Would you take a seat in a pilotless Skycar?
◊
When I was a boy, there was a TV sitcom with the eponymous title, The New Bob Cummings Show. Its star was a harmlessly funny pilot/detective who, with his sidekick, “Hank,” a teen-aged girl, solved rather uninspired and mildly amusing capers that hardly rose to the level of crimes in Southern California.
There was one pretty cool thing about the show, though, at least for a kid my age: Cummings owned an Aerocar, which had a detachable wing mounted to the roof, allowing it to be easily converted from a car to a plane, and vice-versa. Its biggest limitation was that it required a runway for take-off and landing – no setting down on freeways, not even in California between rush hours.
I hadn’t thought about Cummings and his Aerocar in, well, a very long time. Then I happened to watch a screener for a thought-provoking and surprisingly heart-warming new MagellanTV documentary called Father of the Flying Car, which will debut on December 12. The title refers not to Cummings or the maker of the Aerocar but to Dr. Paul Moller, an aeronautical engineer and entrepreneur with a grander vision of personal transportation: the ability to visit Grandma in a flying vehicle that can literally drop in to her backyard.
Coming December 12 on MagellanTV!
Moller’s Company Takes Off
Almost as far back as the Aerocar, Moller and a partner named Bernardo Majalca (now deceased) founded Moller International, a company whose primary mission was to develop and market a commercially viable flying car. The vehicle would skip roads and freeways altogether and fly above them in what Moller calls the “highway in the sky.”
The concept seems to have begun decades ago as a very small, single-seat flying car powered by a half-dozen encased rotor blades. Called an M200 Volentor (later changed to Neuera 200), it resembled a flying saucer with drone propellers. Abjuring street traffic, it took off straight up, like a helicopter. Pilots/drivers would hop into the central cockpit, and off to Grandmother’s house they would go. No runway required.
To make it viable, all Moller and his team needed were to create the necessary technology, fabricate the vehicle and its parts, and raise money, lots and lots of money. The first two they could manage, but getting the money was the hardest part. Moller International went public more than 20 years ago, in 2002; investors have been patient, to say the least.
Paul Moller in front of one of his Skycars
Will Passengers Flock to Moller’s Skycars?
Much has changed in the aeronautical world in the 21st century, including the rapid development of computer-directed avionics and pilotless aircraft. In the automobile world, the next big thing is autonomous vehicles. So, why not marry the two trends? Rely on the “highway in the sky” – and superfast processors.
This is where Moller’s big idea is leading. He even imagines flocks of Skycars soaring along the “highway in the sky” like a suburban motorcycle club on a Sunday ride. Is he a visionary or just another Icarus who has been flying a bit too close to the Sun? Time will tell, I guess, but I have a feeling I might have to wear shades . . . and a helmet.
In a future that might come sooner than you think, you won’t need to be an airplane pilot or even a licensed driver. Just call or text a ride-share provider, and a Skycar will arrive to fly you to your Thanksgiving dinner, or wherever you’re going. (As a company name, Lyft will gain new meaning.) Just hop in, and enjoy the ride.
Ω
Arthur M. Marx is Lead Editor at MagellanTV. He was previously a senior writer/editor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
