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DAVIS - From the writings of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells to the celluloid fantasies of "Things to Come" and "Blade Runner," scores of visionaries have been fascinated with the concept of personal-use aircraft that are as safe, efficient, affordable, and easy-to-use as a bicycle.

One of those visionaries is Paul Moller, the expatriate Canadian engineer who has successfully parlayed an insatiable interest in the design and development of small vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft into a going California-based concern that's drawn attention from like-minded entrepreneurs around the world.

Recognized as a "talent in the raw" by several mentors, Moller - who grew up on a chicken farm in rural British Columbia - skipped the preliminaries and, without ever having taken an undergraduate college course, earned an MS degree in engineering and a Doctorate in aeronautics from McGill University in just three years.

In 1963, Moller moved to California to take a position as a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California - Davis, a post he would hold for the next 11 years.

During his time at UC Davis, Moller had the opportunity to develop his "ideas" of VTOL in conjunction with undergraduate and graduate students.

In 1964 Moller began construction of a full-scale prototype - the XM2 - in the garage of his suburban home under the moniker of the "Moller Aircraft Company."

The XM-2 was constructed using a pair of McCulloch drone engines and just one year later the working prototype had its first modest but successful test flight. During this period Paul also created the Aeronautical Engineering Program at the university.

More than 20 years ago, he founded Moller International with the specific mission of designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing personal VTOL commuter aircraft to average citizens.

By 1990, Moller International, boasting offices in The Netherlands and South Africa, had earned more than two dozen patents for its technological advancements and was well on its way to creating a VTOL that the general population could utilize.

The vehicle Moller envisioned would have a low environmental impact in terms of noise, emissions, and fuel consumption, while the total costs of ownership over the life of the vehicle, including purchase price, operating costs and infrastructure costs should be reasonably low.

This, he said, would be competitive with such alternatives as personal or mass transport vehicles, general aviation, commercial air travel, and rail or motor vehicles.

Why VTOL? The reasons, says Moller, are obvious.

M400 SkyCars "would not be constrained by existing transportation networks and would provide quick and convenient transport to any destination better than any alternative."

The key is the engine to power the vehicle, which resembles a cross between a vintage midget auto racer and something out of Star Wars.

In 1999 Moller International completed the development test and initial production of the Rotapower engine - a Wankel rotary-type engine produced by Freedom Motors, a Moller spin-off - for use in the SkyCar.

"From your garage to your destination, the M400 Skycar can cruise comfortably at 275 mph with a maximum speed of 375 mph, and deliver up to 20 miles per gallon on clean burning, ethanol fuel. No traffic, no red lights, no speeding tickets," reads the company's promotional material.

"Just quiet direct transportation from point A to point B in a fraction of the time, the company said.

"Three dimensional mobility in place of two dimensional immobility," it says.

Jack Allison, who retired as a vice-president at Moller but serves as a consultant to the company, said SkyCars are expected to start at about $1 million each and would require pilot training to operate.

It's not clear when they'll be available, but more than 100 people to date have put down a $5,000 deposit on future deliveries, he said.

Interest in Moller's vision has several major corporations and government agencies reportedly trying to take the concept on to the mass market.

Boeing, for example, is already thinking far ahead.

The Seattle-based commercial aircraft giant has created a miniature model of a sporty red helicopter/car hybrid that is helping the aerospace giant to understand what it would take to make flying cars.

"We're trying to think through all the ramifications of what it would take to deploy a fleet of these," said Dick Paul, a vice-president with Boeing's research arm.

The company "is especially interested in the broader problem of figuring out how to police the airways if thousands of flying cars enter the skies."

The SkyCar "will do for car-based society what the car did for horse-based society. It is the right solution at the right time," said Dr. Dennis Bushnell, chief scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center. "It isn't a question of if but when the market for Moller vehicles will be about $1 trillion a year."

And, perhaps prophetically, "Mark my word: A combination airplane and motorcar is coming. You may smile. But it will come…"

So entoned Henry Ford, chairman of the Ford Motor Company in 1940.

CONTACT:

Moller International
1222 Research Park Drive
Davis, CA 95616
T: 530-756-5086
www.moller.com

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