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Hybrid flying car

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by zenMachine, Sep 9, 2008.

  1. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    Moller International said Tuesday it has completed the design for a hybrid-electric vehicle capable of lifting off vertically and flying for about 15 minutes.

    In theory, the sports car would be used primarily on the road. If a driver got stuck in traffic, the car could then lift off and fly at up to 150 miles per hour for a short distance, then land and travel up to 40 miles or more.


    Moller conducted a preliminary analysis and found that a hybrid propulsion system powered by engines and electric motors, together with a proprietary eight-fan aircraft design, could be blended to create the “autovolantor.†Scale model wind tunnel testing and further analysis predicted “good all around performance†for the car-aircraft.


    Moller completes design for flying hybrid - Sacramento Business Journal:
     
    #1 zenMachine, Sep 9, 2008
  2. mingoglia

    mingoglia Member

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    That's all we need... we have bad enough drivers on the road. All we need now are bad drivers flying around crashing into each other in the sky. :)
     
    #2 mingoglia, Sep 9, 2008
  3. stevecaz

    stevecaz New Member

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    What a waste of text. Anything with Moller is garbage. They have been promising the flying car for 10 years and all they have is something that can hover around on a tether.

    Here's a great career idea - get a bunch of investors to continually give you money to tinker and play with cool stuff, all the while never actually having to produce anything. Drag this on for decades and retire in style.
     
    #3 stevecaz, Sep 9, 2008
  4. etyler88

    etyler88 etyler88

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    Even if it worked the FAA would not let it fly. The skies are not free range it is regulated. Until some supercomputer comes along to keep crashes from happening it is only a cool toy.
     
    #4 etyler88, Sep 9, 2008
  5. mingoglia

    mingoglia Member

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    Good point. In an ultralight there's very few rules but an automobile is at least 3 times the weight so it certainly wouldn't qualify.
     
    #5 mingoglia, Sep 9, 2008
  6. San_Carlos_Jeff

    San_Carlos_Jeff Active Member

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    10 years? Try well over 30. I remember reading about this cr*p when I was a little kid.
    Paul Moller and his (non) flying car
     
    #6 San_Carlos_Jeff, Sep 9, 2008
  7. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    Mooer is not without competition in the field:

    Terrafugia, Inc. -- The Vehicle

    This is a folding-wing design (needs a runway), while Moller has ducted fans (no runway, but has been working the power-to-weight problem for quite a while now).
     
    #7 tochatihu, Sep 9, 2008
  8. kabin

    kabin Member

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    Aside from the car angle... Here's a bit more realistic Oshkosh story of an all electric powered plane. Flies for 90 mins at 60mph, has an 18hp electric motor.

    Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com
     
    #8 kabin, Sep 10, 2008
  9. sorka

    sorka Active Member

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    10 years? You must be a kid? I'm 40 and have been reading every few years since I was 10 about Mollers just-about-to-be-released flying car.

    It would be one thing if he was just tinkering, but he's taken investor money for decades on the promise that the flying car was just around the corner.

    What a load of crap.
     
    #9 sorka, Sep 10, 2008
  10. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Now that's cool!

    There's a sucker born every minute. The skill of the con artist is in convincing people to hand over their money based on bullshit.
     
    #10 daniel, Sep 10, 2008
  11. donee

    donee New Member

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    Hi All,

    I have to agree. Moller does not have the engineering vision or capability to deliver, so it has degenerated into a pyramid scheme. To keep the money coming in he added "hybrid" to the front his latest poorly thought-out will never be practical design.
     
    #11 donee, Sep 10, 2008
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