... it does double duty.

http://www.moller.com/skycar/

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

That idea would only work well if very few people had them. Can you imagine the interstate getting all bunched up from a wreck and everybody decides to go flying so they all take off and then there's mid-air collisions to add to the ground collisions. What a mess.

[Joe 1320]

That idea would only work well if very few people had them. Can you imagine the interstate getting all bunched up from a wreck and everybody decides to go flying so they all take off and then there's mid-air collisions to add to the ground collisions. What a mess.

Yup. That's the main reason the idea has never caught on. There would have to be "No Fly Zones". If you are landlocked in traffic, you're stuck....... period. An idea would have merit more in the country where you live quite a distance from anything real. I could get away with it here in Sebring. I could drive it on the streets over to the airport and get regular clearance for takeoff..... Fly over to a meeting, or any other place for that matter and simply land at an airport. From there just drive it into town or the nearest drive through.

I still remember a great stunt from the movie Cannonball Run. Burt and Dom are flying and decide to drop in to a convenience store for more Beer.

[bru333]

Besides the intial cost of the thing, you double your taxes and registration and insurance. Have to get a pilot's license to fly it, which also reduces the number of people that would be willing to do that, besides the expense. Probably be restricted to land and takeoff at heliports and airports.

People like to dream of an aerocar in every garage, but IMO the expense and complexity of the regulations will always keep it from being an affordable option for the general public. Now, using it as an air taxi looks to me to be a viable option. The purchase price is much cheaper than a helicopter, fares could be lower too, and you could drive people straight to their final dstination (depending on where you have to land) after the flying portion of the trip, less of a hassle for the customer.

[Rhode Island Red]

You can always get an "experimental" flying vehicle... you see experimental flying vehicles arre classified in such a way that no pilots license is necessary.

That is a cool car indeed. It remids me of an experience I had years ago when I was camping with the boyscouts in So. Cal. out in the middle of nowhere, above Ojai in the mtns. near a restaurant, a helecopter landed, ate breakfast and took off. Ends up the man was flying an experimental helicopter, and explained that it was fairly cheap. He simply decided to go out for breakfast in his helecopter - and he did.

Now imagine that with a sky car... you'd need licences and such, a long steady runway. FAA wouln't allow you to land on public roadways, only airports. Thus defeating the very purpose of the skycar... Regulations already have killed this utopian dream (rats!) before it could take off pun-in-ten-did

[thenuge876]

I like the taxi idea though. I think that is much more easily regulated at least as compared to the general public having one. That way you could have a company fitting some of the expenses rather than everyone having to do it. The cost of cab fare would probably be outrageous though even so it is a good development, and possibly could have uses for other than general public use. Interesting read, and I certainly wouldnt mind taking one out one night, imagine the chicks you could pick up!!!

[bru333]

You can always get an "experimental" flying vehicle... you see experimental flying vehicles arre classified in such a way that no pilots license is necessary.

Who told you that?
A pilot's license is not required for some ultra-light aircraft. If your aircraft doesn't go very far or very fast and never gets very high - e.g. a human-powered experimental craft or pehaps a ground-effect craft, you can probably test it in a remote area without running afoul of any laws. You could also probably get away with flying without a license if you never did anything to arouse interest in yourself. No company is going to give you insurance without some kind of license.

If it flies faster than about 50 mph, goes higher than about 100 ft, weighs more than a couple hundred pounds kind of airplane, count on needing that pilot's license.

[Rhode Island Red]

look up the what is classified as experiemental and the exceptions to the requiremnt of an FAA approved pilots license

[bru333]

look up the what is classified as experiemental and the exceptions to the requiremnt of an FAA approved pilots license

You got the FAR Part and Section number? I'm not finding anything where I'm looking.

edit: ultralights are the only aircraft I know of that don't require a certificate, either for the pilot or the plane. I see no exceptions to a required certificate for any other type aircraft. If the FAA issued an Airwothiness Cert. then you have to be have some type of pilot cert. (student, sport pilot, private pilot, etc.) to fly it.

[TruckMuddr]

Read the FAQ's

4.21. Will I need a license to pilot an M400 Skycar?
Currently the Skycar is categorized as a "powered-lift normal" aircraft by the FAA. This means that, yes, you will require a "powered-lift normal" category pilot's license to operate a Skycar. However, it is our intention that the volantor will eventually evolve into a completely automated form of transportation making you a passenger - not a pilot/driver. At that point, no pilot's license would be required as long as you operate within this control network.

[Rhode Island Red]

Hmm Interesting automated system to fly the car while your only a passenger . Wishful thinking on their part, but the technology wont be in place for years to come (even though the tech already exists).

Oh to clarify on the story, the helecopter was a 1 person experimental - the type one could put together from a kit in ones own garage. Also remeber this was 20 years ago when this event happend and the FAA was a little less contrained on the licenses.

[Joe 1320]

I would like to use it in exhibition. Go to a drag racing event, run it though the quarter mile and just fly off once you trip the timers. I wonder what it would do in the quarter? There has to be an afterburner upgrade somewhere. Yeah, that's it..... afterburners.

[TruckMuddr]

Umm, doubt that will happen.

4.12. Are there limitations to using the Skycar for ground travel?
The M400 was engineered to meet the size and other requirements set forth by the DOT and will be "street legal" primarily because it can be treated under the same category as a three-wheeled motorcycle. It should be noted that Skycar was developed for short distance ground travel at low speeds as a means to conveniently transport it from storage locations to approved take-off locations and back.