The problem is that there are hundreds of cities that are hundreds of miles
apart,
so many travellers and cargo movers need to go between and within
them on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, the highway system is forecast to be more congested and slower
in the future.
There are thousands of airports that can be used by fast airplanes, however
most airports are located out of town and require some form of ground
transportation.
Private and business airplane travellers still suffer through the hassles of
converting from
one mode to another, such as parking, baggage, car rentals, and readying and securing the
airplane.
Airline travellers must deal with even more problems of scheduling, ticketing,
reservations, routing, seatmates, lost baggage, and security queues.
While there are no available solutions to the problem today, such trips may be
practical soon.
An optimum solution may be the use of automatically transformable flyable
automobiles,
that combine the speed of airplanes with the convenience of automobiles.
You may see here a study by retired Air Force Command Pilot-Aero Engineer Rich
Strong,
that combines an advanced design, a sustainable business plan, and convenient
operation.
With the convenient operation will come higher business use for avoiding
wasting time and
higher production rates that will lead to lower costs and more use, and so on
and on.
The project was presented at AirVenture 2008 forum and live on WOSH
with talk show host J. T. Vogt.
Audio recordings (CD or MP3, 0:42) of the 2008 forum Powerpoint presentation are available from * EAA Forum for $11.
You can download/open the PowerPoint with notes ( 13.5 Mb) at *Slide Show and play the CD/MP3 as you watch the Powerpoint.
download and listen to an MP3 audio file (0:15) of the interview as it was
broadcast live from EAA AirVenture 2007 on News-Talk 1490 WOSH.
The 2008 interview should be posted by the end of August.
PRESS RELEASE for
StrongMobile project under
study for Air Force Agile Combat Support Program
The project was submitted to the
program for consideration and study by the USAF's
AGILE COMBAT SUPPORT, ACS, program's Modernization Analysis Working Group as a
candidate
for development in the 2010 budget request. The mission solution is described
as a light utility
personnel/cargo transport to support forward operating locations.
StrongMobiles might also be employed as manned observation platforms,
performing the
Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaisance, ISR, mission, similar to the
inventor's experiences as a *Forward Air
Controller in Cessna O-1s and Ford M-151/MRC-108s.
The submittal envisioned a fleet of Magic Dragons for a unit cost of $250K each
and total
Life Cycle Cost, LCC, for research, development, test and evaluation, and
deployment of
$29 million dollars (less the delta cost of benefits to other programs).
StrongMobiles could be "Strong On Mobility".
*Notice
You can have a CD with your own personal copy of
StrongMobile Development Reports,
including the 4th Edition report that includes most of the material in this
website in an MS Word
file in book format with links, 64 pages, plus the video, the PowerPoint show,
and the Excel files for only $ 10 plus $ 4 S&H by US mail -
Ohio residents add $.70 sales tax. Overseas? - call for pricing. Non-profit
orgs (educational, government, etc. ) only $7 plus S&H.
You can have the printed 4th Edition, comb-bound, plus
the CD, for only $ 27, S&H included.
Please send your check or MO, payable to Safety Analysis Systems Co. to:
Safety Analysis Systems Co., c/o Richard A. Strong, 7514 Belle Plain Dr, Dayton
OH 455424-3229
You can download the book in MS Word 2002 from *
StrongMobile Book (10mb)and
read it on your computer screen or print a paper copy yourself and read it
anywhere.
model in road mode in the hangarage and in flight mode at AirVenture at * Newmovie.wmv
You can download a 2-page MS Word (1 mb) * Brochure
You can download and publish a one-page MS Word * Press
Release.
You can download/open the PowerPoint with notes ( 8.5 Mb) at *Slide Show
You can Download cost, schedule, and technical calculations in an Excel
spreadsheet at * Master Plan
Contents of this page are [click on * to go to]:
- * A Vision of the Future;
- * Background;
- * A Typical Operation;
- * The StrongMobile Aircars;
- * Current StrongMobile Design 3-Views & Data Sheets;
- * Business Plan for Research and Full-Scale Production;
- * The StrongMobile Aircar Development Project;
- * Full-Scale Mock-Up Pictures;
- * Spreading the Good News About StrongMobiles
- * Contact Us
- * Feedback a Confidential Survey About Your Needs Into
the StrongMobile Requirements Database
- *The History of the StrongMobile Aircar ;
- * Safety, Risk Management, and Legal Aspects;
- *System Management Plan;
- *Preliminary Design Overview ;
- * Preliminary Engineering Calculations;
- * More sketches and photos
- * Test Plan for 9-bladed 36" Diameter Fan and
Bifurcated Duct
- * Construction, Operation, Servicing, and Maintenance ;
I Like the Dreams of the Future, better than
the history of the past! - Thomas Jefferson
Currently, the inventor is operating from the
home office near
the inventor worked for over twenty years in engineering, flight testing, and
laboratory research.
Although no developers have shown any interest yet, you may imagine being in
the
near future when they do mass-produce kits or factory-built StrongMobiles.
The following story assumes that a real-life miracle has occurred and
a far-sighted manufacturer actually makes aircars available for you.
(A humorous view of big 3 car manufacturers' attitudes is at *Onion News Network parody (2:00))
NASA is looking for a *solution, but none have come
forward.
You
can imagine there are many people who wouldn't think of climbing aboard a small
airplane,
but who would have no problems in getting into an aircar that looks and feels
like their own cars.
Maybe you are an experienced pilot/aviator, or
maybe you tried the usual flying and gave it up due to the
hassle and inconvenience, or, maybe you are a busy traveler and have been
attracted to flying and
driving instead of only driving all day and some nights.
You looked over the website and then got a demo
ride in a StrongMobile and then signed up as a launch customer
when you compared your current business travel with the advantages of using a
Dragon. You bought or leased
a StrongMobile from your dealer or maybe it's in your organization's fleet.
Maybe your StrongMobile has a
Commercial Off-The-Shelf, COTS, chassis from your favorite car manufacturer,
with purpose-built airplane parts
from your favorite airplane manufacturer. Perhaps you and your team of a dozen
or so
Dragon Drivers have built your fleet of StrongMobiles from kits either at your
team factory or at the regional
StrongMobile factory with quick-build set-ups. You have been trained in the
systems and operations and gotten
used to the people gawking at your 'flying car'. Now you have the freedom to
simply get into your StrongMobile
at home or work and perform much of the pre-flight in your 'hangarage' out of
the weather, since it's less than twenty feet long and eight feet wide.
You can load your passenger and about 130 pounds
of baggage or cargo or special purpose equipment.
If you're travelling solo, you could flip up the right seat and load an extra
195 pounds in the unobstructed space available.
The
system design recognizes that the majority of business trips, around 80%,
are made with only one or two people at a time.
If
you're operating the recently-conceived four-seat StrongMobile, then you can
load up two more passengers and their baggage,
or you can remove or flip up the rear seats and load up their equivalent in
cargo, about 400 pounds.
You can drive with your companion or your cargo to your local airport or
organizational airstrip or private road, since you only need a quarter mile of
runway.
You feel right at home, with the familiar conventional automobile controls and
feeling.
You can do your engine checks as you drive and warm up the engine and cabin
(or cool it with the Air Conditioning System).
You could file your flight plan via cell phone with FAA at home before you
leave.
Many of the thousands of public-use airports may be within ten to twenty miles
of your home base; perhaps you have access to the many private or corporate
airstrips.
When you arrive there, you can, like a magician,
push the FLY button to transform your Magic Dragon into an airplane.
You may hear the electrical actuators and motors humming and the solenoid
locks clicking into place as the wings spread and unfold, the tailplane
spreads,
the flaps lowering, the wing bay doors closing, and the rear bumper changing
into a
streamlined fairing, all in about one minute.
(You should do a walk-around inspection of the flight locks, just to make
absolutely sure that the green light on the FLY button is showing the truth.)
If necessary, you stow the front license.
You move the gearshift lever into Neutral, then over to the Fan position to
engage the fan and notice the jet breeze coming from the outlet nozzles.
You lower the rudder pedals, line up for take-off, and
move the upper half of the steering wheel so you have a clear view of the
instruments and controls. You place your left hand on the throttle, engage the
friction lock,
and accelerate to take-off speed. You place your feet on the rudder pedals and
shift your right hand from the steering wheel to the center flight control
stick.
When your airspeed indicates around 70 knots, you raise the nose and take off.
The
true power of the 'Magic' is that it not only transforms the aircar from
automobile into airplane, but it also transforms the car driver into a
pilot-aviator.
An
interesting comment about security may be read at * businesstravellogue
You can then fly a few hundred miles in a few
hours, extending your operating range far beyond
the typical distance you could drive your car in the same time, about twice as
far.
If the weather forecast precludes taking off at your home base airport,
then you could drive to airports that are suitable and take-off;
likewise, for landing at your destination.
You could also fly part-ways, land and drive under bad weather and
then take-off and continue flying.
You can drive and fly in the privacy of your own aircar all the way there and
back.
You will probably use the FAA's Wide Area
Augmentation System, *
WAAS ,
for navigation and approaches to airports that do not have ground-based
navigational aids.
You might watch your Dragon's shadow passing the traffic on the highway below,
especially when traffic is slowed down or stopped due to congestion,
construction, accidents, or curves. Maybe there's no road at all below,
if your destination is beyond the shores on an island or peninsula or in the
mountains.
You can plan your flight to by-pass the congested airspace around jetliner hubs
and
densely-populated urban areas.
Should weather problems cause you to run short of fuel, you can fly a course
that
provides for gliding to an emergency landing strip,
On a clear day, you may occasionally see another StrongMobile within a mile.
You may be aware that your flying is so quiet to those folks on the ground that
they will not even notice your StrongMobile flying over them.
Instead of the typical airline bag of nuts, you can snack with your favorite
foods and beverages,
in the privacy and comfort of your StrongMobile.
You may have
selected the turbocharged and supplemental oxygen option so you can cruise
above much of the weather.
You could land at
an airport near your destination, push the ROLL button to transform your
Magic Dragon
into an automobile, and then drive on to your business or recreation.
You can do face-to-face real-time meetings or load and/or unload your cargo, or
attend events.
Whenever you
choose to, you could drive your Magic Dragon back to the airport (the same
or a different one), transform it and fly to another destination, or fly it back
to your local airport,
transform it and then drive it to your home or business. Note that, in contrast
to traditional
transformations between car and plane, you can spend the time you saved during
transformation in flying farther. As an example, if you spend a half hour in a
traditional
transformation and only ten minutes with your Magic Dragon (including
refuelling), then you
save a total of forty minutes and you can go 80 miles farther, at the same
speeds.
Note that, for many trips, the Magic Dragon's cruise speed of 140 KTAS equates
to a
traditional fast airplane cruising at about 200 KTAS, on a door-to-door average
speed
basis including transformation time, when you take ten minutes to transform
your Dragon
(mostly refuelling time) , versus a half hour to change from one mode to the
other mode
with cars and planes. You can forget about tie-downs and tow machines and
hangar fees
and other paraphernalia like them. Likewise, you can by-pass the parking lots
and
airline terminal and the hassles they represent.
You can refuel at an automotive service station with * Automotive fuel .
The advantages of
StrongMobile operation, with quick and easy transforming effort, become even
more apparent
for cases where visits to multiple destinations are required, so-called 'round
robins'. As an example, one may consider
shorter trips of, say, two hundred miles, visiting two or three destinations in
one day. Some users may want to routinely
trade off the baggage capacity for fuel capacity so they could eliminate a
refueling stop. There is space available
in the 50-gallon tank that could provide one hour more endurance than the
standard 40 gallons.
For day trips with minimum baggage, the weight allowance may be used for
king-size pilot and passenger.
Obviously, you could make an extended "Grand Tour" of several days or
even weeks to many destinations.
When the work-week is done, you could use it for recreational travel.
OR Maybe
you would prefer to charter a trip and have someone else do the operating for
you.
Ditto for hiring a charter service with a chauffeur-pilot.
You could simply call up your charter taxi service or corporate transportation
office and make arrangements.
OR Maybe
you have to move a few hundred pounds of urgent cargo a few hundred miles.
The seats may be made to be removable and replaced with containers for cargo.
OR Maybe
you and your companions want to drive and fly your Dragon for the sheer
enjoyment of
dancing with the winds and enjoying the bird's-eye views, as you expand your
day-trip neighborhood beyond the airport gates
to experience high flight in the wild blue yonder.
In general, you can plan your trip
for various situations:
Plan A - VFR or IFR direct without problems [probability of 80%, 160 mph]; or
Plan B - weather or TFR deviations of less than one hour [probability of 15%,
120 mph]; or
Plan C - deviations of more than one hour, but less than two hours [probability
of 3%, 90 mph]; or
Plan D - Driving only [probability of about 2%, 50 mph], or
Plan E - Airports and Roads closed [probability of less than 1%], or
Plan F - Aborted trip en route and overnight or more delay [probability of less
than 1%].
OR You can
make local trips on the roads and highways, when it's more convenient to simply
drive your Dragon.
A very thorough
review of the flyable car scenario may be viewed at Lionel Salisbury's * Roadable Times
A brief review of current contenders by Rich Smith is at *Symscape
This item was picked up from the *GIZMAG site:
November 21, 2004
Adults may dismiss flying cars as the stuff of science fiction,
but for children, according to a new survey released by Honda,
only a flying car will do. Gizmag readers, of course, know that
such vehicles are already in development and that by the time
many of the children surveyed here are old enough to drive,
flying cars will be a common sight.
When Honda's UK arm conducted the survey, which asked children:
"If your car could do anything, what would it do?",
an overriding number (43%) wanted it to be able to fly.
The company commissioned the survey into what children expect
as it launched the new family-friendly Honda FR-V.
Over 400 children, 90% of whom were under the age of 10, gave some
fascinating insights into the next generation of standard specifications.
"Dost thou love life? Then do not
squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of." Benjamin
Franklin
"Any sufficiently advanced
technology is indistinguishable from magic." Arthur C. Clarke
"Mark my word: A combination
airplane and motor car is coming. You may smile, but it will come."
Henry Ford
"At first, people refuse to believe
that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done,
then they see it can be done - then it is done, and all the world wonders why
it took so long."
"If you don't have a consensus that
it is nonsense, you don't have a breakthrough." Burt Rutan, Scaled
Composites
"Do not go where the path may lead.
Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail..." Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Philosopher
Those
who say, "It cannot be done!" should not interrupt the person who is
doing it. Chinese Proverb
"When you design your aircraft,
distort the specifications to be different!" Prof. Ed Lesher, U.Mich.,
Speed Record Pilot
(The inventor, true to his Detroit background, specified the maximum
production, which led to an aircar.)
At the end of the movie, Back to
the Future, Doc Brown says to Marty,
"Roads?
Where we're going, we don't need roads."
The StrongMobile AirCar Transport System,
SMACTS, is intended initially for frequent, regional VIP
business travellers. It is expected to be quicker, quieter, more
cost-effective, more convenient, and safer with
more freedom and less hassle than other current systems. The SMACTS is based
upon the StrongMobile
Magic Dragon as the vehicle subsystem that could fit into the existing
aeronautical and highway systems.
StrongMobile operators are free to select their schedules and routes to suit
their own requirements, without
wasting time to change modes from road to air travel and vice versa. Instead of
coping with airport
terminals or hangars, they can simply transform from one mode to another with
the push of a button.
The main objective is to provide maximum value to society, that is, production
of units,
annual seat-miles of travel, travel time avoided, accidents avoided, and
enhanced qualities of life.
StrongMobile operators can open the doors to many trips that are beyond their
reach with traditional ways.
The inventor, *Rich Strong, retired Air Force Command Pilot and
Aerospace Engineer,
has been developing the design for over fifty years in his spare time.
He will welcome any developers to take over the lead of the project for the
next phase
of designing and building and testing the prototype and production versions of
the
StrongMobiles for a potential market of thousands of operators who could avoid
millions
of wasted hours while driving and changing modes and a billion-dollar industry.
A developer may act as system integrator and work with sub-contractor/partners
who develop the
various subsystems, such as: chassis, suspension, power train, interior, flight
surfaces, and so on.
The National Business Aviation Association's President Bolen has written:
"Tens of thousands of American companies use general aviation aircraft to
strengthen their businesses."
With about 600,000 licensed pilots in the
seems adequate to justify the costs of development.
You can estimate
that, for each hour that you spend flying, you can save an hour, compared to
driving.
You can also estimate that you can extend your driving distance by flying twice
as fast to go twice
as far in the same time, so you can expand your territory by a factor of four
times as extensive.
The wrap-around cost plus profit of typically $100 per hour for each of the two
pilots flying about 1,000 hours per year will more than pay for the cost of the
StrongMobile in
a little over one year of use, so the net overall expense is revenue neutral.
After the payback period,
the StrongMobile becomes a tool for increasing revenues and profits.
Organizations that acquire
their StrongMobiles on a lease basis may realize benefits within a few months.
Many government organizations will undoubtedly find various uses for
StrongMobiles, including defense.
Organizations may operate fleets to provide charter transportation for
employees and clients.
Export markets will undoubtedly be valuable and further increase potential
sales and uses.
As development
and production for business travelers proceed and start-up costs are amortized,
other aircar users, such as commuters and recreational travelers, may enjoy
operating StrongMobiles.
However, even though
thousands of people have seen presentations by the inventor at professional
meetings or have visited the website, no potential developers have contacted
the inventor.
You should
note that the basic patents, 2,923,494 and 3,612,440, have long since expired
and that all of
the patent information on this website is in the public domain, so anyone may
use it.
The actual text and sketches are copyrighted, so you should request permission
to copy.
(However, there is much that is not included herein; the inventor would be
pleased to provide consultant service.)
While many
travelers may be contented with driving their cars on short trips and using
airliners for long trips,
many others will feel that they are still lacking an efficient way of
travelling routine medium trips. Many, if not most, pilots
must be content with renting or leasing an airplane to fly and then renting a
car at the destination. As one wag said it,
"Airplanes can take you from a place where you don't want to be to another
place where you don't want to be.".
The high cost and
inconvenience of flying airplanes discourages potential airplane owners and
pilots who would
prefer to use an attractive, reasonable, and practical aircar. Much of the
inconvenience has been designed out of the
Magic Dragon aircars, such as dealing with tie-downs, wheel chocks, using
step-stools to check fuel, using steps and
handholds for entry and exit, only one cabin door, noisy too-narrow cabins with
no air, steering with feet, left and right
brake pedals, anxiety about rough landings, towbars and towing machines,
elaborate engine displays and controls,
and so on, and that lethal propeller spinning around.
Looking at Simplifying Obsolete Aviation Practices, "SOAP to cleanup messy
chores", much of this inconvenience could be
eliminated easily. (Question: When was the last time you checked for water in
your car's fuel system?
Answer: Never, the fuel has additives to absorb the water.)
The other side of the coin also has drawbacks, as in *
Dragon Driver Ditty , where the perils
of bad weather are contrasted to the perils of the highways (impaired drivers,
obstacles,
and so on), to be sung to the tune of "If you're happy...clap your hands.
The modern highway
system is equivalent to a modern Utopia where one size fits all, regardless of
the individual
requirements of travelers. Given the biological limits of humans, such as the
need for rest stops and sleep, and the
available modes of transport, the distances to be traversed within those limits
oftentimes do not permit reasonable travel.
Many potentially valuable and desirable trips are simply not made, but could be
made with a StrongMobile
In the past,
about a hundred different designs for "roadable airplanes" or
"flying cars" have been patented;
a few were built and operated. However, they required rather awkward and
time-consuming ways to transform from car to
plane and vice versa. Most of them left their wings and tail at the airport,
while others dragged them behind as trailers.
In contrast to a 'roadable airplane', the inventor defines an 'aircar' as a
fully integrated airplane and automobile, with
automatic transformation. Details of the "magic" are described in * Preliminary Design.
At a recent
meeting of several aircar developers led by Stephen Cook of C.F.C. LLC near
Detroit,
the host, Alexander "Sandy" Munro, asked why they thought the time
was ripe for aircars. The inventor replied that
the availability of technology such as low-cost, high power, lightweight, fuel
efficient engines opened doors; others mentioned
the increasing need for door-to-door regional travel. This inventor was
gratified to hear
after viewing the various presentations, that the Dragon was the only
crashworthy design .
The * SYSTEM MANAGEMENT PLAN provides for bringing a new group
of people into aviation,
rather than relying only on the traditional group. However, it should be
mentioned that the automotive and aeronautical
industries in the
that require "cross-over" technologies, such as aircars, due to
regulatory restrictions and liability concerns. Of course, as a
Professional Engineer specializing in System Safety, the inventor intends to
comply with the regulations.
[ *
Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and *
Federal Aviation Regulations]
More on this is at: * Safety, Risk Management, and Legal
Aspects;
The observation
that traditional vehicle makers show such little interest in aircars may be a
blessing in disguise,
since it reduces the competition for the fresh start-up business. Therefore,
it's more likely that far-sighted entrepreneurs will
lead the production, particularly in foreign countries. Perhaps the military
will see a potential for using a general-purpose
utility vehicle for liaison, as a "Dual-Use Program", thus providing
for a valuable defense asset while satisfying a viable
civilian market. Until such time as developers emerge, the main activity will
continue to be concentrated on the 'grass roots'
kit program. Responses to the TACRA survey may identify both potential kit
builders and users and potential factory-built
Dragon buyers. The inventor recognizes the simple fact, based on the current
indications, that the survey results may
indicate a non-zero probability of an empty set, that is, there may not be a
viable market for aircars after all. IF such turns
out to be the way things go, then the inventor will simply build and operate
his own Dragon.
Thomas Kuhn wrote
about the paradigm shift process in his book, * THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC
REVOLUTION,
wherein he describes how people first reject a new idea (denial), then oppose
change (delusion), and finally, when the idea
succeeds, say that they knew all along that it was a good idea. One may assume
that StrongMobiles will follow the
same process.
Therefore, in
view of the success of the home-built kit movement, it seems only logical that
the initial
cadre will be composed of folks who would make their own Dragons, either by
themselves or in teams. Reports indicate that
there have been no liability lawsuits for homebuilt aircraft, since the
builders assume the liability for their creations.
The advantage of this would be that many minds working together will come up
with better products.
For more background, read * History
Back to * MENU
When people ask, "What will a Magic Dragon
do for me?", the inventor's answer is in terms of the design
specifications for
making a medium-range day trip. Annual utilization is envisioned as 1,000
flight hours, flying 20 hours on three days per
week, plus monthly weekend vacation trips. The road mileage is estimated as a
dozen or so twenty-mile trips per week, for
an annual milage of about 12,000 miles. You can compare it to making an
automobile trip in the same times
covering less distance. Some operators might fly as much as twice this.
The graphic shows cumulative minutes on the left abscissa.
The standard StrongMobile trip is defined as a
one-day 400-mile radius combination of road and flight modes in phases:
1. [
2. [
3. [
4. [ 8:35] Flight to destination airport and refuel (140 knots true/161 mph for
about 420 nautical miles;
(With an average wind at cruising altitude of 6,000 feet of about 20 knots, the
actual groundspeed for a round trip would be
about 155 mph, for a 30-knot wind, GS would be 148 mph, and so on.)
5. [
6. [
7. [
8. [
9. [
10. [
11. [
12. [
THE STRONGMOBILE IS IDEAL FOR TRIPS WITH
MULTIPLE DESTINATIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS,
SUCH AS A ROUND ROBIN WITH TWO OR THREE DESTINATIONS..
- 1. [
- 2. [
- 3. [
- 4. [
- 5. [
- 6. [
- 7. [
- 8. [
- 9. [
- 10. [
- 11. [
- 12. [
- 13. [
Many trips that cannot be done within schedule
and budget constraints
with non-aircar technology may be made easily with StrongMobiles.
For longer flights, such as overnight, or 3-day
trips, insert refueling stops between steps
4 and 5 and again between steps 9 and 10. The fuel tanks can hold 40 gallons,
for an
endurance of five hours at a 8 gal/hr burn rate.
One fan noted that some airports do not have
refuelling available;
however, Magic Drivers could easily drive to a local gas station and fill up.
One who tried to do this in an airplane is described at *FAA case
This is especially useful when the forecast weather turns sour or plans change
and
Magic Drivers have the choice of flying or driving without changing vehicles.
For comparisons of various modes of travel, you
may go to * Triptimes or
download an Excel spreadsheet and do your own comparisons at * Tripcalcs
Looking at it
from another viewpoint, users may use the same time and extend
their range of operations. As an example, if one spends six hours a day in
travelling
by car to go on a 180-mile round trip, then he or she could extend the range to
a round trip of over 420 miles, with reserves. The operating area is thereby
quadrupled.
According to K.
P. Rice, quoted in ROADABLE TIMES, "Statistics indicate that the average
pilot
does not fly enough to maintain proficiency in all types of weather. However,
with a flying
car, the pilot can drive to the airport, take off, fly up to the edge of a
weather system, land,
drive to the other side of it, continue flight to his destination airport, and
then drive the car
to his final destination." Magic Drivers may use combination trips to have
flexibility in
selecting airports with flyable weather at any step in their travel plans.
A comparison of
environmental impact in terms of fuel between travelling by Dragon
or by car and faster airplane, where the Dragon takes five minutes to convert
and the
car and plane takes a half hour to change shows another benefit. For the same
door-to-door time, the Dragon saves time in conversion with a little electrical
energy
versus the faster airplane that burns much more fuel to save the same time.
It's like the old fable of the race between the hare and the tortoise or the
current "hurry up and wait" comments. As an example, for the typical
trip
described above, the Dragon at 140 and the fast airplane at 200, the
power required increases dramatically. The standard calculation shows the
difference
as about [200/140]exp5 = about SIX TIMES as much power required, with a
corresponding increase in fuel usage.
As progress
continues in both the automotive and aviation fields, interest in
vehicles that can be used in both areas continues. Automobiles are becoming
lighter in weight, more efficient in propulsion, and more aerodynamic in shape.
Airplanes are becoming easier to fly, more efficient, and easier to navigate.
While the Interstate highway system is expected to provide a convenient
means for travelling between many areas during the next 20 to 40 years,
there will still be many other areas that remain hard-to-connect and/or require
long driving times. Furthermore, congestion on metropolitan freeways
continues to grow, so the 'cross-town' commute between suburbs calls for
problem-solving.
The main purpose
of the Dragon aircar is to provide a single vehicle for
personal and business door-to-door transportation. In addition, the
recreational value as a sport vehicle is appealing to many of us.
The underlying theme of the aircar is to trade off the high cruise speed of
the fast small aircraft for quicker and more convenient trips by reducing the
time lost in changing from automobile to airplane and vice versa. Likewise,
the aircar trades off the typical automobile's capacity for airplane
components. A typical round-trip day trip with a radius of 420 miles to
destination is figured to take the same time via Dragon aircar cruising at
140 knots as with a 200 knot airplane or 400 knot airliner, due to the time
savings for conversion from road to air and vice versa. The figures are in a
spreadsheet and chart at *Trip Time Comparisons.
For a comparison
with driving six days a week for a maximum usage, using an
aircar would save 4 hours per trip, times 300 trips = 1,200 hours per years.
This allows for week-end recreational flying, maintenance, and weather,
assuming that the pilot is instrument rated. Assuming a load factor where
40% of the trips are by the pilot only and 60% include a passenger, for a
factor of 1.6, this gives 1,920 hours per year. Figuring the value of the users
at about $100 per hour, the savings amount to about $192,000 per year
(less maintenance such as engine overhaul) as compared to driving. From this,
one should subtract maintenance such as engine overhaul and the difference
in fuel costs. Maintenance such as engine biennial overhaul may be estimated
at about $40,000. One may assume a fuel cost of $3 per gallon for aviation fuel
or
premium automotive fuel, fuel burn rates of 2 gallons per hour while driving
and 7 gallons per hour for flying. This results in $6 per hour for driving and
$21 per hour for flying. Fuel costs for driving would be 10 hours at $3 per
hour,
or $30. Fuel costs for flying would be 6 hours at $30 per hour, or $180.
The difference would then be $150 per round trip. The annual fuel cost
difference would then be $150 times 300 trips, or $45,000. This would then
result in a net savings of $192,000 - $40,000 - $45,000 = $107,000.
The value of the time savings would quickly provide recouping the investment
in leasing or buying an aircar in about two years.
The underlying benefit of business opportunities should also be considered.
The aircar may replace the automobile to a large degree, saving on that
expense.
Your StrongMobile expenses may qualify for tax reductions; AOPA has info
about this on its website at *AOPA Business
Tax Info
The ultimate
benefits are that the aircar provides: an increased radius of travel
for business; or shorter workdays to provide more personal quality time; or
more time for vacation travel. You can figure out the times for your trips and
see how much time you would save if you used an aircar instead of only driving
your automobile. You can work out the cost comparisons for an aircar versus
a combination of a car and a plane. Needless to say, there are many obvious
side benefits to having an aircar instead of constantly switching from car to
airplane and vice versa. The pure recreational benefits of using an aircar are
a bonus. Development and production of the "Magic Dragon" aircar is
considered to be a viable enterprise that would satisfy a niche market and
provide a profitable venture for an extensive period of time. Ultimately, this
may involve several thousands of aircars in use within several years.
The StrongMobile is considered to be a viable candidate for the flight trainer
market, even without any road drive, because it can provide a introduction
to flying with a familiar setup similar to a conventional automobile.
If you routinely fly on one-day trips where you do not need the baggage
capacity,
then you can have an auxiliary fuel tank installed, so you can go out and back
without stopping to refuel.
The inventor's background as a worker in the
automobile industry, as an aircraft mechanic in the Naval Air Reserve,
as a Command Pilot and Aerospace Engineer in the Air Force, and as an
instrument rated Commercial Pilot gives him a
broad view of the personal transportation scenario.
When the inventor was studying Aero
Engineering, his instructor, Ed Lesher (world lightplane speed record holder)
admonished students to "distort the specifications", that is, design
something different. This inventor, having been born
and raised in Detroit, chose to emphasize the potential production quantity as
the primary driver. His preliminary design of
an aircar was graded "A+". The design was the basis for the second
patent, #3612440, the predecessor of the Magic Dragon.
The inventor then decided to improve the design to incorporate a complete
automobile aspect, rather than
being limitted to a roadable airplane design. This change required many
redesigns to accomodate the
additional weight of COTS automotive components.
The development story is described at *
History
The sketches at
"Current Design Views" show the license and registration as
"N142MD"; the "142" sums up the essence
of the Magic Dragon as one "1" vehicle for "4" two
"2" modes of travelling, both driving and flying, without any
changing of
seats or baggage from one vehicle to another and back again. Likewise, the
Magic Dragon logo, in the form of an Oriental
ouri-bouri symbol, shows the flying and rolling modes working together as a
system, where there are some flying aspects
in the rolling and vice versa.
Several folks asked why the inventor calls the mock-up of the StrongMobile the
'Magic Dragon'. He explained that,
since all of the more obvious names had already been used previously by others,
he chose to recognize that the
fan blows out of the gills, so, it seemed appropriate to call it "Puff,
the Magic Dragon". It's also reminiscent of the
primordial flying dinosaurs, or pterosaurs.
Classical names such as "Pegasus" or "buraq" were rejected.
Persons who operate the Dragons may think of themselves as "Dragon
Drivers" or "Dragon Masters".
The main design desiderata
for the Magic Dragon are that it should be simple, safe, convenient, and
attractive.
The last item is considered to be a parameter that is impossible for the
designer to measure, since, like beauty,
this is in the mind of the potential users. As an example, the StrongMobile
half-scale model has brought out
exclamations of "Way Cool!- Good Luck!" from the many folks who have
seen it.
While the true
beauty of the StrongMobiles can only be experienced in actual operation, the
design that
provides the operation is very unique.
Briefly, a
two-seat StrongMobile trades the two rear seats of a typical automobile for its
flight components,
or, said another way, it trades the two seats of a four-seat airplane for the
added weight of the road components.
In the same way, the four-seat version trades off two seats of a six-seat
airplane for road components or two seats of a
six-seat automobile for aircraft components. Thus, the users can pay just as
much cost and burn twice the gas to carry
half the payload in half the time, with freedom to choose their own times and
places and door-to-door convenience.
(Note: at about 20 m.p.g; no data is available for cars m.p.g. at 160 m.p.h.
for comparison)
While it's
relatively simple to set down the desired performance, the task of designing a
machine that has a good chance
of achieving this performance is quite another thing. (Even though the
inventor was a member of Mensa and Intertel,
and had the help of many mentors stretching back to the beginnings of inventing,
the design has been under study for
several decades on a spare time basis, due to the problems involved.)
The main features
of the Magic Dragon are that:
1) it is a fully integrated automobile and airplane that carries its wings and
tail with it; and
2) transformation between airplane and automobile modes may be done with a push
of a button, like magic.
Engine and road
drive design is driven by the requirement for heavy-duty 'workhorse' operation
with high availability
and minimum maintenance. The use of converted automobile engines and drive
trains that can go for 100,000 miles
between scheduled maintenance actions (other than Lube, Oil, and Filter) is
highly desired for maximum availability.
The propulsion
controls and instruments are simplified to eliminate traditional aircraft items
such as magneto switches,
mixture controls, primer controls, propeller pitch controls, cowl flap
controls, and so on.
Fuel flow is measured via totalizer to reduce hazards of unintentional
exhaustion.
There are two choices of Subaru conversions, * Eggenfellner and * Crossflow
There are also three choices of Wankel rotary conversions, * Atkins or * Mistral , or * Powersport
Other more powerful potential engines for the four-seat StrongMobiles are the *Vesta LS1/2 conversions.
The ducted fan is bifurcated to exhaust along the sides of the body and the
wing root, so
the top and bottom of the body are not exposed to the jetwash and so have less
drag.
The fan may be
adapted or custom-made COTS by manufacturers such as * AeroComposites.
The enclosed fan
is expected to reduce the noise level from about 107 pndB to about 70 pndB
as contrasted to a conventional propeller.
A conventional off-the-shelf automotive muffler system will be used.
An adapter from
the engine to the fan and the road drive shaft is required and must be
developed. The drive train uses
a drive shaft from the engine to the rear wheel transaxle or hybrid unit. The
preferred item is the Corvette transaxle, which
has an excellent record, costs about $3,000, and weighs about 250 pounds.
Similar mechanisms may be adequate.
Back to * MENU
Current StrongMobile Design 3-Views & Data Sheets
Shorter Take-Off & Landing versions are feasible for those who desire more
utility.
Operators may choose to use two Dragons for many jobs that require four seat
capacity
or use the four-seat version; however, the design and development of the
four-seat version
is considered to be a challenging venture.
For those who need more capacity, a six-cylinder, four-seat stretched version
may satisfy.
Those
who have a need for speed may like the SpeeDragon concept.
Back to *
MENU
Business Plan & Financial Model for Full-Scale
Production
The plan is to reach out to non-legacy broad
market composed of organizational
users who need to travel regionally and frequently, about two-thirds of buyers.
The production plan is to first make high-end versions (flagship class) for
maximum
value and investment pay-off, then make lower priced models.
When people ask,
"How much will a Magic Dragon cost to build and own and operate?",
the honest answer is,"Whatever people are willing to pay for it.". A
rough estimate for a basic,
home-built version, is about $90,000, with the cost of the engine and power
subsystems
accounting for the lion's share. Buying a factory-built Magic Dragon may cost
twice as much
to pay for labor and overhead, with savings in scale.
Of course, an aircar inherently is an automobile, so this must be factored into
the cost
equation, since it avoids the cost of an automobile. The savings in travel time
and convenience
and extension of travel range would exceed the cost for many owners, renters,
or leasers.
Insurance costs may be lower, due to the safety features described at * Safety, Risk Management, and Legal Aspects.
One may assume
Magic Dragon life cycle of 10 years; calculations are for 10 years at 1,000
flight hours and
10,000 road miles per year. For business use, owners may expense the cost of
leasing or owning and operating their Dragons.
With a service
life of about ten years, the components for transformation should be designed
for about 10,000 cycles.
Kit builders may
plan on investing a few hundred dollars per week over a period of a few years
of part-time
work. As an example, they may spend an average of $400 per week over three
years, for a total of about $60,000,
while working an average of about twenty hours per week. The Dragon Lair
central kit factory may provide the chassis
and suspension with the power subsystems, including transaxle and fan.
Investors/prospective
buyers would be informed of TACRA survey results regarding prices for
manufactured or kit Dragons.
During the survey period, a concurrent cost analysis may be done to determine
the required funding; when the investment
required and the survey match, the program light will turn green. As an
example, "Plan A" would involve 1,000 Dragoneers
willing to deposit 10% of the price toward development, with a guaranteed
delivery price of $190K for a manufactured and
certified basic Magic Dragon. "Plan B" might involve 1,000 Dragoneers
willing to deposit 10% each for a guaranteed
delivery price of $145 for a kit they would build on the 51% rule, without
certification.
The finances of
the three main players in the buying or leasing scenario are described below.
MANUFACTURER:
Develops aircar - invests $10M for engineering, tooling;
Sets up plant, human resources, suppliers, insurers for production;
Produces 2,000 units per year at unit cost of $75,000;
Produces parts for maintenance and repair;
Sells aircars and parts for 30% profit ($20,000); and
Sets up dealer/buyer financing at 10%, earning 10%-prime rate of ~6%.
DEALER/LESSOR:
Sets up sales and service, training, and leasing;
Purchases X aircars for $100,000 each at 8% interest for 20 years with monthly
payments of ~$2,000X;
Leases aircars for 100 hours per month, 1,000 hours per year, at $150 per
flight hour;
Pays operation and maintenance costs of $75 per hour $7,500 per month each;
Pays for facility, employees, etc. ~$4,000 per month spread over X;
Earns profit of $15,000 - $7,500 - $2,000 - $4,000 = $1,500 per month each;
Performs service/maintenance/repair as required; and
Operates training center and charter-taxi services.
OWNER/LESSEE:
-Users cost $100 per hour each of two, operate flying 6+ hours per day, 25
hours per week, 100 hours per month;
-Owner buys aircar on $120,000, 10-year 6% loan for $3,000 per month;
-Owner pays fuel, maintenance, insurance of $125/hr for 100 hrs, $12,500/mo;
-Owner avoids user costs of $200/hr for 100 hrs, $20,000/month;
-Lessee leases for $150 per hour to lessees; or
-Cost avoidance of $200 per hour for each flight hour, based on typical trips,
$20,000 per month, saving
=$20,000 - $15,000 lease cost = $5,000 per month.
As an
alternative, development, test and evaluation, and production may be done by a
group of Makers:
Lead Develops aircar - invests $20M @ 12% for 20 years startup with $1M from 20
makers;
Makers produce 100 units per year at unit cost of $75K, ( ~$7.5 M), earning
$10k per unit, repay $1M;
Produce parts for maintenance and repair and accessories;
Sells units and parts for 15% net after-tax profit (~$1.5 M); and
Sets up dealer/buyer financing at 10%, earning 10%-prime rate of ~6%.
Several co-owner
organizations or individuals could time-share use of their StrongMobiles and
share expenses.
Other factors
such as prestige, business opportunities, quality of life for users should also
be considered.
After production
of the two-seat version gets underway, the manufacturer may wish to pay off the
start-up loan or
go into development of the four-seat version. When the loans are paid off and
production ramps up, then the market may be
ripe for lower-priced versions for a broader market.
One last comment
about patents and intellectual property. Although it may seem questionable, the
inventor looks at it
this way. He has published most of the changes to his last patent on the web
and in professional publications, such as
an SAE paper, to make sure the invention is in the public domain so that the
changes cannot be patented by anyone else
and so block progress. He realizes that investors would prefer to have
exclusivity; however, he feels that it's more important
for many to compete on the basis of merit, rather than assuring one party large
profits. So, anyone may feel free to use
any of the features that he has published, with attribution to
www.strongware.com.
The 'Magic Dragon' Aircar Development Project
Designing the 'Magic Dragon' aircar prototype
is a personal "labor of love" work in progress.
The project is personally funded by the inventor at a $5K per year level. The
design was begun several decades ago
and improvements are made daily. The design is now considered to be mature
enough to proceed with prototype
development, so, the inventor is proceeding with developing his own Magic
Dragon. The information provided here
is offered so thatindividuals, groups, or organizations who are interested in
building their own Magic Dragons can
participate in forming a cadrefor further development. The Air-Car Research
Association, TACRA, was
established in 2005, so anyone can join by sending an application at *Associate Application.
If you
would like to reserve a production StrongMobile by making a deposit, then you
may send in a
survey form to identify your requirements and a deposit of 10% of the estimated
price.
Currently, work
is concentrated on showing the full-size mockup fotos at various meetings.
Long-range planning by the inventor working alone is that it will likely take
about five years to build, test, drive,
and fly. An alternative is to enlist the support of aircar fans and investors
and developers.
One may assume
that there are many folks who are not only curious about aircars, but actually
would buy or
lease and use them if they were available. However, production by a
manufacturer is controversial
because of the potential for liability litigation. The StrongMobile Development
Program is intended to
provide an alternative way for Dragon Drivers to construct their aircars as
amateur-built aircraft, with
plans and parts to be made available, in about three person-years of effort.
Initially, a group of builders
may organize as a "Lead Cadre" to build two or three or more Dragons,
on a co-owner basis.
Their organization may be formalized as a non-profit charitable organization.
Some Dragons may be
built for personal use and some more to sell or lease to others and so pay for
the personal Dragons.
A network of Dragoneer Centers with facilities for parts and kits, building,
and testing
may be developed. Later on, the Centers may be used for training, rentals and
leasing, and servicing.
Franchises may be used in cooperative information-sharing and specialized
building. Some teams
may grow into production factories, doing purchasing and distributing,
sub-assembly, and parts
for others. Eventually, some teams may build Dragons for resale and become
manufacturers.
Development and
production of the "Magic Dragon" aircar is considered to be a viable
enterprise
that would satisfy a niche market and provide a profitable venture for an
extensive period of time.
This may involve a planned operational use of, say, 10,000 Dragons in about 10
years, 20,000 in operation
within 15 years, and,ultimately, tens of thousands of aircars in use within 20
years. Within a decade,
FAA type certification may be obtained to allow charter/taxi or othercommercial
use.
There may be many other applications that may be done better with
StrongMobiles,
such as defense liaison as a dual use program. Others may include high-urgency
cargo.
Work on the full-size mock-up model is complete.
After building the half-scale model and displaying
it to the public directly and in various publications and presentations and
gaining confidence in the general acceptance of
the Magic Dragon design, the full-size model construction was begun. The barn
was built in 2001 and 2002 to house the
mock-up model, at a cost of about $5,000 and a year of work. The decision to
omit any power in the mock-up model was
made to shorten the build time and avoid costs, with the main goal of
presenting the overall model to the travelling public
and potential developers as soon as practical. Much more detail and realism are
built into the full-size Magic Dragon model,
such as the Chevy Geo Metro suspension and rack and pinion steering, seats and
steering wheel, and the movable flight
surfaces. The mock-up was and is very useful for defining and refining the many
dimensions, from both technical and general
acceptance viewpoints. Dimensions for the cabin were considered first, since
people don't change much over time.
The control arrangement was checked out with simulated operation.
The design for using the steering wheel, brake pedal, and accelarator pedal
only for driving and
the Joyce stick, rudder pedals, and throttle only for flying was verified,
so a minimum of re-training and change of habits is needed.
This emphasizes that the throttle controls rate of climb and
the stick (with elevator trim button) controls speed.
The semi-stowable steering wheel (1) is for driving. The center “T” stick (2)
is for flying. Flight throttle (3) is on left door. Road gear shift (4) is for
driving. Accelerator pedal and foot brake (5,6) are on the floor as usual.
Rudder pedals (7) are stowable for driving.
The basic chassis framework was built first to
provide a basis for the rest of the design.
Adapting and attaching of the automotive components, suspension, wheels, tires,
and steering, steering wheel, and
seats from recycled compact car parts was done next. The fan, maw, and duct
were mocked up and installed. The use
of composite materials (Bondo, reenforced screen) was built into the maw and
duct. The cabin, seating (from recycled
compact car parts), doors, and controls seem comfortable. Glazing the
windshield, side windows, and skylights were
relatively simple. Details such as safety belts and mirrors were added, along
with cup holders. Throughout the
designing and building, close attention was paid to defining the dimensions and
improving building skills, including
the sequence of construction. Many areas were brought to light, including the
overall size and weight
(about 3,000 pounds). Lesson learned: the suspension needs to be bigger wheels
(13" to 14") and stronger suspension.
Most of the skin construction consisted of flat or single-curvature panels,
except for the intake maw and centerbody,
the outer duct walls, the windshield crown, the wingroot fairings, and the
fairings at the top of the fins joining to the
tailplane. This implies that tooling costs for production will be lower, with
man-hour estimates of 2,000 hours initially
decreasing to 1,000 hours with learning.
The high point of the project occurred when the
model was rolled out of the barn and the wings were spread
and locked in place. All in all, the inventor is pleased with the mockup and
spends many hours sitting in the cockpit,
simulating operations, including cross-wind take-offs and landings. (The
inventor also verified the use of the left-hand
throttle and right-hand stick-yoke operation, similar to his experience flying
the F-16 simulator.) He also checked visibility
and simulated enjoying the view of the scene from inside.
You are cordially invited to visit and view the
mock-up model. Call, E-mail, or write Rich to make an appointment.
Several activities introduced the Magic Dragon
to the public in the past few years:
- The half-scale model was displayed in the
2002 4th of July "Parade of Planes" in the Dayton area;
- The model was displayed at the 2002 U.S.
Air And Trade Show;
- Advertisements were published in EAA's
SPORT AVIATION;
- A presentation was given at the EAA
AirVenture 2000 and 2001;
- Feature articles were published by James
Cummings in the DAYTON DAILY NEWS
and by Brian Albrecht in the CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER; - A presentation was made at the Engineers
Club of Dayton's Barn Gang;
- The inventor spent much of the year 2001
constructing the "Dragon's Lair", a barn type of facility
in which a full-scale mockup was to be built; - The inventor was a guest on National
Public Radio's TALK OF THE NATION on January 3rd for
interview on the segment on futuristic cars; - The inventor presented papers at the
Society of Automotive Engineers conferences in March, 2002
in Detroit, as part of a panel on Achieving Lighter Weight Vehicles, and in April in Wichita; - The inventor presented for a Sigma Xi
meeting at the General Motors Technical Center in June 2003;
- The inventor presented the slide show at
the EAA AirVenture 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005/6/7/8 Forums
(audiotape is available from dcyeoman@juno.com ask for #5-5-8; - Presentations were made at the AIAA/ICAS
International Symposium in Dayton on July 14-17, 2003,
as a poster session and at the EAA AirVenture on August 1st as a talk. - MSNBC Science Editor Alan Boyle mentioned
this website on his website in November 2003,
resulting in over 1,000 requests above the usual 24 requests per day. - Presentation was made to the Dayton-Cincinnati
Section of AIAA in March 2004; and
- Poster exhibit and forum presentation were
performed at AirVenture 2004.
- Poster exhibit and forum presentation were
performed at Sun 'n Fun in 2005.
- This website has had over 10,000 hits from
over 4,000 hosts and organizations; this includes
several manufacturers, dozens of government organizations, including defense, dozens of universities, and
over a hundred international organizations.
The website ISP reports that hundreds of *Universities and School Districts have visited,
so perhaps some would like to take on some development by way of detail
designing.
A sampling of 200 recent visitors show the distribution among those that are:
non-identifiable, business, academic, and governmental. A brief listing of
recent visitors (65 screens) is shown at *visitorlist
With about 10,000
requests over the past few years, a counter was installed on March 1st, 2006.
On average recently, around 800 visits are received monthly.
You can ignore the first '1' digit.
Several
activities were accomplished in2005 year to inform folks about the Magic Dragon
Project.
A presentation
was given to the Dayton-Cincinnati Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics
and Astronautics Conference.
A slide show presentation was made at Sun n' Fun in April
A poster and
videotape exhibit was shown at the AOPA Fly-In and Open House at Frederick MD
in June, where a hundred or so folks picked up brochures, surveys, and CDs.
Monday, August
01, 2005
The Experimental Aircraft Association, EAA, * AirVenture ® 2005 was a truly
big show,
with many thousands of people attending. My exhibit display site was very well
located at an intersection of roads
leading to and from the show. I estimate about ten thousand people took a look
while passing by and about a thousand
took photos of the Magic Dragon full-size mock-up model. Many were curious
about what the placard announcing the
mock-up meant, so I explained it was a model preview of the future. Hundreds of
viewers were very enthusiastic about
the project and the unique design of the Dragon. About a hundred or so visitors
sat in the cockpit and wiggled the
steering wheel and flight controls; all were pleased with the roominess.
Several news organizations sent reporters to
make photos and gather facts about it. A visitor wrote my son Ed, who is a
NASA-JSC engineer-manager with a yen
for a Cozy, that "there was nothing like your father's exhibit anywhere
else at EAA". He noticed there was someone
there every time he passed". One visitor remarked, "Looks like a
fighter plane". One said the cockpit visibility was
poor; he was invited to check it out from the pilot's seat; he did, then said
it was much better than he had imagined.
About a hundred visitors picked up PEP survey and member applications of the
non-profit Air Car Research Association.
. Several news
organizations sent reporters to make photos and gather facts, such as *
Aero News Network
with a repeat by Deidre Woollard in *
Luxist .
The EAA Museum’s
TIMELESS VOICES folks who interviewed the inventor at Sun n’ Fun were very
impressed and the
AirVenture photographer made several photos.
Many visitors asked detailed questions about the technical aspects, such as the
lifting body and the ducted fan.
Some of the frequently asked questions concerned the proposed engine, the make
of the chassis, and performance.
Some visitors asked about the cost; I explained that the convenience of the
Dragon would lead to higher production
and lower unit cost, about $140k. Overall, the exhibit was a resounding success
in terms of verifying the acceptance of
the Dragon design and business scheme. Some discussed the investment potential
for venture capitalists, bearing in
mind that the invention is in the public domain so anyone can make and use
Magic Dragons. The forum presentation
also was very good. One attendee asked if the intended usage of 1,000 flight
hours per year was correct, since it equated
to about three hours per day; I explained that the Dragon was intended to be a
heavy-duty workhorse. One visitor
summed up his reaction when he said, "Now, this is the kind of new idea
that we came to AirVenture to see."
(If a supply of certified Magic Dragons had been available, then many visitors
said they would have
placed an order for them on the spot. )
AirVenture
2006/7/8 was minus the mockup model due to the inventor's recovery from a
quadruple bypass operation;
however, forum presentations were made.
The model is currently being stored.
You can send Emails to * Rich Strong.
Who's Doing This?* Rich Strong's Curriculum Vitae
Contact Rich at
937-236-0361. Recording machines are used.
USPS address is:
R. A. Strong, 7514 Belle Plaine Drive, Dayton OH 45424-3229
Copyright 2008 Richard Allen Strong. All rights reserved.