Skycar

I remember when I was a kid, riding the back seat of the car with my parents during rush hour traffic and daydreaming about what it would be like if our car could just take-off and fly, well now that day is here, of course if you have the money. The Moller M400 Skycar (Fig 1) is the dream machine of Dr. Paul Moller . He started developing hovering aircraft back in the 1970's but the M400 is by far the most advanced and is viewed publicly as having a serious possibility of being on the market if all the right pieces fall into place such as: communications with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), further flight test go as planned, and the consumer market stays as fertile as it seems now. With there being a four year hiatus between now and when the first FAA certified models will be released speculation is building and so list of people that would like to get their hands on one of the first Skycars. The technologies behind the Skycar are fairly similar to that of aircraft. In this paper we will look at how the design and technologies are integrated together and also what the future possibilities for a vehicle such as the Skycar might be along with the regulations and safety issues a new technology such as this would have to deal with.

Figure 1: Moller M400 Skycar

There are many questions that come to mind when thinking about a car that can fly but the main one that comes to mind is, "How will it be integrated into our society?" We have been driven along by engine powered vehicles for a little under a century, do we really think that the average American is ready to handle a flying car. Not only do some people think they are ready for the technology they are already lining up for it. The main goal of the M400 is to provide consumers with a new style of vehicle, maybe something they used to dream, or to create added convenience for customers, or just to have fun. The Skycar will do all of these things and more for its consumer. But aside from being a fun, new technology, there are some issues that are going to have to be dealt with by not only consumers but also the FAA. The one major issue with the Skycar is what it will be classified as and what different certifications and licenses will be needed in order for a person to operate one. Since the vehicle will definitely be in national airspace Moller executives have been working with the FAA to classify the Skycar and as of right now the M400 is being classified under the "powered lift normal" category . This places the Skycar under the same regulations as airplanes (single and multi-engines), helicopters, and gliders3. So to answer this question in order for a person the operate their Skycar they would need to obtain a "Powered Lift" pilots license in order to fly they would also have to be familiar with navigation and flight management . So in other words you would still have to go through all the certifications and testing to still be able to fly because though the flying is difficult, you have to be in communication to ensure the safety of all of those around you. In the future Moller is hoping to make the Skycar into a completely automated flight system which would in turn not require owners to obtain a piloting license because they would just be passengers why the automated system flew the vehicle by the FAA system and regulations2.

Some other question that will be touch upon in this paper is "What impact would a large influx of personal aircraft (i.e. The Skycar) have on an already failing and aged air transportation system?" My initial guesses would be a larger one than expected and if nothing else if there was money enough in the movement to purchase Skycar's then it might just be reason enough for the government to pay more attention to issues that already exist but are just being ignored and made to deal with on a last to do basis. Also other questions that come to mind deal with topics such as pollution (air and noise), reliability, and maintainability.

The motivation for the invention of the Skycar is quite interesting and when compared to personal aircraft. Though at initial glimpse the technology might not seem that affordable which, it is not for the average person right now, but in the future Dr. Moller hopes that the Skycar will become enough of a success that it would be the price of an mid to high end luxury car, ranging from $60,000 to $80,000. It seems as though the aim of Moller is to create an affordable means of transportation for consumers that will let them travel farther, cleaner, faster than ever before, and by being a Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) the accessibility to enter the flight stage would be easily achieved. This would completely revolutionize the personal transportation industry. A major point for the motivation for the development of the Skycar, is that we have only seen and dreamed about something of this magnitude but now someone; Dr. Moller; has come along an tried to turn a lot of peoples fantasies into reality.

Figure 2: M400 during hover test

There are many different technologies incorporated into the Skycar from the types of engines to the automated flight systems. The Skycar is a first of its kind though; in reality it is just a combination of two items that already exist, a car and personal aircraft. There is not any new approach to developing or modeling the vehicle. The main problem that will be faced when integrating it into society; topics such as where will owners takeoff, how will they enter the National Airspace, and what happens when the first accident occurs.

As can be seen in the figure above, the main unit of thrust powering the Skycar looks like four engines but in reality it is eight. "They are 150 Horsepower (HP) rotary engines that manage to create the thrust to takeoff, land, and securely fly the vehicle."2 Though rotary engines have been around for a number of years they have never been used as much as the piston engines that everyone is so used to. They have many positive aspects when compared to piston engines: there are less moving parts so they run less of a chance of moving parts breaking, the engines runs smoother because there are less moving parts than in a piston engine, and the rotary engine runs slower since the rotor only makes one revolution for every three times the output shaft rotates. The engine goes through three/four different phases in order to create power.

The first phase is the intake phase in which air from the throttle body is pulled into the engine (Figure 3). This helps to get the air into the engine