After 45 Years, Witness Another Push For The Venerable Flying Car

I bought a brand new Aeromobile.
Custom made, 'twas a flight de ville.
With a powerful motor and some highway wings,
Turn off the button and you will hear her sing.
Now you can't catch me. Baby, you can't catch me.
'Cause if you get too close, you know I'm gone
Like a cooool breeze.

--Chuck Berry, "You Can't Catch Me" (1956)

Critics have said pigs would fly before cars. Not long ago, at the Flugtag Festival in Portland (OR), an aircraft (sort of) called a flying pig merrily crashed into the Willamette River. Does that mean it's time to resurrect the idea of cars that can fly?

Perhaps. All of a sudden, the idea of drive-fly-drive has hit home with automotive giants like Honda and Toyota. All of a sudden, the flying car is respectable again.

A lot of people laughed when Honda started dabbling in aviation. The laughter subsided when Honda teamed up with GE in a strategic alliance aimed at making a mark in the biz-jet industry.  Now, BusinessWeek reports Honda appears quite serious about entering the air taxi business.

Robin Haynes is another player in the flying car business. His Skyblazer would drive like a car then, at the push of a button, sprout wings and fly. "It's like the ultimate engineering challenge to me," Haynes told BusinessWeek. "And I'd love to have one."

Haynes is in talks with the man who founded legendary Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Tim Draper is asking for proposals from companies that might one day build flying cars.

To be fair, you have to consider personal air vehicles (PAVs) in the same category as flying cars. If you do that, then say hello to Harry Falk. He's an accountant whom BusinessWeek reports was sucked into the aviation market by a client who was an inventor. His entry: A strap-on VTOL device that he says will be ready for testing in 18 months.

Right now, Falk's operation, Trek Aerospace, is being funded by the Defense Advances Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Already, the strap-on helo device has made its first test-flight. Called Springtail, the device is simple to operate: the pilot's left hand controls velocity. His right hand controls direction. With a ten gallon diesel fuel tank, the Springtail can hit speeds of 90 mph and can fly for more than two hours. If all goes according to plan, BusinessWeek reports Springtail will first be used by soldiers for urban battle transportation. Eventually, however, Falk predicts the technology will make its way to the civilian market.

One of the most advanced projects may well be Moller International's Skycar M400. The vehicle is still in the development phase, but did successfully complete a tethered hover test in October, 2002. Moller is now taking deposits for the M400, which has a list price of as little as $500,000. It's a four-place air vehicle that Moller says can reach speeds of 350 mph at a cruising altitude of 25,000 feet. Moller says the M400 will be certified by the end of 2006.

Okay, there IS the safety angle to consider. But that's where NASA hopes to step in, proclaiming that one day, personal aviation will be as safe as riding a horse. Andrew Hahn, a NASA researcher based in Hampton Roads (VA), told BusinessWeek, "We're trying to make an airplane like a horse. A horse doesn't want to be driven off a cliff. And if you're drunk and fall asleep, it's going to take you back to the barn."

GAMA, are you seeing this?

FMI: Trek Aerospace, www.moller.com, www.haynes-aero.com