Is there any video out there of this contraption that's NOT from 1973?

Yey! A floating salad bowl, WTF. Nice X-files style music (I think it's Blondie "Call Me") and the video looks like it was shot on high 8mm film in 1974!

Is this a repost? I think so.

I want to see it go 50 miles per hour.

I also want one.

Congestion busting only if they can fly at any height. Parking will still suck, though.

This seems only good for those who live on an island surrounded by swamp. (Swamp that a hovercraft, swamp buggy, or fanboat can't cross).

Being shot under a crane doesn't help the credibility of the video.

@observer: This may have been an early test, if you look you can see slack in the wire for most of the clip. On the other hand if the people that built it don't feel safe with out a safety wire then I'm not getting into(onto?)it.

@skaz: Let's see... if you're 10 feet off the ground and drive off a 30 foot cliff and the engine dies, you'll get to 50 miles an hour pretty quickly.

Better than a Segway.

Not to be pecimistic but is anyone else thinking, "big f'in deal". Its slightly more capable than your average hovercraft.

Its about damn time Moller, now put lasers on it.

But does it come with Super Trapps?

Was this shot by a porn director? What's up with all the gratuitous shots of that photographer? Keep the damn camera pointed at the girl...er...flying car, meathead!

So... I see enough people on my commute everyday that can't handle 2 dimensions. And they want to let them use 3?? Don't think so. And whippin' along at 50MPH 10ft above the road is all well and good until you come up to that overpass...

@danio3834: yeah, that's about right. The problem is that something like this can only be used on private land, never over highways or other folks land. So even if it can go higher than a hovercraft to avoid obstacles, so while it may be great technology, it's no great revolution in transportation.

Dude is trippin if he thinks this will ever get anywhere. In the land of lawsuits, this could never fly.

At only 10 feet, this thing isn't even going to get me over all the trucks on the freeway, much less over a tollbooth. And what happens if I'm riding an interchange at 10' but then decide to go over the side and make the 40' drop to the feeder road down below? Will the thing drop like a rock or slowly float me back down to 10' over the feeder road?

If I could float over traffic and intersections it would definitely cut my 45 minute rush hour commute to 20 minutes max, but floating at only 10' isn't going to help much.

Pfff. There was a flying car yesterday. And it didn't cost 90k.

[jalopnik.com]

@mspaeth: Oh yeah, Moller better have the BEST lawyers.

The ambulance chasers are gonna be ALL OVER this thing

How is this superior to the H-4 micro copter shown here? [www.youtube.com]

That's been out since 1999 and it's only $20k.

@Xerloq: lol

Further desperate financing grabs from a failing company pushing something only slightly less attainable than a "perpetual motion" machine.

Lol! This thing looks extremely easy to "roll."

Gotta love the MIDI soundtrack.

Those Tesla roadsters are only $90k, and they can actually carry a second passenger.

@MarkB: It's a freaking flying saucer, man, come on!

imagine all the fun that would ensue if a gust hit the thing from the side! joy!

oh, and i think the real question is: what exactly is this thing good for?

@akier: Being awesome.

@no_slushbox:
@danio3834:

Segway with LASERs!

Once you get going 50 mph...how do you hit the brakes? Maybe an anchor?

So, does the knowledge that this guy made his money from the Supertrapp muffler make you more or less likely to buy said muffler?

Well, the reason the video looks like its from 1974 is because it probably is. According to their press release ([www.moller.com]) they've been working on this thing since the '60s. I want to see the recent footage!

So, umm, how do you get in the cockpit? Few of us can master the "Dukes of Hazzard" hood-vault, and clambering over the side seems a little humiliating, as well as hard on the paint job.

@COOP: methinks the black strips on either side of the tail are to both protect the paint and help you grip as you climb in.

@COOP: I would think the only stylish way to board this vehicle would be with a matching jetpack. What is it they say about building hovercars? The first 90% of development goes into making the hovercar and the last 90% of development goes into making the jetpack to get you in to it?

This thing is cool.

if you can take the 155 mph limiter off of an AMG benz, how hard will it be to take a 10 foot limit off of this?

if it could do 30 feet at 50 MPH, i bet i could shave 5 minutes off of my 10 minute drive to work.

i HATE stop lights.

Moeller has been running the biggest scam of the century with his AirCar thing. He usually comes up with some grand press release when money is tight and he needs attention/investor cash. I seriously doubt he'll ship even one of these machines; something like "unforeseen liability issues" will likely pop up at the last minute that'll keep the first "investor" from taking delivery, thus saving the fraud's bacon.

I had the same thought as Vintage Racer: 90 percent of the populace has trouble navigating X & Y. Throw Z in there and we're all in trouble.

I dub this contraption "The Decapitator".

Is the tangerine shirt/vivid tanktop combo the official pilot's uniform?

So it'll rescue you from the skyscraper as long as the skyscraper is under 10 feet tall and you weigh less than 100 pounds and/or you know who to pilot it yourself and the rescue workers throw it up to you. Useful!

@sethmad: No doubt, even w/o the 10 ft limit, it's no rescue vehicle.

Hey, maybe the military needs a low flying slow moving aircraft.

Moller is not trying to directly target the general public. The primary target group would be professionals; Fire & Rescue, Military, Police, Boarder Patrol. It is a proven fact that these types of vehicles can be remote controlled easily and safely. It can carry cameras, weapons, or supplies. In the case of a rescue, you send it remotely, allowing for the payload you can carry back. The 10' limit is just to get the technology out on the market, now, without FAA red tape holding it back. The cable in the video is for insurance reasons, it is not used to lift or assist in the test flight. The ergonomics of entry are secondary, it's not easy to get into a jet either. Those worried about trying to fly this (or others flying it) to work can go back into la-la-land, if you don't already fly your own plane (which is offered to the public) you most likely will not be getting one of these. The best thing that could happen with this technology for the general public is the creation of a new sport; Cross County Off-Road (literally) Racing. Just as NACAR has helped improve the auto industry, it can allow this technology to be put to into action, advancements will follow. Basically, the technology is here, has been for a long time (don't believe me look up my name on google), but it is being held back, for whatever reason, by those threatened of change. You all sound like the husbandry men of the turn of the century, the nay-sayers of the train, or those who ridiculed the airplane. Open your minds, just a little. Just like helicopters, airplanes, race cars, and what-not, most of us sheeple will never operate it, we will just benefit from the uses it will provide.

I don't think this can fly outside of ground effect. That's the effect that happens at very low altitudes, basically you float on a big bubble of air supported by the ground. I can't imagine this making enough lift to actually go much higher than 10 ft. So... it wouldn't really work for rescues (not to mention trying to get into a hovering vehicle outside of a window... imagine the first step when the thing has to adjust for the uneven weight)

I would love to fly one of these things down the street in my home town, traffic laws be damned. But still, doubt any of them will actually be released to the public. How long has this guy been trying to build these? 40+ years?

@Adam:

All this talk of 'ground-effect' makes me think 'ekranoplan'.

Or am I being way too early and somewhat gratuitous?

Here's a practical question...how loud is it? Moving mass quantities of air at high speeds is never quiet...

Well isnt that something...I was expecting something by Ray Lynch as background music, and I get Celestial Soda Pop!

Looks eerie - I like it.

Having owned the original Popular Mechanics issue with the article about Moller's project, and having seen various press releases along the way, I feel a little of that breathless dry mouth from first porn exposure, a little of the wincing disappointment at the Playboy channel interview with the porn star whose dumb feral cunning is matched only by her dehumanization, and a little of that vague nausea from seeing the crags in the pancake-made-up face of the ancient harlot smoking a cigarette and hacking up phlegm behind the shoot setup.

The stirring fantasy and the intolerable reality.

Doing 50mph is all very well, what is more important is how long it takes to go from 50 to 0. Imagine travelling towards a tree in that thing at 50, it better have an ejector seat.

In the mean time what are we doing about the present condition of our roadways? I have had friends and relatives killed and maimed on the streets, and we don't get rid of cars do we? Don't blame the machine - they work! Its the people that use it. If you want to smash that saucer into a tree at 50/hr you have that option.
If the technology has its application use it wisely.

and still we whip more automobiles onto the roads.

First they don't fly as given in any definition in any dictionary but rather hover or to be specific float. I can just see my neighbor "trying" to float this contraption like salad bowl and damaging his car's wife, entire garage inside and even most likely land on my car then I can call my insurance and get me a new car- yup, these floating saucers will come in handy after all LOL! But I won't let my kids play outside without supervision if my neighbor gets a Jetson car.

Ok kids, before crossing the street, make sure you look three ways: left, right and up LOL!

hehe, you people should do some research before dismissing stuff like this... Anti-gravity is just around the corner, to utilize it you reverse the "Casimir" effect which repels objects instead if attracting them like an electro-magnetic effect. So, instead you create an anti-gravity effect. Check the Hutchinsons effect as well.
Something that is much more interesting is the TR-3B, a craft being made by the US military. And even more disturbing is the fact that electro-magnetic craft have been spotted in the dozens by NASA infra-red cameras in Space from NASA's own shuttles. More and more of this footage is appearing in UFO documentaries but the original footage comes from Martyn Stubbs "The Secret NASA Transmissions: The Smoking Gun". These craft are already flying around above our heads, question is, are they humans inside them, or aliens? I believe we have had this technology since the 50's but because of Oil, they are suppressing it, apparently it uses FREE ENERGY in the form of magnetic motors and Zero-Point Energy... Check out Dan Akroyd's latest unplugged documentary for more or else "UFO: The Greatest Story Ever Denied" All on google video... We've been lied to for the last 100 years!

uuuuummmmmm well this cant work see everyone in traffic will see it and say "hey i want one so i can get out of traffic" so they all order one and bam! traffic in the sky then the roads are free so everyone will get into there cars and there'll be traffic in the streets again. instant wasted money if you ask me. and dont get started on "in air car wrecks" i mean you might as well close the highways and/or get every gravesite sold off

me again sorry to be so harsh but the truth is truth whether we like it or not

If the payload is 250lbs you're not going to be rescuing anyone with that thing, you'll still need a helicopter to actually rescue them.