Developer Moller International has abandoned efforts to sell its prototype M400X vertical take-off and landing Skycar, after a suitable buyer failed to materialise. Moller had planned to re-engine the M400X with production-standard powerplants, but has now decided to incorporate these on its second prototype instead.
Davis, California-based Moller offered the prototype test article on an auction website last month, hoping to raise $3 million capital to aid the development of its second prototype.
Although the M400 is not certificated for free flight or as a road vehicle, the company offered the prototype as having "historical value". Moller says the M400 prototype "provided the company with the demonstrated capability to produce a working, full-scale vehicle and generated a great deal of valuable performance data". The prototype will not undergo further tests.
The second vehicle is 60% complete and is to undergo tethered flight tests this year. It will be more representative of the production standard, with four larger 0.69m (2.3ft)-diameter fans powered by eight water-cooled rotary engines, upgraded electronics, and a folding wing. Certification is targeted for late 2005.
City Hawk, the technology demonstrator for the Israeli X-Hawk vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, has begun hover tests at Urban Aeronautics' test centre in Israel. The vehicle lifted its weight with no tether above, but was connected to the ground by safety wires to stop it exceeding 1.6ft. Urban Aeronautics is designing the X-Hawk as a ducted-fan VTOL utility aircraft for urban areas, with a fly-by-wire flight control system. Rafi Yoeli, Urban Aeronautics president, says during initial tests the City Hawk "generated more control than we expected".Source: Flight International
