Editing Flying car (section)

===Late 20th century===
Although several designs (such as the ConVairCar) have flown, none have enjoyed commercial success, and those that have flown are not widely known by the general public. The most successful example, in that several were made and one is still flying, is the 1949 [[Taylor Aerocar]].

In 1946, the Fulton FA-2 [[Fulton Airphibian|Airphibian]] was an American-made flying car designed by [[Robert Edison Fulton Jr.]], it was an aluminum-bodied car, built with independent suspension, aircraft-sized wheels, and a six-cylinder 165&nbsp;hp engine. The fabric wings were easily attached to the fuselage, converting the car into a plane. Four prototypes were built. [[Charles Lindbergh]] flew it in 1950 and, although it was not a commercial success (financial costs of [[airworthiness]] certification forced him to relinquish control of the company, which never developed it further), it is now in the [[Smithsonian]].

[[File:Aerocar at EAA.jpg|thumb|1949 [[Aerocar]] with wings folded, at the [[EAA AirVenture Museum]]]]
The [[Aerocar]], designed and built by [[Molt Taylor]], made a successful flight in December 1949, and in following years versions underwent a series of road and flying tests. [[Chuck Berry]] featured the concept in his 1956 song "[[You Can't Catch Me]]", and in December 1956 the [[Civil Aviation Authority]] approved the design for mass production, but despite wide publicity and an improved version produced in 1989, Taylor did not succeed in getting the flying car into production. In total, six Aerocars were built. It is considered to be one of the first practical flying cars.<ref name="Glass2015">{{cite book|author=Andrew Glass|title=Flying Cars: The True Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFBVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA84|date= 2015|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-547-53423-7|pages=84–}}</ref>

One notable design was Henry Smolinski's [[AVE Mizar|Mizar]], made by mating the rear end of a [[Cessna Skymaster]] with a [[Ford Pinto]], but it disintegrated during test flights killing Smolinski and the pilot.

Project Prodigal<ref>{{cite web | url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C491225 | title=Catalogue description Project PRODIGAL: Army vehicle with limited airborne capability }}</ref> was a British Army concept in the late 1950s early 1960s for a "Jumping Jeep" to overcome obstacles on the battlefield<ref>https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/feature/1960s-lsquothunderbirdsrsquo-projects-brought-to-life {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.army-technology.com/features/featureforgotten-designs-bae-jumping-jeep/?cf-view | title=Forgotten designs: BAE's extraordinary Jumping Jeep | date=17 June 2013 }}</ref> with entrants were [[British Aircraft Corporation|BAC]]<ref>Project Cancelled: Disaster of Britain's Abandoned Aircraft Projects Hardcover – 1 Sept. 1986 by Derek Wood {{ISBN|0710604416}}</ref> [[Boulton Paul Aircraft|Boulton Paul]], [[Bristol Siddeley]], [[Folland Aircraft|Folland]], [[Handley Page]]<ref>Handley Page Aircraft since 1907 (Putnam Aeronautical Books) Hardcover – 1 Jan. 1987
by C.H. (Revised By Derek N James) Barnes (Author) {{ASIN|B007Q1Y6HY}}, pp. 579–582</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://collections.rafmuseum.org.uk/collection/object/object-117539/ |title=Handley Page HP120 Flying Car |website=collections.rafmuseum.org.uk |access-date=2024-04-11}}</ref> [[Saunders Roe]],<ref>From Sea to Air Hardcover – 1989
by A.E. Tagg {{ISBN|0950973939}}</ref> [[Short Brothers]]<ref>The Pye Book of Science – Maurice Rickards 1963</ref> [[Vickers-Armstrongs]] and [[Westland Helicopters|Westland]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://russellphillips.uk/project-prodigal-flying-cars/ | title=The British Army's Flying Cars | date=17 March 2020 }}</ref>

Moller began developing VTOL craft in the late 1960s, but no Moller vehicle has ever achieved free flight out of ground effect. The [[Moller Skycar M400]]<ref>{{cite web|author=Category: Uncategorised |url=http://www.moller.com |title=Moller International Home |website=Moller.com |date=26 September 2012 |access-date=24 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/2002/2002%20-%203737.html?search=Flying%20car |title=''Flight'' 2002 |website=Flightglobal.com |access-date=19 October 2018}}</ref> was a project for a personal [[VTOL]] (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft which is powered by four pairs of in-tandem [[Wankel rotary engine]]s. The proposed Autovolantor model had an all-electric version powered by [[Altairnano]] batteries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.autoforsale.co.in/2014/07/rinspeed-squba-first-underwater-flying.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718165427/http://blog.autoforsale.co.in/2014/07/rinspeed-squba-first-underwater-flying.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 July 2014 |title=Rinspeed Squba, The First Underwater Flying Car |website=autoforsale.co.in |access-date=13 August 2014 }}</ref> The company has been dormant since 2015.

In the mid-1980s, former [[Boeing]] engineer Fred Barker founded Flight Innovations Inc. and began the development of the Sky Commuter, a small duct fans-based VTOL aircraft. It was a compact, {{convert|14|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} two-passenger and was made primarily of composite materials.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-9302266.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323093810/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-9302266.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 March 2015|title=Vest-pocket VTOL. (vertical take-off-and-landing aircraft, Sky Commuter) (column)|publisher=Mechanical Engineering-CIME|date=1 December 1990|access-date=1 October 2014}}</ref> In 2008, the remaining prototype was sold for £86k on [[eBay]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://boingboing.net/2008/01/12/sky-commuter-vehicle.html|title=Sky Commuter vehicle prototype for sale|website=Urbanaero.com |date=12 January 2012|access-date=1 October 2014}}</ref>