Flying car touches down on UA Mall

Brian D. Rothschild Arizona Daily Wildcat The Aerocar, displayed on the UA Mall Friday, meets all the requirements for being both a legitimate car and plane.

The Aerocar is an all-purpose vehicle that is both a car and a plane. It made its first university appearance while en route to its home in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Professor Steven Crow arranged the Aerocar's campus visit so students could see it.

The flying automobile and its owner, Edward Sweeney, are returning from a Discover y Channel television shoot in Southern California, where the Aerocar was challenged by one of its fiercest land competitors, a 1997 Chevrolet Corvette.

Sweeney said that during the initial take-off sequence, the Aerocar accelerated slightly faster than the Corvette but was overtaken by the sports car once the Aerocar reached its air cruising speed of about 90 mph.

According to the manufacturer's original 1956 specification sheet, the vehicle meets all requirements to be a legitimate car and plane. It has a wing span of 34 feet and flies 8 feet high when in aircraft mode. As a car, it sits 5 feet high and has a car-trailer length of 26 feet.

The original Aerocar, designed by Molt Taylor in 1949, inspired five new versions of the all-purpose vehicle, Sweeney said. The newest is Aerocar VI, which Sweeney would like to develop into a production car within the next three years.

Sweeney plans on using the body of the new Lotus Eclipse for Aerocar VI because it has a light-weight aluminium chassis and a 350-horsepower engine that weighs only 300 pounds.

He said a facility already exists that could produce the wings for the plane.

Sweeney said he thinks the Aerocar, which has a 230-mile range on land or in the air, could be the ideal solution to the continuing problem of congested roadways.

"If you had a 90-mile commute to work and had a choice to either drive at 60 mph or fly there above all the traffic at 100 mph, I think you would choose to fly," Sweeney said.

Sweeney said he has received a positive response from people who live in parts of the world that are without elaborate freeway systems, like Africa. He predicts that as Aerocars become more popular, communities will have several small air strips where people can land and simply convert the plane to a car, then tow the wings as a trailer.

"The changeover requires no more effort than changing a tire and can be done by one person in a matter of minutes," Sweeney said.

The Discovery Channel is scheduled to air the show featuring the Aerocar May 10.