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American inventor Moulton Taylor's dream of a 'roadable aircraft' saw
construction of a series of novel, but largely impracticable vehicles over
20 years, none of which reached series production.
Taylor's Aerocar I flew in 1949 but was not certified until 1956. Six were
built, followed by a non-roadworthy version called the Aero-Plane and finally
the definitive Aerocar III in 1968. The Aerocars were essentially small,
lightweight cars with detachable conventional light aircraft wings and an
unusual Y-tail with a pusher propeller.
New rules on automobile safety in the 1970s required additional
equipment for the car component of the Aerocar, such as bumpers, which
increased the weight and expense and reduced performance. Plans to build a
sleeker sportscar version were dropped.
| Jake Schultz, jake.schultz(@)att.net, 30.05.2008 Molt Taylor was a friend of mine. He was as full of life as he was brilliant. I conducted researched for 13 years, using his personal archives, to tell his story in the book "A Drive in the Clouds." Molt himself, just prior to his death wrote the Introduction and Paul Poberezny, founder of EAA wrote the Foreword.
It has been a privilege to pass along the passion he held for his lifelong work - to make an automobile fly...!
http://www.historicaviation.com/historicaviation/product_info.po?ID=11630&product=Books&category=civil&subcategory=Civil%20Aircraft | | Wayne Nutsch, wayne(@)nutsch.com, 30.04.2008 I used to fly N103D for KISN radio's Airwatch traffic reporting in 1960's. My log shows about 350 hours of flight time in it. It was painted white with red hearts all over and KISN underneath the wings. | | Ivan Harris, irharris(@)hotmail.com, 28.04.2008 The Aerocar was used for traffic reports for many years in Portland, Oregon. Molt was just a little way up the river at Longview, I think. They also designed other planes. I do remember seeing a plan to use a Honda CRX with detachable wings. |
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FACTS AND FIGURES© The same steering wheel was used
to manoeuvre the Aerocar in flight
as on the ground. The engine only
gave 40hp for road travel
and the top road speed was about
113km/h. © The Aerocar could be converted
from aircraft to car configuratioi
by one person in five minutes.
The first step was to flip up the
rear licence plate and connect
the propeller shaft. © A locking system prevented
the engine starting if the
wings and tail were not
securely locked in place in
aircraft mode. © The wings could be towed
behind the car like a trailer
or left at the airport until
required for flight. © The Aerocar I had a frame of aluminium and steel with fiberglass skins.
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