Moller Skycar
Encyclopedia
{|
to characterize the Skycar as a 'failure', and to describe the Moller company as "no longer believable enough to gain investors".
Refund conditions included failure to meet rated performance or failure to obtain U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) flight certification by December 31, 2005. Since 2003, Moller has slipped the date for FAA flight certification one year each year. As of 2009, Moller's claimed date for FAA certification stood at "a few years after 2012." In August 2008 the Moller website indicated that they were "currently not taking deposits on aircraft", and there are indications that Moller International is unable to refund deposits put down on M400s.
In October 2006, Moller attempted to auction the only prototype of its M400 model on eBay
. It failed to sell. The highest bid was $3,000,100; Dr. Moller reported at the annual meeting of stockholders on October 21, 2006 in Davis, California that the reserve price had been $3,500,000. A previous attempt in 2003 to sell the M400 via eBay was also unsuccessful.
In 2007, Moller announced that the M200G Volantor
, a precursor to the Moller Skycar capable of hovering 10 feet above the ground and traveling up to 50 MPH, would hopefully be on the market in the United States by early 2008. Depending on demand, Moller says, the M200G Volantor could cost under $100,000.
of development has resulted in a prototype Skycar capable of hovering about fifteen feet above the ground."
with LeVar Burton
and Kellie Martin
.
Criticism
The only flight demonstrations have been hover tests performed in 2003 by a Skycar prototype that for insurance reasons was tethered to a crane. The ongoing failure of the Moller company to actually fly an M400 led the National PostNational Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
to characterize the Skycar as a 'failure', and to describe the Moller company as "no longer believable enough to gain investors".
Pre-sales
Moller International had been taking refundable deposits on the M400 since 2003.Refund conditions included failure to meet rated performance or failure to obtain U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
(FAA) flight certification by December 31, 2005. Since 2003, Moller has slipped the date for FAA flight certification one year each year. As of 2009, Moller's claimed date for FAA certification stood at "a few years after 2012." In August 2008 the Moller website indicated that they were "currently not taking deposits on aircraft", and there are indications that Moller International is unable to refund deposits put down on M400s.
In October 2006, Moller attempted to auction the only prototype of its M400 model on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
. It failed to sell. The highest bid was $3,000,100; Dr. Moller reported at the annual meeting of stockholders on October 21, 2006 in Davis, California that the reserve price had been $3,500,000. A previous attempt in 2003 to sell the M400 via eBay was also unsuccessful.
In 2007, Moller announced that the M200G Volantor
M200G Volantor
The M200G Volantor, recently re-named M200 Neuera is a prototype of a flying saucer-style hovercraft, designed by aeronautics engineer Paul Moller. The vehicle is envisioned as a precursor to the Moller Skycar M400. The M200G Volantor uses a system of eight computer-controlled fans to hover up to ...
, a precursor to the Moller Skycar capable of hovering 10 feet above the ground and traveling up to 50 MPH, would hopefully be on the market in the United States by early 2008. Depending on demand, Moller says, the M200G Volantor could cost under $100,000.
SEC complaint
In 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Moller for civil fraud (Securities And Exchange Commission v. Moller International, Inc., and Paul S. Moller, Defendants) in connection with the sale of unregistered stock, and for making unsubstantiated claims about the performance of the Skycar. Moller settled this lawsuit by agreeing to a permanent injunction and paying $50,000. In the words of the SEC complaint, "As of late 2002, MI's approximately 40 years' [sic]Sic
Sic—generally inside square brackets, [sic], and occasionally parentheses, —when added just after a quote or reprinted text, indicates the passage appears exactly as in the original source...
of development has resulted in a prototype Skycar capable of hovering about fifteen feet above the ground."
Popular culture
In 2010 the Skycar was featured in the made for TV family movie The Jensen ProjectThe Jensen Project
The Jensen Project is the second in a series of a TV movies produced by Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart aimed at families. The movie featured embedded marketing for the Kinect, a motion sensor add-on to the Xbox 360, several months before the product's launch. Ratings for the July 16, 2010 airing on...
with LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton
Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. , professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an American actor, director, producer and author who first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley...
and Kellie Martin
Kellie Martin
Kellie Noelle Martin is an American television actress who is known for her roles as Rebecca Thacher on Life Goes On, Christy Huddleston on Christy, Lucy Knight on ER, and Samantha Kinsey on Mystery Woman.-Early life:...
.