…Deep Pockets Could Make The Difference

“60 Minutes” also looked at the CarterCopter and the Moller SkyCar. The CarterCopter prototype has been flying off and on for a few years, but was sidelined by a wheels-up landing and then by an in-flight fire. SkyCar inventor Paul Moller says his futuristic vehicle will fly like a “magic carpet,” but so far it has test-flown only while tethered to a crane. But it probably comes closest to the Jetson-style flying car that people imagine the future should bring. Michael Kanellos, of CNET News, speculated last week that flying cars could be the next thing to attract the attention — and the assets — of the high-tech billionaires and entrepreneurs who have been funding much of the new space industry. The Moller SkyCar is designed to land and take off vertically, cruise at over 350 mph at up to 20,000 feet, and get 20 miles per gallon. Deposits of $10,000 and up are being taken for SkyCar delivery slots at the Moller Web site, with a projected certification date of Dec. 31, 2006.