

"Flying Taxi" inventor killed in crash - ca98am79
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/8/17/nation/4533356&sec=nation

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staunch
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVCEN_Jetpod>

Some generated concept pictures:

<http://www.fahad.com/pics/avcen_jetpod_lrg.png>

[http://airvoila.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/el-avcen-
jetp...](http://airvoila.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/el-avcen-jetpod-el-
aerotaxi-del-futuro-desde-arriba.jpg)

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bprater
Thanks for digging that up. That was my first question: what kind of vehicle
is this? The article didn't go into much detail.

~~~
movix
My first thought too. Strange how they went into detail about the guy scooping
up shrimps to feed his fish, but almost nothing on the aircraft.

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onreact-com
You might want to try other flying cars instead:

# Moller <http://www.moller.com/>

# Terrafugia <http://www.terrafugia.com>

# Volante <http://www.volanteaircraft.com/>

Moller is my favorite.

~~~
jacquesm
the Moller skycar is either the longest running investor scam in history or
something brilliant ahead of its time, I still can't decide which after
following them for several years.

See here for some more info on the fraud claims:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moller_Skycar_M400>

~~~
onreact-com
Hey, they were the pioneers and they wanted to build a real flaying car not
just a plane with foldable wings. It's almost done. It's already flying in
contrast to the Jetpod that plummets. That's why it took so long.

~~~
jacquesm
The jetpod was actually flying, the skycar has never done anything other then
'tethered' flight, which means as much as flying at the end of a chunk of
chain in case something goes wrong.

This video has been used to claim that the skycar is nearly operational:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElS9BKSsezw>

But in fact there is a large crane in the background that the skycar is
tethered to.

The jetpod, in contrast went up to about 500-700 feet, then crashed according
to reports. So, it was actually flying and unfortunately suffered an engine
issue in the left hand side engine.

The SkyCar has been 'almost done' for as long as I can remember.

