Aerocar
Overview
Moulton 'Molt' Taylor was the President and General Manager of AEROCAR Incorporated, based at Longview, Washington.
Just after WWII, he was inspired by the sight of the 'Airphibian', the brainchild of Robert E. Fulton, which was basically an aicraft that could be split into two parts. The front section had four spatted wheels and was capable of being driven on the road. Attaching the rear portion, complete with wings, made it into a flying machine.
Already heavily involved with the sale of plans and D.I.Y. light aircraft components, Molt Taylor began the development of a similar machine in 1948. But he wanted the road going portion to look more like a car and he decided to pursue the idea of folding the detachable wings and fuselage into a towable trailer when not in use.
A quarter scale model was passed over to the Aeronautical Laboratory at the University of Washington for assessment and work started on a full scale prototype in July 1948.
The car component consisted of a fully functioning 2-seater road car with a dashboard carrying all the necessary dials for road and flying use. It had brakes, lights and a horn, which became the stall-warning indicator when used for flying. This resulted in the horn blowing a few times during the landing process.
The aeroplane attachment had folding wings, a fuselage with a 'Y' shaped tail and a 'pusher' propeller driven by a 140hp Lycoming 0-290-D2 engine on the prototype. This was changed to a 0-320 for the pre-production prototype, a 0-340 on the Model 1B and finally a 0-360 on the Model 1C.
The fuselage locked to the car at two points and until it was securely in place, it was impossible to start the engine. When correctly connected, the rudder pedals, which lay flat on the floor when the car was used on the road, rose into position.
Around 1950, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) granted approval for up to twelve more AEROCAR's to be built, for testing throughout the U.S.A., but only another four Model 1's were constructed.
By the AEROCAR Model III, a road speed (without the trailer) of 67mph and an airspeed of 135mph at optimum altitude was attainable. This AEROCAR now resides in the Museum of Flight, Seattle.
But it was obvious to Molt Taylor that the car had to be re-styled to make it more desirable to would-be buyers and unfortunately, the re-design, together with the need to conform to the American safety requirements that had to be strictly adhered to, made the car too heavy and impractical.
Despite suffering a stroke, Molt Taylor started work on AEROCAR IV, but he died of a massive stroke in late 1992 at the age of 82 and all work on the AEROCAR ceased.
Five prototypes were made and they all exist, two in Museums and three privately owned.
Just after WWII, he was inspired by the sight of the 'Airphibian', the brainchild of Robert E. Fulton, which was basically an aicraft that could be split into two parts. The front section had four spatted wheels and was capable of being driven on the road. Attaching the rear portion, complete with wings, made it into a flying machine.
Already heavily involved with the sale of plans and D.I.Y. light aircraft components, Molt Taylor began the development of a similar machine in 1948. But he wanted the road going portion to look more like a car and he decided to pursue the idea of folding the detachable wings and fuselage into a towable trailer when not in use.
A quarter scale model was passed over to the Aeronautical Laboratory at the University of Washington for assessment and work started on a full scale prototype in July 1948.
The car component consisted of a fully functioning 2-seater road car with a dashboard carrying all the necessary dials for road and flying use. It had brakes, lights and a horn, which became the stall-warning indicator when used for flying. This resulted in the horn blowing a few times during the landing process.
The aeroplane attachment had folding wings, a fuselage with a 'Y' shaped tail and a 'pusher' propeller driven by a 140hp Lycoming 0-290-D2 engine on the prototype. This was changed to a 0-320 for the pre-production prototype, a 0-340 on the Model 1B and finally a 0-360 on the Model 1C.
The fuselage locked to the car at two points and until it was securely in place, it was impossible to start the engine. When correctly connected, the rudder pedals, which lay flat on the floor when the car was used on the road, rose into position.
Around 1950, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) granted approval for up to twelve more AEROCAR's to be built, for testing throughout the U.S.A., but only another four Model 1's were constructed.
By the AEROCAR Model III, a road speed (without the trailer) of 67mph and an airspeed of 135mph at optimum altitude was attainable. This AEROCAR now resides in the Museum of Flight, Seattle.
But it was obvious to Molt Taylor that the car had to be re-styled to make it more desirable to would-be buyers and unfortunately, the re-design, together with the need to conform to the American safety requirements that had to be strictly adhered to, made the car too heavy and impractical.
Despite suffering a stroke, Molt Taylor started work on AEROCAR IV, but he died of a massive stroke in late 1992 at the age of 82 and all work on the AEROCAR ceased.
Five prototypes were made and they all exist, two in Museums and three privately owned.
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