Aerocar International's Aerocar (often called the Taylor Aerocar) is an American
roadable aircraft designed and built by
Moulton Taylor in
Longview, Washington
Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, Cowlitz County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longvie ...
in 1949. Although six examples were made, it never entered large-scale production. It is considered one of the first practical
flying cars.
Design and development
Taylor began designing a roadable aircraft in 1946. During a trip to Delaware, he met inventor Robert E. Fulton, Jr., who had designed an earlier roadable airplane, the
Airphibian, with detachable wings. Taylor's prototype, the Aerocar, utilized folding wings that allowed the road vehicle to be converted into flight mode in five minutes by one person.
When the rear license plate was flipped up, the operator could connect the propeller shaft and attach a
pusher propeller. The same engine drove the front wheels through a three-speed manual transmission. When operated as an aircraft, the road transmission was left in neutral (though backing up during taxiing was possible by the using the reverse gear). On the road, the wings and tail unit were towed behind the vehicle. Taylor also put the propeller on the back of the car so it did not have to be removed when the Aerocar went on the road.
Aerocars could drive up to 60 miles per hour
[Just years before his November 1995 death, Molt Taylor was selling plans for his latest version. ] and had a top
airspeed
In aviation, airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air it is flying through (which itself is usually moving relative to the ground due to wind). In contrast, the ground speed is the speed of an aircraft with respect to the sur ...
of 110 miles per hour. An early-1950s "Industry on Parade" film shows Taylor driving and piloting his Aerocar, as well as footage of manufacture.
Testing and certification
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) granted the Aerocar civil certification in 1956, and Taylor reached a deal with
Ling-Temco-Vought for serial production provided he could obtain 500 orders. When he was able to obtain only half that number, production plans ended. Only six examples were built. One is still flying as of 2008, and Taylor rebuilt another into the only Aerocar III.
Produced examples
There are four Aerocar Is, one Aerocar II, and one Aerocar I that was rebuilt as Aerocar III.
''N4994P''

''N4994P'' (1949, originally ''N31214'') is yellow with silver wings. It was the very first Aerocar and is on display at the
EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
[Steeves, Richard]
"Taylor Aerocar - N4994P."
''Airventuremuseum.org.'' Retrieved: March 4, 2012. It is maintained in flying condition but is not flown.
''N101D''

''N101D'' (1954) is owned by Greg Herrick's Yellowstone Aviation Inc.
It is maintained in flying condition and is on display at the Golden Wings Flying Museum located on the south west side of the
Anoka County-Blaine Airport in Minneapolis. This aircraft is featured flying overhead on the cover on the book "A Drive In the Clouds" by Jake Schultz. In December 2011, N101D was being offered for sale at an asking price of USD1.25 million.
''N102D''
''N102D'' (1960) is yellow and green. The last Aerocar built and the only one still flying, it is owned by Ed Sweeney and is on display at the
Kissimmee Air Museum located at the Kissimmee Gateway Airport in Kissimmee, Florida. N102D was the only Aerocar built with the larger O-360 Lycoming powerplant giving it much better performance. It is the only road legal and driven Aerocar left. It is currently flown by the owner's son Sean Sweeney. It was previously owned by actor
Bob Cummings, who used it in his
TV sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
The New Bob Cummings Show''.
It also appeared on the TV show ''
James May's Big Ideas'' on
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...
, aired in September 2008. Inspired by this vehicle, Ed Sweeney began development of the
Aerocar 2000.
''N103D''
''N103D'' (1956) has been repainted to red/black with red wings. It has been owned by Carl Felling and Marilyn Stine of Grand Junction, Colorado
[Simon, Scott]
" Weekend Edition Saturday: Aerocar Goes Up for Auction."
''NPR,'' September 30, 2006. Retrieved: March 4, 2012. since 1981.
''Aerocarforsale.com .'' Retrieved: March 4, 2012. It once flew
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
's brother,
Raúl Castro
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz ( ; ; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the One-par ...
, in
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
.
The aircraft was damaged after landing on a rural road when a startled horse ran in front of the wing.
A temporary fix was made using a flattened five-gallon can, and the aircraft made it to Boston without incident, for more comprehensive repairs
From 1961 to 1963 the Aerocar was operated under contract between Star Stations (Don Burden) and Wik's Air Service, Inc. It was used as a traffic-watch (AIRWATCH) aircraft for
KISN (910AM) radio station in
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
where it was flown by "Scotty Wright" (Scotty Wright was the alias used by the acting pilot of the Aerocar during traffic-watch transmissions). Several pilots provided the AIRWATCH service beginning with World War II veteran pilot Guilford Wikander, President of Wik's Air Service, Inc. Guilford was followed in order by his sister Ruth Wikander, W. John Jacob, Wayne Nutsch and Alan Maris. Scotty Wright reports Nutsch having 350 flying hours in N103D performing AIRWATCH duty. Traffic reporting was from 7:00 AM–8:30 AM and 4:30 PM–6:00 PM. During the Aerocar's AIRWATCH missions, it was painted white with red hearts and had the letters KISN on the top and bottom of the wings.
The aircraft was equipped with an emergency police/fire receiver for use in reporting emergency events on KISN radio stations broadcast. When flown for KISN it was based at Wik's Air Service,
Hillsboro Airport (HIO), Hillsboro Oregon. On one of its more eventful flights for KISN it survived the
Columbus Day Storm of 1962 without damage after its evening traffic reporting flight. W. John Jacob was piloting the aircraft at that particular time and should be credited with the successful landing during extreme wind conditions (perhaps more than 100 mph), but Ruth Wikander, who was in the aircraft to assist him, received the acclaim. Ruth Wikander was an active member of the 99's, the International Organization of Women Pilots. In 1962 Ruth Wikander drove the Aerocar as an automobile while trailering the wings in the annual Portland Rose Festival parade. The Aerocar was an integral part of KISN Radio along with photos of famous rock musicians and KISN DJ's of the times.
Last flown in 1977, the aircraft is no longer
airworthy and has been in storage ever since.
It is currently listed for sale for the price of US$2.2 million.
''N107D'' (Aerocar II)
''N107D'' (1966) is an
Aerocar Aero-Plane, or Aerocar II.
["Aircraft N107D, 1966 Aerocar II C/N 1."](_blank)
''Airport-data.com,'' November 22, 2008. Retrieved: March 4, 2012. It is not a roadable aircraft but is based on the original Aerocar design. It uses the wing and tail section from the Aerocar. It seats four and is powered by a 150 hp IO-320 Lycoming engine. Only a single example was built. As of 2006, it was located in Colorado Springs, Colorado owned by Ed Sweeney, the owner of N102D.
''N4345F'' (Aerocar III)
The sixth Aerocar (''N4345F''), Moulton Taylor's final flying car effort, is red with silver wings. It began as one of the original Aerocars, which Taylor bought back from a customer when it was damaged in an accident on the ground in the 1960s. Taylor rebuilt it as the Aerocar III, replacing the original cabin with a sleeker, more streamlined front-wheel drive version (although it still "fell far short" of the sporty lines Taylor wanted to give it
eference?/sup>). The automotive unit weighs 1,100 lbs and is powered by a 140 hp
Lycoming O-320. The trailer wheels for the wings in towed configuration are deployable from a compartment on the outside of each wing's leading edge. The propeller driveshaft contains fine ball bearings that swing outward with centrifugal force, creating stiffness and damping. The four retractable wheels are extended for takeoff and landing, partly retracted for road travel, and fully retracted in flight. Taylor attracted some interest from
Ford in the Aerocar III, but no production resulted. The single prototype is displayed at Seattle's
Museum of Flight with the registration ''N100D''.
"Taylor Aerocar III."
''Museum of Flight.'' Retrieved: March 4, 2012.
Specifications (Aerocar I)
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
* Schultz, Jake. ''A Drive in the Clouds: The Story of the Aerocar ''. New Brighton, Minnesota: Flying Books International, 2006. .
* Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961–62''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1961.
* Winchester, Jim. ''The World's Worst Aircraft: From Pioneering Failures to Multimillion Dollar Disasters''. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. .
External links
*
EAA AirVenture Museum's Aerocar
* ttps://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6172226 "Aerocar Goes Up for Auction."'' NPR'', September 30, 2006.
N101D location
Jake Schultz Aerocar Film Collection
at The Museum of Flight Digital Collections.
Roy A. Parsons Aerocar Film
at The Museum of Flight Digital Collections.
{{Aerocar aircraft
Roadable aircraft
1940s United States civil utility aircraft
Aerocar
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1949
High-wing aircraft