Are You Ready For A Flying Car?

Are You Ready For A Flying Car? AG WORLD Ag World 19-4-20 Flying cars have been on the drawing board since the late 1800's, but none have ever reached the marketplace. Now, unless regulatory wrangling interferes, the first-ever flying automobile may soon be on the market. Texas designer Ken Wernicke has successfully tested scale models of his Aircar in Texas A&M University's wind tunnel. He's also built a mock-up of the vehicle to drive around. "We're ready to build actual working models, but we don't have the $3 million we need to do that yet," says Wernicke, a retired aircraft engineer. "We're looking for sponsorship. "I've been thinking about a vehicle like this since 1965, but didn't start developing it seriously until 1992. I've envisioned it primarily for urbanites or for undeveloped areas not easily accessible by road, so it would probably have useful agricultural applications as well." Wernicke's streamlined single-piece construction uses stubby wings with big vertical fins, called upper winglets, and a short 10-ft. wingspan. That's so it can drive down the road in the same configuration it flies in. Lower winglets house the vehicle's wheels. Upper and lower winglets increase the wings' cruise efficiency when airborne, experts say. Wernicke's four-passenger Aircar would be powered by a 475 hp V8 race car engine. It would have a top airspeed of 266 mph. Air range would be 600 miles. The car's steering wheel controls the nose wheel when on the ground. In the air, it controls ailerons and elevators, same as on all aircraft. The transmission has forward, reverse and parking gears. The propeller locks in a horizontal position when on the road. Wheel drives are powered by a hydraulic pump on the engine. Expected gross weight is 2,800 lbs., comparable to any other light aircraft. Compared with a couple of other flying car designs, Wernicke's holds the most potential for success, according to Carl Gillis, a Saskatchewan farmer-pilot and author of "Plane Farming," a column in the Canadian farm magazine Grainews. "In my opinion, the Aircar is the closest thing to a workable air car anyone has ever come up with," Gillis says. "Unlike one designed in 1949 and based on a small automobile, this one's in one piece so there are no wings, fuselage and tail assembly to clamp on and take off, which made that de-sign impractical. It's also a lot less complex than another air car currently under development. That one's powered by four fan engines, making it cost-prohibitive to the average person." However, Gillis also foresees a couple of problems with any air car, including Wernicke's. "Government bureaucrats would absolutely tear their hair out trying to figure out who should register and license it - the motor vehicle department, the FAA, or some other agency," he says. Plus, insurance companies will likely take a dim view of an air car, so cost of insuring it could be prohibitive, he adds. Nevertheless, Gillis bets Wernicke's aerodynamic design will fly - and fly well. "I suspect it will fly far better than most people believe," he concludes. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kenneth Wernicke, Sky Technology Vehicle Design & Development Co., 1515 Central Park Drive, Hurst, Texas 76053 (ph 817 268-5032).

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