Note:
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If you want to follow up on
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Most of the Yahoo news items are based
on press releases from companies, NASA or other agencies. If
you go to the website of the particular company
or institution involved, it may have the
PR in its archive. Look for the News or Press Release archive
page.
Many online newspapers break their links
after a period of time but keep the articles in an archive.
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or other search engine using the title
or keywords from the title.
Moller Skycar
Dec.02 - "...larger engine for the M400 Skycar® has
completed a series of tests on gasoline and is now being tested
using alcohol as fuel....So far we have been able to reduce
the engine noise by 12 dba in tests. This represents an 80%
reduction in exhaust noise. This improved muffling system
will be used with the new nacelles and engines...[T]o minimize
the risk of untethered hover and low speed flights. The plan
is to carry out all flights over the 5-acre lake..."
Nov.5.02 - "A picture truly is worth a thousand words.
As you can see by this photo [taken during a brief demo flight
following shareholders meeting on Oct.26, 02] we have gotten
rid of the tethers and switched to an on-board fuel system.
Only the safety/data cable remains attached. Still more improvements
to the prototype Skycar are planned. The next major step is
the switch to larger, more powerful engines...."
Oct.17.02 - "...production of the larger engines for
the M400 Skycar is progressing well. Installation of those
engines should be in place by year-end and provide the M400
Skycar with the ability to fly and have reserve power at its
maximum all-up weight ..."
Sept.13.02 - "..flight program for the M400 calls for
optimizing and continued reliability testing of the Skycar's
automatic stability systems." ... "designing and
building a production version Skycar nacelle for testing with
the larger engines.".."build three of these fully
tooled aircraft over the next 12 months."
Aug.02: the "protocol flight" consisting of a
hover out of ground effect for one minute has now taken place.
The protocol flight was an official milestone required before
allowing stockholders to purchase additional stocks at a preset
price. New, more powerful liquid-cooled, twin-roter engines
will now be installed in the vehicle.
July 2002 : " We have had numerous flights out of
ground effect with flight durations continuing to increase."
May
2002 update (SkyAid Archive) - "During re-assembly
we are making a number of improvements to the nacelle separate
from the nacelle/airframe interface. These changes include
improved deflection vanes together with vortex generators
to improve vane flow. The result is a 12% increase in gross
thrust or a 35% increase in net payload capability."
April
2002 (SkyAid Archive) - improved single-rotor engine thrust
may allow manned testing without waiting for two-rotor installation.
Tests could include "maneuvering flight, without the
need to change engines. This could cut several months out
of our projected flight test schedule"
SoloTrek
Exoskelitor Flying Vehicle - Trek Aerospace - Despite
several successful test flights, the project is closing due to
a shut-off in DARPA funding. On the last flight a tether was sucked
into the engine and DARPA did not want to pay to fix it.
