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Future Cars > Future Cars Reviews > Flying Cars Reviews > Milner AirCar

Milner AirCar
by Ross Bonander, Contributing Writer

Type: Road-able aircraft

Manufacturer: Milner Motors

The Manufacturer Says...

“The patented Milner AirCar will be a completely self-contained four-door, four to five-seat advanced-composite road-able aircraft (flying car) with foldable main wing in the rear of the vehicle and a canard in the front.”


The Critics Say...

It’s too soon for anything but sarcasm from the critical community.


Overview

Founded in 2005, Washington and Vancouver-based Milner Motors is backed by James Milner, a former United Airlines pilot with a solid technical background, and Chris Milner, an instrument-rated pilot.

Their AirCar is at the very early stages, as they’re currently putting together a non-flying prototype (as of January 2008 they have the body completed). The wings fold into a 7 ft by 6 ft box that contains both ducted fans as well as vertical stabilizers. They will be previewing the AirCar and their ElectriCar at the New York Auto Show at the end of March.

At this point they’re estimating that, on the road, the AirCar should comparable in size to the Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. Furthermore, on the road it will be powered by a separate 40hp engine and transmission.


What We Like

• The price. Not that we’re thrilled with an early-stage estimate of $450,000, but at least Milner is being realistic. And that, we like. Call it a breath of fresh air.

• The cockpit. It’s a computer simulation of the dashboard, but holy hell it looks fantastic. The only disappointment is the steering wheel—it looks rather pedestrian set against two jazzy screens featuring instruments and navigation.

• The kit plans. We’re reading that Milner has plans to sell the AirCar initially as a build-it-yourself kit until they have federal certification to sell a fully-built vehicle. We’ve seen this before and if this is what it takes to build the necessary revenue, so be it (unless the kit price is $450,000).


What We Don’t Like

• The fuel. It’s hard to knock them for plans to use conventional gasoline, but this is a futurecars site, concerned with the reducing the reliance on foreign oil.


Milner AirCar Specifications

Propulsion system:Dual 160hp ducted fans
Top Speed: 172 KTAS
Wingspan: 28 ft
Vehicle range: 900 nautical miles
Fuel(s):Conventional gasoline
Tailpipe emissions: Yes


Conclusion

It seems to be a fairly common compulsion—to itemize all the challenges that face a flying car—and Milner is no different. To their credit, they do a far better job than any we’ve seen so far, although it’s hard to read the explanations and still have hope of seeing flying cars in our lifetime.

Nonetheless, we’ll revisit the Milner AirCar as more information becomes available.

More information on the Milner AirCar at:

MilnerMotors.com


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