The Aerocar Aerocar was a US roadable aircraft, designed and built by Moulton Taylor in 1949. It is the most successful and probably the most famous "flying car" design to date, convertible into flight mode in five minutes by attaching a pusher propeller and wings. On the road, the wings and tail unit were deigned to be towed behind the vehicle. Civil certification was gained in 1956, and Taylor reached a deal with Ling-Temco-Vought for serial production on the proviso that he was able to attract 500 orders. When he was able to only find half that number of buyers, plans for production ended, and only six examples were built, with one still flying as of 2004 and another rebuilt by Taylor into the Aerocar III.

Specifications (Aerocar Aerocar)

General Characteristics

• Crew: one pilot
• Capacity: 1 passenger
• Length: 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
• Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36m)
• Height: 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
• Wing area: 168 ft² (15.6 m²)
• Empty: 1,300 lb (590 kg)
• Loaded: 2,100 lb (955 kg)
• Maximum takeoff: lb ( kg)
• Powerplant: 1x Lycoming O-290 , 135 hp (100 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 112 mph (172 km/h)
• Range: 300 miles (480 km)
• Service ceiling: 12,000 ft (3,658 m)
• Rate of climb: 550 ft/min (168 m/min)
• Wing loading: 12.5 lb/ft² (61 kg/m²)
• Power/Mass: 0.06 hp/lb (0.10 kW/kg)

Related content

Related development: Aerocar Aero-Plane - Aerocar III

Comparable aircraft: Fulton Airphibian

Designation sequence: Aerocar I - Aerocar II - Aerocar III