The M200G Volantor, recently re-named M200 Neuera is a prototype of a flying saucer

Flying saucer

A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...

-style hovercraft

Hovercraft

A hovercraft is a craft capable of traveling over surfaces while supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air which is ejected against the surface below and contained within a "skirt." Although supported by air, a hovercraft is not considered an aircraft.Hovercraft are used throughout...

, designed by aeronautics engineer Paul Moller

Paul Moller

Paul Sandner Moller is an engineer who has spent the past forty years developing the Moller Skycar personal vertical takeoff and landing vehicle....

. The vehicle is envisioned as a precursor to the Moller Skycar M400. The M200G Volantor uses a system of eight computer-controlled fans to hover up to 10 feet (3 m) above the ground. Volantor is a term coined by Moller meaning "a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that is capable of flying in a quick, nimble and agile manner."

Design

The M200G Volantor is a circular craft with seats in the middle for two passengers and a control panel. The vehicle is 3 feet (0.9 meters) tall and 10 feet (3 meters) in diameter. Eight Wankel rotary engines

Wankel engine

The Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into a rotating motion instead of using reciprocating pistons. Its four-stroke cycle takes place in a space between the inside of an oval-like epitrochoid-shaped housing and a rotor that...

 power eight enclosed fans. The fans allow for vertical take-off and landing

VTOL

A vertical take-off and landing aircraft is one that can hover, take off and land vertically. This classification includes fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and tiltrotors...

 and, once the vehicle is aloft, rely upon the ground effect to create a cushion of air that the vehicle sits upon while flying. The eight separate engines exist for redundancy, allowing the craft to continue flying if one engine goes out. If two engines go out, the craft will make a "survivable hard landing". The engines can be powered with gasoline

Gasoline

Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...

, diesel or ethanol

Ethanol fuel

Ethanol fuel is ethanol , the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. World ethanol production for transport fuel tripled between 2000 and 2007 from 17 billion to more than 52 billion litres...

 fuels.

The computer system monitors stability and the vehicle has only two controls, one for speed and direction and the other for altitude. The computer system also prevents the machine from flying higher than 10 feet (3 m) above the ground. Per Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

 regulations, any vehicle which flies above 10  feet is regulated as an aircraft. The M200G Volantor is expected to be capable of travel over any terrain at speeds up to 50 mph (80 km/h).

History

Paul Moller, the vehicle's inventor, has been working to bring a flying vehicle to the mass market for four decades without success, most notably his Moller Skycar M400. Moller envisions the vehicles becoming part of a "Highway in the sky" that would help relieve congestion on roadways.

Moller has made several attempts to sell a Skycar M400 on eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

 but the reserve bidding price was not reached. News reports have been skeptical that the M200G vehicle will come to market, citing a case by the Securities and Exchange Commission which noted that in 1997 promotional materials for the Skycar had predicted 10,000 units sold by 2002.

Moller and his team claim that over 200 test flights of the M200G Volantor have already been conducted, though these flights rely on ground effect and do not necessarily suggest significant movement toward the goals set forth for the flagship model, the Skycar M400. Moller has predicted they will have the vehicle ready for sale by early 2008 with a goal of 250 units produced in the year. Depending upon demand, the vehicle could cost under US$100,000 according to the company. As of August 2007, Moller had not yet established if the vehicle will be regulated by the United States Federal Aviation Administration or the Department of Transportation

United States Department of Transportation

The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...

. However, Moller International has a long track record of promising production models within the next year, each time moving the date out to the next year, which brings this into doubt.

Criticism

Discovery Channel's MythBusters

MythBusters

MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...

 has reported that more than 200 million US dollars have gone into the development of the Skycar. Moller has been claiming to be attempting to build a flying car since 1974, constantly promising delivery dates that are just "around the corner" but the closest Moller has come to producing a vehicle that flies is the M200G Volantor, which has been demonstrated to hover outside of ground effect. He has not produced any evidence or figures to support the promised abilities, such as fuel economy equivalent to that of an automobile; indeed, each proposed model would use eight less-efficient Wankel engines, each of which must maintain high RPMs even when idle. The only demonstration approaching flight was a "hover" test performed by a Skycar prototype that was tethered to a crane, which Moller claimed was "for insurance purposes". Each time the deadline approaches, Moller has postponed it. For example, since 2003, when he started taking presale deposits for the flagship model M400, the date for FAA certification promised to investors and buyers has been moved forward one year each year, and currently stands at December 31, 2008. In 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Moller for civil fraud (Securities And Exchange Commission v. Moller International, Inc., and Paul S. Moller, Defendants) in connection with the sale of unregistered stock, and for making unsubstantiated claims about the performance of the company's flagship M400 Skycar. Moller settled this lawsuit by agreeing to a permanent injunction and paying $50,000. In the words of the SEC complaint, "As of late 2002, MI's approximately 40 years' of development has resulted in a prototype Skycar capable of hovering about fifteen feet above the ground."

Variants

M200X

Effectively the prototype of the Flying saucer like Volantor and Neuera. Moller claims a performance of 100 mph (160 km/h), 900 miles (1,450 km) range, 8 low-emissions Wankel engines that run on a 70% (bio)ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

 and 30% water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

 mixture; earlier models ran on gasoline

Gasoline

Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...

. The ethanol/water fuel mixture reduces fire hazards, as it does not easily burn outside the engines. The water cools the engines from within, the engines can use higher compression ratios and hereby make more power than with 100% ethanol. Because of the mixture, the engine fulfills California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 SULEV

Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle

Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle is a U.S. classification for conventionally powered, natural gas powered, or gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle designed to produce minimal emissions of certain categories of air pollution at their exhaust, typically 90% less than that of an equivalent ordinary full...

 requirements.

M200G Volantor

A proposed production version of the M200

M200G Neuera

The latest incarnation of the M200 which is reputed to be certified for flight above the FAA 10feet altitude restriction.

Specifications

External links

• Moller brochure for the M200G Volantor.