Moller International Puts M400 Skycar Prototype Up for Sale
DAVIS, Calif., Jan 27, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Moller International (OTC: MLER) announced recently that its original four-passenger M400 prototype Skycar is being offered for sale on eBay. The auction is anticipated to start on 31 January 2003.
The Skycar is a new type of aircraft, which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) calls a "powered lift" aircraft. It is designed to carry four average-size passengers and take off and land vertically (VTOL), while being small enough to be driven on the street. It is designed to fly at a top speed of 380 MPH with a range of 900 miles. The company believes that the original flight-tested prototype will sell on eBay for over $2 million.
The Skycar is a personal transportation alternative to the automobile. Its development by Moller International (the "Company") required the expenditure of over $200 million in today's dollars and 1+ million hours of labor. This M400 Skycar prototype first flew successfully in an early 2002 test flight followed by a press flight on August 26, 2002. It is the first and only M400 Skycar prototype and is being offered in its "as flown at the press flight" condition with all systems intact including command software, double redundant stability system, fly-by-wire controls and eight unique Rotapower engines.
The Skycar has been featured on major TV and cable networks including World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, The Smithsonian Institute series "Invention" on the Discovery Channel and recently as one of the "Ultimate Ten Machines" on The Learning Channel. It has also been featured as the cover story on Forbes FYI, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, USA Today and numerous magazines and newspapers throughout the world.
According to the Company's President, Dr. Paul S. Moller, the Skycar in operation is remarkably well portrayed in Clive Cussler's recent novel Atlantis Found where, after an extensive series of computer-controlled M400 Skycar maneuvers, his action hero, Dirk Pitt, remarks that as a pilot "I have never felt so useless in my life."
Construction of the next generation of Skycars is underway but there is only one M400 Skycar prototype with its unique position as the harbinger of future transportation. The M400 prototype provided the company with the demonstrated capability to produce a working, full-scale vehicle and generated a great deal of valuable performance data. The existing prototype is expected to have great historical value in its present form and, because of this, the company decided production-related changes should not be made on it. Consequently the company is moving forward with the construction of production versions of the M400. The company anticipates that the capital raised from the sale of the M400 prototype will help fund this effort.
The prototype can be delivered in its one-seat test flight configuration as flown or with four seats. Potential buyers are cautioned that this is a prototype model and considered an experimental aircraft. It has not obtained FAA certification and is subject to significant flight restrictions until approved. Further, the Skycar has not yet been approved as a road vehicle.
Moller International is a fully reporting public company and holds over 50 patents in transportation-related technologies. It has completed contracts with the National Air and Space Administration (NASA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS), US Army Research Laboratory, the US Navy and US Air Force.
For more information about the Skycar, visit www.moller.com or to participate in the auction once it is underway go directly to eBay www.eBay.com and search for "Skycar."
SOURCE Moller International
CONTACT: Bruce Calkins of Moller International, +1-530-756-5086 URL: ebay.com moller.com
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