3.11.10 - 9:00AM
- by
Jordan Breindel

World's Oldest Flying Car Up for Auction

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In Real Life
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Boat burning a hole in the driveway? Maybe it's time to replace it with a vehicle you'll use even less. Maybe it's time to replace it with a piece of history. Starting later this month at at Red Baron's Antiques in Atlanta, the world's oldest "roadable aircraft" will officially go up for sale. Designed by Frank Skroback in 1934, his flying car is more woulda-coulda-shoulda flying car than car that actually flies. But who knows? The blueprints and patents come with the car, and maybe your brilliant and analytical mind is just what this beast needs to finally get off the ground.

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3.15.10

By chuck

Neutral

The Government will purchase this plane !!!!! They will spend money on anything except for helping the America people.

3.15.10

By don height

Neutral

Hmm if Charley Manson could fly a bus over a mountain using only the power of LSD ,then I'm sure that this "car' can fly too. Maybe Tinkerbelles magic pixie dust [pcp] would do the trick.

3.15.10

By Stang

Highest Rank

With a little quick research, I learned that the Skroback design sports six fixed wings of 7' wing-span, and a fuslage length of 21'.

While the design might actually generate sufficient lift to become airborne in a wind-tunnel exercise, having all of the control-surfaces so close to the centers of motion would have made this aircraft tragically unstable.

I suspect the torque of the engine, alone, would have made this design more than delighted to flip on its back the moment the wheels left the ground. If someone HAD actually gotten this thing in the air, they would have found it terrifyingly anxious to "rejoin its shadow".. 8)..

3.15.10

By Stang

Neutral

For the ground-side practicality, can't you just picture six of these on the free-way when the first one slams-on the BRAKES?!.. 8D..

3.15.10

By Toby

Neutral

How the hell would you fit it in a parking space? ? ?

3.15.10

By MrDoughnut

Neutral

There is another Flying car the guy had to tether it in the air from a pole because the FAA would not give him clearance to fly it!

The propellers are in housings and the engines move with the directional units to lift and propel the Flying car through the air.

3.15.10

By VINCE

Neutral

To use as an aircraft,the wings have to be removed from their stowed position and attached in their flying position...and then it is a biplane.
Aileron controls have to be checked also. These were 2
disadvantages of the design. Folding wings are always suspect.
Ex Navy pilot who soloed in a biplane in 1946.

3.15.10

By A Flying What?

Neutral

Maybe it's just the nitpicker in me, but if it flies, it's not a car - it's an airplane. Just because it has wheels and can roll down a road doesn't make it a car. A "real" airplane has wheels and can roll down the road, too, but it's no more a car than what the picture shows.

3.17.10

By thunder

Neutral

all this crate needs is deployable box kiteing at the extremes of the wings once under way and approaching take off speed. i suggest taking off in a cork screw roll to advance lift and create turbulance until altitude is sufficient to sustain loft in box kite cladding...could fly equally on its side etc and glide range would be stupid long for a craft with these short of wings.
think inside the box for new gen avionics.......

3.17.10

By thunder

Neutral

my comment above on review is asking future simular vehicle designers to make this also the worlds first flying sail boat! aeronotic engineers will get that , remember sail boats sail into the wind creating a wing from / of the sail. and if hobie cat technology wiets sail area etc were concidered...they can sail faster then the wind driving them, in the case of this carplane thingy that would require the fuseladge to be frame only
if nothing else were changed and the box wing arrangement from my comment above were to be employed. actually speed of 50-60 percent higher then estimable could should be expected while tacking airborn then...good luck jim this comment will self destruct in 60 seconds??????