Moller Skycar Follows Unsuccessful SoloTrek Auction
If anybody wants it, it will be available: the famous Moller
Skycar, a unique 'powered-lift' machine, is going on the block this
weekend. We don't have the exact URL, but it's a cinch that, once
you get to ebay.com, all you'll have to search for will be,
"Skycar."
Moller International announced that its original
four-passenger M400 prototype Skycar is to be offered for sale on
eBay, starting on Friday.
The Skycar is a new type of aircraft, which the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) calls a "powered lift" aircraft. It is
designed to carry four average-size passengers and take off and
land vertically (VTOL), while being small enough to be driven on
the street. It is designed to fly at a top speed of 380 MPH with a
range of 900 miles. The company believes that the original
flight-tested prototype will sell on eBay for over $2 million.
This is one that flew.
The Skycar is a personal transportation alternative to the
automobile. Its development by Moller International (the "Company")
required the expenditure of over $200 million in today's dollars
and 1+ million hours of labor. This M400 Skycar prototype first
flew successfully in an early 2002 test flight followed by a press
flight on August 26, 2002. It is the first and only M400 Skycar
prototype and is being offered in its "as flown at the press
flight" condition with all systems intact, including command
software, double redundant stability system, fly-by-wire controls
and eight unique Rotapower engines.
According to the Company's President, Dr. Paul S. Moller, the
Skycar in operation is remarkably well portrayed in Clive Cussler's
recent novel Atlantis Found where, after an extensive series of
computer-controlled M400 Skycar maneuvers, his action hero, Dirk
Pitt, remarks that as a pilot "I have never felt so useless in my
life."
Construction of the next generation of Skycars is underway, but
there is only one M400 Skycar prototype with its unique position as
the harbinger of future transportation. The existing prototype is
expected to have great historical value in its present form and,
because of this, the company decided production-related changes
should not be made on it. Consequently the company is moving
forward with the construction of production versions of the M400.
The company anticipates that the capital raised from the sale of
the M400 prototype will help fund this effort.
It's not ready to take your family on cross-country hops.
The prototype can be delivered in its one-seat test flight
configuration as flown or with four seats. Potential buyers are
cautioned that this is a prototype model and considered an
experimental aircraft. It has not obtained FAA certification and is
subject to significant flight restrictions until approved. Further,
the Skycar has not yet been approved as a road vehicle.
NTSB Prelim: Piper PA-23
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