Moller M400 Volantor

Moller M400 Volantor
Moller
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The Moller M400 Volantor Skycar is a prototype personal VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft — a "flying car" — called a "volantor" by its inventor Paul Moller, who has been attempting to develop such vehicles for many years.

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Recent Changes

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Styles and Major Options

The craft currently under development, the M400, is intended to ultimately transport four people, however single seat up to six seat variations are planned to be engineered.[1]It is described as a car since it is aimed at being a popular means of transport for anyone who can drive, incorporating automated flight controls. The driver should only input direction and speed, no pilot knowledge being required. The Skycar might use a system like the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) in 3D "crowded" airspace areas.[2]

Further, developers claim that by using eight inexpensive Wankel rotary engines - compared to jet engines, its price will eventually fall close to that of a quality car, even if at the moment the price for the first units is expected to be close to USD$1 million, however prices are expected to drop when the vehicle is put into greater production.

Its proposed features would include ca. 305 mph (491 km/h) cruise speed, 360 mph (579 km/h) maximum speed, max. height 10.8 km, ascend speed 1.4 km/minute, max. payload 340 kg, max. take off weight 1088 kg, more than 8.5 km/liter (bio)ethanol, eight redundant, low-emission Wankel engines for safety, residential garage size, a parachute for the whole machine and road capability for short distances (to be driven to a vertiport).New M400 Quote: "...[New] M400 Specification..." The fuel mileage is claimed to be similar to that of a big car, but despite potentially shorter routes and less queuing, this is widely viewed as unrealistic. Wankel engines are inherently less efficient than reciprocating engines, and aircraft engines have to run continuously at high power unlike car engines. Moller has produced no detailed or convincing figures to back up this claim.[3] Quote: "...[some bit down; the table] Comparison of Aircraft..."

A smaller version of the 8 low-emissions Wankel engines as in M400, is in Moller M200X and these engines runs on a mixture of 70% (bio)ethanol and 30% water. Earlier models used gasoline. The ethanol/water fuel mixture makes the fuel nearly unflammable outside the engines, which dramatically lower the fire hazard. The water cools the engines, with a higher useable compression and the result are better performing engines, than with 100% ethanol. The mixture makes the engine pollution lower than the California strict SULEV standard (Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle).[4] Even with pure ethanol the engines fulfills the SULEV standard. <ref>Aug 10, 2006, Business Wire: Rotapower Engine Achieves SULEV Emissions Goal Quote: "...The 530cc engine tested produced 22 hp at 4500 rpm with an air/fuel ratio of 20 and lambda of 1.35.
The toxic emission levels with ethanol were as follows:
Unburned hydrocarbons (HC) = .5 ppm or .0043 gm/hphr
Carbon monoxide (CO) = 9 ppm or .03 gm/hphr
Nitrous oxide (NOx) = 3 ppm or .016 gm/hphr..."</ref>

The Skycar demonstrated limited tethered flight capability in 2003. More tethered flight tests are now scheduled for an undisclosed date sometime after mid 2006. Moller has upgraded the Skycar's engines in 2007, and the improved prototype is now called the "M400X".<ref name=New-M400/> Additional flight tests will supposedly be conducted once Moller engineers have completed the upgrades to the Skycar's nacelles with the larger engines (projected for 2007).||}}

Pricing

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Gas Mileage

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As seen on the FuelEconomy.gov website, the City/Highway MPG averages are as follows:

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Engine and Transmission

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Performance

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Reliability

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Safety

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Photos

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Colors

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Main Competitors

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Hybrid Models

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Unique Attributes

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Interior

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Resale Values

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Criticisms

SEC complaint

In 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Moller for civil fraud (Securities And Exchange Commission v. Moller International, Inc., and Paul S. Moller, Defendants) in connection with the sale of unregistered stock, and for making unsubstantiated claims about the performance of the Skycar. Moller settled this lawsuit by agreeing to a permanent injunction and paying $50,000.[5] from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website In the words of the SEC complaint, "As of late 2002, MI's approximately 40 years' of development has resulted in a prototype Skycar capable of hovering about fifteen feet above the ground."[6]

Generations

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Worldwide

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Design quirks and oddities

• The Moller Skycar had a brief role in the Clive Cussler novel Atlantis Found.
• Discovery Channel's MythBusters has reported that more than 200 million US dollars have gone into the development of the Skycar.

Awards

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References

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External links

• Moller International
• Moller International in Korea
• Skycar Africa(Pty)Ltd., the South African agent to Moller International
• A formal claim of fraud against Moller International from the SEC web site
• Moller Discojet brochure from 1974
• Overview of Skycar and transportation
• "Seven Flights of Fancy that Fizzled" - MSNBC
• Gizmag
• Davis California Wiki

Presales

Moller has been taking refundable deposits on the M400 since 2003. <ref>M400 Skycar Deposit Information Archived copy of Moller web site from 2003.</ref> Refund conditions include failure to meet rated performance or failure to obtain US FAA flight certification by December 31, 2005. Since 2003, Moller has slipped the date for FAA flight certification one year each year. As of 2007, Moller's claimed date for FAA certification stands at December 31, 2008. <ref>Purchase Skycar from Moller official website</ref>.

In October 2006, Moller attempted to auction the only prototype of its M400 model on eBay. It failed to sell. The highest bid was $3,000,100; Dr. Moller reported at the annual meeting of stockholders on October 21, 2006 in Davis, CA that the reserve price had been $3,500,000. <ref>"eBay Watch: Moller M400X Skycar prototype" from MotorAuthority.com</ref> A previous attempt in 2003 to sell the M400 via eBay was also unsuccessful. <ref>"The Skycar: Transportation of the Future" from official Moller website (PDF file)</ref>

Given the machine's very protracted development and its ambitiousness, skepticism that the machine will work as claimed remains high.