News

Moller International
Letter from the President
March 2009

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The Moller Skycar Past, Present, Future
By Bruce Calkins

The lifelong dream of Dr. Paul Moller, inventor of the most iconic vision of a “flying car”, is in a “holding pattern” while traffic on the ground comes to a standstill. Funding his vision of a practical vertical take off and landing (VTOL) aircraft for personal use remains very challenging despite rave reviews by numerous aeronautical experts:

J.B. Nichols—Boeing Aeronautical Systems

“Our estimate of Moller’s Skycar performance employing these engine pods corroborates Moller’s performance estimates. The lack of any evidence of exaggerated claims made for the Skycar vehicle performance is a hopeful sign that the engine performance estimates are equally realistic.”

Dr. Dennis Bushnell—Chief Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center

“The volantor (Skycar) will do for car-based society what the car did for horse-based society. It is the right solution at the right time.” He goes on to add, “It is not a question of if but when the market for Moller vehicles will be about $1 trillion a year.”

Dr. John Zuk—Chief, Advanced Plans and Programs, NASA Ames

“This is extremely significant,” says Dr. Zuk. “It’s really a breakthrough for the type and concept and it has merits from a cost standpoint that show promise to be a future personal transportation system. It’s a true first.” Dr. Zuk goes on to say, “Moller is different. He’s got academic credentials. He’s thorough.”

Dr. Moller surmised that if his Skycar was ever to stand a chance of changing the personal transportation paradigm it would have to be able to land and take off vertically in close proximity to both home and destination, and have some roadability. Today the only personal use aircraft with VTOL capability is the helicopter but its complexity makes it difficult to fly, prone to failure and not roadable. Other VTOL aircraft like the V22 Osprey and Harrier AV8 Jump Jet are for military use and powered by multi-million dollar turbine engines. Dr. Moller’s vision was for an affordable personal VTOL aircraft that was easy to fly… not something that would require the dexterity of a circus juggler or the bank roll of a Fortune 500 executive.

Dr. Moller’s dream came alive long before it first hit the newspapers, magazines and TV. He designed and began building a helicopter at the age of 15 while living in rural British Columbia. Recognizing the far greater skill required to build a flying car he enrolled in a technical school. Later he attracted the attention of a renowned aeronautics professor at McGill University who granted him a fellowship leading to a Master and PhD Degree. With degrees in mechanical and aeronautical engineering, he took a position with the University of California, Davis. In parallel with developing the aeronautical curriculum for this University, he created a variety of VTOL aircraft, which, while low cost, needed more powerful engines and an artificial stability system to be practical. Demonstration of these aircraft attracted the attention of supporters who convinced him he needed to leave his tenured position at the University in order to develop a personal use VTOL aircraft (“volantor” in his terminology).

With personal funds and that of his supporters he began development of his initial saucer-shaped aircraft (now called the M200 Neuera). At one point starved for cash, he took a muffler he had created to quiet a thrust generating backpack for skiers and made it a commercially viable motorcycle muffler. Ultimately the Supertrapp became the most popular after market high-performance exhaust system in the world. His business successes in silencing engines and real estate development continued to support his aircraft goals. In the following years angel investors and government contracts for his unmanned Aerobots helped raise over $75 million that was expended developing the various technologies used in the volantor.

His greatest technical challenge was generating the extraordinary power required for the Skycar volantor’s miraculous feat of VTOL flight. Fortunately in 1965 the Wankel rotary engine was invented and produced in Europe. Dr. Moller recognized that this type of engine made the volantor not only possible, but also practical and he immediately brought the first Wankel rotary engine to the U.S. Later he purchased the rotary engine assets of Outboard Marine Corporation, the only other company besides Mazda to successfully produce rotary engines. Utilizing this acquired technology along with more than 40 years in rotary engine development, he was able to create the Rotapower rotary engine as the perfect powerplant for the volantor.

The use of multiple engines gave the volantor a redundant power source and a simple and redundant means of stabilizing and controlling it by individually changing the thrust of each engine. This patented architecture used a multiple Flight Control Computer coupled to the individual Engine Control Modules to generate a low cost stability and control system compared to that used in the helicopter. The volantor’s eight rotary engines have fewer parts and cost less than one piston engine with the same total power. These engines and computers were integrated into a composite airframe to create the Skycar volantor …a sleek jet airplane looking rotary engine powered VTOL aircraft (see www.moller.com).

Hovering flight is by far the most demanding part of VTOL flight. Hovering tests of the M400 Skycar began in 2001 and established the following:

That its redundant artificial stability system made it easy and safe to hover.
That shutting down an engine did not compromise the Skycar’s ability to hover safely.
That despite much less power than would be available from production engines, the Skycar proved easy to hover and maneuver.

In 2002 as a result of the success of these tests, Dr. Moller was invited along with Dr. Daniel Goldin, then head of NASA, to testify before the U.S. Congress on the future of aviation in America. It was during this period that his company, Moller International, went from being privately held to a fully reporting public company (OTC-BB Symbol: MLER.OB). Unfortunately during this same period it had a dispute with a regional branch of the SEC (see legal opinion below). Consequently the planned upgrades prior to further flight tests were delayed. Perception is everything with an emerging product and delays can easily be interpreted as failures. As a result the company’s market capitalization fell from $350 million to less than $10 million.

Despite accolades from experts in both government and industry and proof of the viability of the technology behind the Skycar, Dr. Moller and his company still remain a step away from fulfilling man’s quest for a level of personal mobility matched only by the flight of the hummingbird. That step requires between $2 and $3 million to complete the planned upgrades, qualify the imbedded software in a series of tethered flights, and undertake an untethered flight. Over 750 media representatives from the US and international press organizations have requested to attend this flight demonstration, assuring worldwide coverage.

In 2002 the Company entered a settlement agreement with the SEC, which has been summed up by its corporate attorney as follows:

“Moller International, Inc. and Dr. Moller agreed to the settlement terms proposed by the SEC in order to bring the matter to an early resolution, since approval of the company’s 10-SB registration statement was essentially stalled by the SEC corporate division pending a resolution of the Texas investigation. Moreover, the company determined that defending an SEC formal investigation or lawsuit would dissipate company assets and prolong its ability to have an effective and approved registration statement. Finally, I believe we were able to demonstrate to the SEC that Dr. Moller’s activities did not constitute his acting as an underwriter within the meaning of the federal securities laws. It should also be noted that the Moller International, Inc. 10-SB registration statement received a “cleared comments” notification from the SEC Corporate Finance Division in August 2002, with the SEC’s full knowledge of the facts and proposed disposition of the Texas investigation.”
“Further, the SEC made no finding of fact indicating that either Dr. Moller or Moller International had violated any securities laws.”

“Stockholders of Moller International” Has a New Coordinator

Mr. Peter Mustafa (Email: petermustafa@gmail.com) recently succeeded Mr. Bob Basham as the Coordinator of the Moller International stockholders group formed in 2003. This independent group, organized as a forum to exchange views on issues of interest to all shareholders of the Company, is open to any shareholder and has its own newsletter, etc. For more information, contact Mr. Mustafa via his email address or by post to:

Mr. Peter Mustafa
SOMI Coordinator
22 Cannon Hill, London N14 6BY, UK

Moller International Responds To DARPA’S Call For A “Flying Car”

Moller International submitted a response to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) request for proposal SB091-014, TITLE: Personal Air Vehicle Technology
(see http://www.dodsbir.net/solicitation/sbir091/darpa091.htm).

The Company’s proposal defines a military version of our state of the art Skycar aircraft dubbed the “Conquestor”. This vehicle is designed to combine the high-speed of a fixed-wing aircraft with VTOL capability of a helicopter. It has foldable wings and an undercarriage suitable for driving on improved roads. Its propulsion and stability system are based on the M400 Skycar® volantor - utilizing four rotating ducted-fan nacelles for generating thrust during VTOL and forward flight, and two wheel-mounted electric motors for ground propulsion.

VTOL operation is extremely demanding of propulsion efficiency. Part of this proposal investigates the innovative potential of improving thrust to weight by combining electric motor/generators with the company’s rotary engines to directly drive the propulsion fans. The electric motor/generators provide the functions of boosting nacelle thrust during VTOL, starting the rotary engines, generating power for ground motors, and in-flight re-charging of lightweight batteries.

We have proposed the following work for Phase I:

Tradeoff analyses for conventional and hybrid power-plant configurations utilized in ducted fan nacelle to maximize propulsion performance.
Tradeoff analyses for undercarriage and ground propulsion including motor integration, suspension, wheel size, and steering.
Aerodynamic modeling and CFD analyses of vehicle airframe configuration and aerodynamic stability during transition from VTOL to forward flight with emphasis on airframe and nacelle interaction.

While we await word on whether our proposal will be accepted we continue to work on the control system components for the Neuera and M400 Skycar prototype. We anticipate first article deliveries in late-April or May.

Freedom Motors Receiving Engine Requests -- Creates Backlog Of 900,000+ Rotary Engines

Freedom Motors announced today that it has received letters of intent and conditional orders for over 900,000 ($1 Billion) of its Rotapower® rotary engines. The Company’s engine is noted for its high power-to-weight and low emissions, attributes that make it an ideal candidate for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), recreational vehicles and applications utilizing portable power (generators, pumps, etc).

The Rotapower® engine operates on the four-stroke Wankel principle with similar weight and power to high-performance two-stroke engines but without the two-stroke’s high fuel consumption and poor emissions characteristics.

The measured CO, HC and NOx emissions of the Rotapower® engine were all well below the Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV) standard for California. This emissions level was achieved without the use of exhaust after-treatment (catalytic converter). Performance tests have been validated by Dr. Andrew Burke, a member of the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) at the University of California, Davis.

Rotapower® engines of various displacements are now operating in a number of different applications as the Company works to acquire a joint venture partner or licensee who would be able to help its engines into high-volume production.

About Freedom Motors

Freedom Motors was founded in 1997 as a wholly owned division of Moller International. In 2001 it became a separate corporation that was exclusively licensed to manufacture, sub-license and sell Rotapower® engines throughout the world. It later demonstrated that its Rotapower engine could meet California’s requirements for ULEV while running on gasoline and the Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV) levels on ethanol.

The Company recently developed and is patenting a compound version of its Rotapower® engine that has the potential to achieve extremely low fuel consumption as well. This new engine is particularly well suited to be used as the backup power source for a PHEV.

Lt. Col. Jack Allison (USAF-Ret.) (1924 – 2009)

We are very saddened to report the passing of Jack Allison. Jack joined the company in 1989 as marketing director and remained a key figure in the company’s evolution over the years. He retired as vice president in 2000 but remained on as secretary treasurer. One could not meet a more sincere and serene person than Jack. Always upbeat even during a downturn in the mid 1990’s when he, Rosalie (his wife) and I were the only full time employees. Until recently Jack was regularly in his office to answer questions from our stockholders or to help in any ongoing projects. His presence will be deeply missed.

A memorial service for Jack will be held on March 20th at 2pm at the Sacramento Valley VA National Cemetery, 5810 Midway Road, Dixon, California. A reception at Moller International will follow. For more details please contact Jennifer at jen@moller.com or (530) 756-5086 ext. 11.

Sincerely,
/s/
Paul S. Moller, Ph.D.
President

"SAFE HARBOR" Statement:
This newsletter may contain forward-looking statements. The words "estimate", "possible" and "seeking" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which speak only as to the date the statement was made. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted, or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties to which forward-looking statements are subject include, but are not limited to, the effect of government regulation, competition and other material risks.
SkycarÒ, Aerobot®, RotaFan™ and Rotapower® are trademarks of Moller International in the USA and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.