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September 19, 2002: Sky Cars - Paul Moller
Published 10 months, 3 weeks ago
Description
Art Bell opens with reports of a spectacular Minuteman III ICBM launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base that triggered a wave of UFO calls across the Southwest, then covers President Bush's request for congressional authority to use force against Iraq and a chilling account from Northumberland, Pennsylvania, where witnesses reported a man being pulled into a hovering UFO by a beam of light.
Dr. Paul Moller, CEO of Moller International, returns to share progress on his M400 Skycar, a four-passenger vertical takeoff and landing vehicle powered by eight compact Wankel rotary engines producing two horsepower per pound. He explains that the breakthrough came from decades of rotary engine development, with each engine small enough to hold in two hands yet delivering 160 horsepower. The vehicle's quadruple-redundant computer system maintains stability during vertical flight and has proven capable of handling engine failures mid-flight.
Moller describes a future where the Skycar, priced around $50,000 in mass production, could travel at 380 miles per hour, achieve 28 miles per gallon at cruising altitude, and operate within a computerized airway network requiring no pilot skill. Art imagines hopping the mountain between Pahrump and Las Vegas in 15 minutes. Moller notes that mutual noise cancellation technology is the next major research priority to enable residential takeoffs and landings.
Dr. Paul Moller, CEO of Moller International, returns to share progress on his M400 Skycar, a four-passenger vertical takeoff and landing vehicle powered by eight compact Wankel rotary engines producing two horsepower per pound. He explains that the breakthrough came from decades of rotary engine development, with each engine small enough to hold in two hands yet delivering 160 horsepower. The vehicle's quadruple-redundant computer system maintains stability during vertical flight and has proven capable of handling engine failures mid-flight.
Moller describes a future where the Skycar, priced around $50,000 in mass production, could travel at 380 miles per hour, achieve 28 miles per gallon at cruising altitude, and operate within a computerized airway network requiring no pilot skill. Art imagines hopping the mountain between Pahrump and Las Vegas in 15 minutes. Moller notes that mutual noise cancellation technology is the next major research priority to enable residential takeoffs and landings.