Moller International Skycar (M400) - Flightsim model review
Submitted by Shad on Tue, 07/03/2007 - 19:07.
Moller Skycar M400
Type: VTOL
Capacity: 4 Passengers
Engine: Moller Radial x 2
Prop/Thrust: Ducted Fan
Gear Type: Trad/Ret
Avionics: IFR & AP
Model By:A.C. Kerkhove
Every now and then a crackpot comes along whose ideas, while ahead of their time, change the world. Copernicus, Da Vinci, Darwin, Wankel and Von Braun all come to mind. Some saw success in their lifetimes, some not (some even spent time in prison). In our time, there is one such crackpot who may change the world and the way we travel.
The Skycar hopes to be the answer to all our transportation
needs, bypassing the nasty gridlock of the modern city and freeing us
from the drudgery of daily driving by placing us all in a fully automated VTOL
vehicle. On
first glance you might find yourself asking the question: "Who in their
right mind would want to actually produce a Jetsons car?"
Paul S. Moller, that's who. Now, before you go off all half-cocked and say the man is a nut, take a few moments to consider the following: Moller has been developing two key technologies as a business for quite some time and well, the Skycar is actually a logical progression from the two.
Moller specializes in both the development and refinement of Rotary (Wankel) engines, as well as in ducted fan driven autonomous or semi-autonomous "Aerobot" aerial platforms. When you combine his knowledge of these two technologies with the requirements a vehicle design like the Skycar present, you begin to see that its a perfect fit. Maybe he is not so crazy after all. Besides, he has been doing this since 1961.
In order for something like the Moller International Skycar to actually work, an enormously powerful yet highly efficient and lightweight engine is required. As Moller points out on his website, a turbine capable of producing the power needed is both too expensive and too inefficient to be practical. The rotary is actually ideal, as it is capable of producing tremendous amount of power in a small package.
Monster power is the rotary's domain, but it suffers from heat and durability problems. Owners of the Mazda RX-7's are well familiar with this. The RX7 of the nineties produced 200-250hp from a 1.2/1.3 liter rotary engine, but spent a lot of time in the shop and resale value suffered because of it.
Moller claims to have overcome the rotary's limitations by introducing new linings for the combustion chambers of the engine, which bring it to a reliability and efficiency rating quite a bit higher than your average car today. He says his 1000hp, 275mph flying automobile gets 20 miles to the gallon on clean burning ethanol fuel.
Now thats my kind of nut.
A.C. Kerkhove, the developer of the FS model is a nut of a different kind, and has produced a nicely rendered and very complete package of the Skycar M400. Installation is the standard unzip and move gauges to gauges folder, and includes optional paints and an update for an earlier prototype version of the M400. He thoughtfully also reminds you NOT TO overwrite existing gauges within the gauges folder when you move his gauges over. Thank you A.C., as this is a pet peeve of mine - no gauge, module, dll, or settings should ever be overwritten by an add-on aircraft or its installer unless it was already their own from a previous install. Ever.
The exterior and interior models are really quite nicely rendered, has a lot of detail, and well fitting textures. There are a variety of liveries included and even a couple of optional add-ons. There is both a pilot and passenger figure (female) in the back seat. The faces look rendered from photographs so I have to wonder if perhaps we're looking at Mr. Kerkhove and partner? The nacelles all animate with the throttle settings and the gear looks as flimsy on this model as it does on the real car. I know Moller claims you can drive this, but I think I will take a pass on trying that until such time as it looks more like a car.
Both the 2D panel and the VC have an assortment of custom gauges, many of which I am not sure are all that useful. They are certainly unique though. Oddly marked gauges did things like turn the panel off, others to zoom the sim. I do not understand why these gauges are here but I am sure the author made good use of them. One gauge that seemed to be missing was a way to close the door as the sim starts with the doors open. I did manage to get them closed, I just don't how I did it. If there is a button to close them, I could not find it, or any information about it with a quick look.
Flying the car is very similar to flying default helicopters in MSFS. A Russian army Mil 24 pilot once noted: Hovering a helicopter is about as easy as trying to balance on a greased beach ball. FS9 renders this attribute perhaps a bit too much. There are many reasons for this and there have been many a long forum discussion about the flight dynamics of helicopters on MSFS. Very few aircraft that have V/STOL capabilities are well behaved. That being said, I am also not a very good helicopter pilot.
A.C. has gone to great lengths to ensure as smooth as is possible
(within the limitations of FS9), VTOL aircraft. He includes Arne
Bartels famous auto-hover gauge and an autopilot made by Antti
Pankonen. He gives you a quick start readme file with instructions
on how to get flying with a VTOL aircraft of this nature as well as
introduce you to some of the specifics of the model itself. As you can see, this does not help my lack of skill much.
The model's author did include some other rudimentary documentation including what appears to be a "save to desktop" capture of an old Moller website and some performance specs. In the folder for the documentation are some patches to fix a few problems, but the instructions included for these are vague.
All in all its a fun add-on to fly. With practice it can fly quite well, (if not quite to advertised speed), and will look good in any simmers garage... er hanger ... er garage...
And Paul Moller? Will he go down in history as the man that changed the world or will he simply be an interesting side note? Only time will tell.
Moller Skycar M400
Type: VTOL
Capacity: 4 Passengers
Engine: Moller Radial x 2
Prop/Thrust: Ducted Fan
Gear Type: Trad/Ret
Avionics: IFR & AP
Model By:A.C. Kerkhove
|
|
Every now and then a crackpot comes along whose ideas, while ahead of their time, change the world. Copernicus, Da Vinci, Darwin, Wankel and Von Braun all come to mind. Some saw success in their lifetimes, some not (some even spent time in prison). In our time, there is one such crackpot who may change the world and the way we travel.
The Skycar hopes to be the answer to all our transportation
needs, bypassing the nasty gridlock of the modern city and freeing us
from the drudgery of daily driving by placing us all in a fully automated VTOL
vehicle. On
first glance you might find yourself asking the question: "Who in their
right mind would want to actually produce a Jetsons car?"Paul S. Moller, that's who. Now, before you go off all half-cocked and say the man is a nut, take a few moments to consider the following: Moller has been developing two key technologies as a business for quite some time and well, the Skycar is actually a logical progression from the two.
Moller specializes in both the development and refinement of Rotary (Wankel) engines, as well as in ducted fan driven autonomous or semi-autonomous "Aerobot" aerial platforms. When you combine his knowledge of these two technologies with the requirements a vehicle design like the Skycar present, you begin to see that its a perfect fit. Maybe he is not so crazy after all. Besides, he has been doing this since 1961.
In order for something like the Moller International Skycar to actually work, an enormously powerful yet highly efficient and lightweight engine is required. As Moller points out on his website, a turbine capable of producing the power needed is both too expensive and too inefficient to be practical. The rotary is actually ideal, as it is capable of producing tremendous amount of power in a small package.
Monster power is the rotary's domain, but it suffers from heat and durability problems. Owners of the Mazda RX-7's are well familiar with this. The RX7 of the nineties produced 200-250hp from a 1.2/1.3 liter rotary engine, but spent a lot of time in the shop and resale value suffered because of it.
Moller claims to have overcome the rotary's limitations by introducing new linings for the combustion chambers of the engine, which bring it to a reliability and efficiency rating quite a bit higher than your average car today. He says his 1000hp, 275mph flying automobile gets 20 miles to the gallon on clean burning ethanol fuel.
Now thats my kind of nut.
A.C. Kerkhove, the developer of the FS model is a nut of a different kind, and has produced a nicely rendered and very complete package of the Skycar M400. Installation is the standard unzip and move gauges to gauges folder, and includes optional paints and an update for an earlier prototype version of the M400. He thoughtfully also reminds you NOT TO overwrite existing gauges within the gauges folder when you move his gauges over. Thank you A.C., as this is a pet peeve of mine - no gauge, module, dll, or settings should ever be overwritten by an add-on aircraft or its installer unless it was already their own from a previous install. Ever.
The exterior and interior models are really quite nicely rendered, has a lot of detail, and well fitting textures. There are a variety of liveries included and even a couple of optional add-ons. There is both a pilot and passenger figure (female) in the back seat. The faces look rendered from photographs so I have to wonder if perhaps we're looking at Mr. Kerkhove and partner? The nacelles all animate with the throttle settings and the gear looks as flimsy on this model as it does on the real car. I know Moller claims you can drive this, but I think I will take a pass on trying that until such time as it looks more like a car.
Both the 2D panel and the VC have an assortment of custom gauges, many of which I am not sure are all that useful. They are certainly unique though. Oddly marked gauges did things like turn the panel off, others to zoom the sim. I do not understand why these gauges are here but I am sure the author made good use of them. One gauge that seemed to be missing was a way to close the door as the sim starts with the doors open. I did manage to get them closed, I just don't how I did it. If there is a button to close them, I could not find it, or any information about it with a quick look.
Flying the car is very similar to flying default helicopters in MSFS. A Russian army Mil 24 pilot once noted: Hovering a helicopter is about as easy as trying to balance on a greased beach ball. FS9 renders this attribute perhaps a bit too much. There are many reasons for this and there have been many a long forum discussion about the flight dynamics of helicopters on MSFS. Very few aircraft that have V/STOL capabilities are well behaved. That being said, I am also not a very good helicopter pilot.
A.C. has gone to great lengths to ensure as smooth as is possible
(within the limitations of FS9), VTOL aircraft. He includes Arne
Bartels famous auto-hover gauge and an autopilot made by Antti
Pankonen. He gives you a quick start readme file with instructions
on how to get flying with a VTOL aircraft of this nature as well as
introduce you to some of the specifics of the model itself. As you can see, this does not help my lack of skill much.The model's author did include some other rudimentary documentation including what appears to be a "save to desktop" capture of an old Moller website and some performance specs. In the folder for the documentation are some patches to fix a few problems, but the instructions included for these are vague.
All in all its a fun add-on to fly. With practice it can fly quite well, (if not quite to advertised speed), and will look good in any simmers garage... er hanger ... er garage...
And Paul Moller? Will he go down in history as the man that changed the world or will he simply be an interesting side note? Only time will tell.
|
|
