Comments on: Landspeeder Flub

By: wee willie wankel

wee willie wankel — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:09:10 +0000

Moller has nothing but a scam operation. He has been hawking VTOL that don't (won't) fly for 40 years. He has ni viable engine technology. he has never had one of his scratch-designed engined run for more than a few hours. All of his running engines (maybe 10, total) are made from old OMC 530 cc snowmobile engine parts he bought from OMC when they shut down the rotary program there. This is why you don't see any real pictures of complete engines, either installed in vehicles, or running on a dyno. He trots out a new or old version of something every few years, and tries to whore it for more money. He's 40 mil in debt, with virtually nothing to show for it. The few times the Skycar has flown, have been with single rotor OMC-based engines, running on methanol. Remote piloted, with just enough fuel on-board for a brief hover flight. This is very far from a complete aircraft with the specs he's promising. For the engines, don't belive this guy once he's passed the endurance tests required by FAR 33.49 the 150 hour endurance test. For the aircraft, believe it when it flies carrying full payload, full range.

By: Roy Smith

Roy Smith — Sun, 24 May 2009 07:59:05 +0000

hey,if Orbits.com can fly one of these.…..“Why didn’t you just mail it(refund check) to me?“
“Because we have the ‘hovercraft.’”

By: Kaptain Equinox

Kaptain Equinox — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:08:58 +0000

Reminds me more of the flying cop cars in Bladerunner. But when it comes right down to it, isn’t the downwash or whatever the term is, really the problem with flying this sort of thing willy-nilly over developed areas? “Hey! My landscaping! Mildred, bring me the twelve gauge!“
(now watch me not, repeat not, post this twice by clicking inappropriately.)

By: Charles

Charles — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:09:51 +0000

Temporarily, I would wonder if we could do something with ground-effect hovercraft, for at least the amphibious requirements. I was thinking of Hammer’s Slammers; but this may be too ambitious.
Flying over rooftops may be too much, but if so there are other avenues to explore to put something into particular niches.

By: Mac

Mac — Wed, 20 May 2009 11:29:34 +0000

Yeah, folks who are imagining these things flying over traffic and buildings need to ask themselves why helicopters need those giant, long blades, and whether you’d really want the local cops and ambulances blasting around your neighborhood with the jet-turbine engines needed to make enough power to keep that sort of contraption aloft.
I’m with the first two posters in that it was pathetic for the Bell CEO to feign embarrassment over a prototype or research product. Good thing this guy wasn’t CEO in the 60s… “Semiconductor? How absurd! We need better conductors, not worse!” But all this fantasizing about how great it’ll be is pointless at this stage.

By: Earlydawn

Earlydawn — Wed, 20 May 2009 03:10:48 +0000

Reminds me of the Invader drop platforms from Killzone 2.. doesn’t seem ideal for military use, but it could certainly revolutionize police operations. Can’t imagine what the cost for the infrastructure to keep them in the air would be.. low-altitude ATC?

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 20 May 2009 02:45:48 +0000

The Piasecki vehicle referred to is the VZ-8 Airgeep. The wiki article on it refers to a book called “Flying Jeeps”…so it’d be a good place to start for advanced debate. Says they chose helicopters over the flying geep as well.
Original airgeep provisioned with a recoiless.
TOW or Javelin airgeep anyone?
It’d be difficult to justify a “high altitude” capable airgeep. Flying over treetops may not be a requirement. If it can fly over most obstacles that a traditional wheeled vehicle cannot simply climb over then it is ahead. But ideally you want to exceed it.

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 20 May 2009 02:41:12 +0000

I imagine a few scenarios:
–Riverine patrol. Just skim along the waterline, then when attacked, assault the target. You have “hover mode”; use it!
–Ambulances. Fly over traffic jams. This is a big problem in places like LA, where every time there’s a traffic jam and I see a forlorn ambulance trying to get through, a little part of me dies inside. I mean, someone could be dying, and we’re all stuck in traffic!
–Patrol vehicles. Combine the aerial overwatch of a helicopter with the ability to go down and catch people on the ground.
–As scouting vehicles there may be a few niche applications, but in the desert sand it’d probably blow up enough sand to be a giveaway…but then again I’m sure most AFV’s do it too.
I can see most applications being to “amphibians” allowing amphibians to more effectively operate on land. Imagine EFV that hovered…you could get excellent mobility without having to deal with the fuss and bother of shoehorning a boat into an AFV.
But the technology is quite a ways away from full development. Perhaps the military needs to invest in the “next tank” instead of continuously going with new aircraft.
I’m sure someone in the ‘30s thought the next war would involve tanks dropping fascines into steel-lined trenches as infantry advanced with bayonets…we give a lot of ado to “digital networking” and the like, but we’re still using the same old tracks and wheels. Should we keep our eyes open to the “next tank”?

By: TDS4S

TDS4S — Wed, 20 May 2009 01:48:27 +0000

Shall I be the first to flame the Moller Skycar nonsense? Wankle engines are crap. Moller is a hoax. Skycar is quite dead. It was only ever alive in the minds of the people selling Moller stock (how’d that SEC lawsuit turn out?).
The Solotrek XFV looked like it might actually work. Last I heard, DARPA had bought it. Google “Golden Butterfly”… that might be as close to a flying car as you ever see. Not exactly built for the urban conflict, but I’d buy one.

By: Will

Will — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:00:50 +0000

There’s a fellow in Davis, CA who’s been trying to perfect & sell a similar aircraft for many years.
http://www.moller.com/skycar.htm
Whether or not the Skycar succeeds, the Rotapower engine looks like it’s a winner.
”…announced today that it has received letters of intent and conditional orders for over 900,000 ($1 Billion) of its Rotapower