Air cars ?

In article ,
"George Vranek" wrote:

I (a retired aeronautical engineer and hobby flyer with 3000+ hours)
believe, that the time is ripe for a serious view of air cars. There are
hundreds of 2-seat cars with 400+ hp in serial production and thousands
being produced by tuning workshops. The only way for such cars, to avoid the
traffic jam on public roads, is to fly! Please have a look at
www.vranek.ch/aerocar.htm
and publish your comments in this NG.


It's already been tried -- disastrously! The website shows a Porsche
911 attached to a set of Cessna Mixmaster wings/tail booms, with a
symbolic engine driving it.

The original had a Ford Pinto and a turboprop engine. The car separated
from the wings about 200 feet in the air on the first flight -- happened
about 20-30 years ago.

The trouble with flying cars is that every attempt has resulted in a
poorly-performing airplane coupled with a lousy car.

To make both perform requires a lot of horsepower and subsequent high
operating costs.

"Orval Fairbairn" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"George Vranek" wrote:

I (a retired aeronautical engineer and hobby flyer with 3000+ hours)
believe, that the time is ripe for a serious view of air cars. There are
hundreds of 2-seat cars with 400+ hp in serial production and thousands
being produced by tuning workshops. The only way for such cars, to avoid
the
traffic jam on public roads, is to fly! Please have a look at
www.vranek.ch/aerocar.htm
and publish your comments in this NG.


It's already been tried -- disastrously! The website shows a Porsche
911 attached to a set of Cessna Mixmaster wings/tail booms, with a
symbolic engine driving it.

The original had a Ford Pinto and a turboprop engine. The car separated
from the wings about 200 feet in the air on the first flight -- happened
about 20-30 years ago.

The trouble with flying cars is that every attempt has resulted in a
poorly-performing airplane coupled with a lousy car.

To make both perform requires a lot of horsepower and subsequent high
operating costs.

This ought to be interesting.

In the 1950s and'60s, Leland Bryan produced a series of highway-certified
folding-wing Roadables that used their pusher propellers for both air and
road power. Bryan died in the crash of his Roadable III in 1974. And in
1973, Henry Smolinski, mimicking the ConVaii-Car rental unit concept,
fastened the wings, tail, and aft engine of a Cessna Skymaster to a Ford
Pinto. The wing struts collapsed on its first test flight, killing Smolinski
and the pilot.



http://www.fordpinto.com/mitzar1.htm

http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/aircraf.../info/info.htm - An
AEROCAR link, at least this one flew.


James Taylor
www.AICompany.com

James wrote:



This ought to be interesting.

In the 1950s and'60s, Leland Bryan produced a series of highway-certified
folding-wing Roadables that used their pusher propellers for both air and
road power. Bryan died in the crash of his Roadable III in 1974. And in
1973, Henry Smolinski, mimicking the ConVaii-Car rental unit concept,
fastened the wings, tail, and aft engine of a Cessna Skymaster to a Ford
Pinto. The wing struts collapsed on its first test flight, killing Smolinski
and the pilot.



http://www.fordpinto.com/mitzar1.htm

http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/aircraf.../info/info.htm - An
AEROCAR link, at least this one flew.


James Taylor
www.AICompany.com



That was a sad accident, I was at Oshkosh in '74 when that happened. I got to
look it over the day before the accident. I believe if that accident had not
happened Roadable Aircars would be much more common today.

Jerry