BiPod on its test flight and car via Scaled Composites
While Terrafugia takes pre-orders on their Airplane Car, and Trek Aerospace consider civilian transport, Burt Rutan tests his last airplane before his retirement. BiPod, the flying car from Scaled Composites. A two seater, dual 15 kW motor driven hybrid-electric airplane that just happens to be drivable on the road.
In just four months from the inception of the BiPod, the craft took its first flight on March 30, 2011. Able to reach a 200mph speed, the BiPod can fly a distance of 530 miles. It also have an "overdrive mode," that lets the user fly 760 miles at a slower 100mph. In ground driving mode it can go 35 miles on battery charge alone, or up to 820 miles on a single tank of gas. Batteries in the nose of the craft privide enough power for takeoff, and a reserve of two possible landing attempts for safety.
Two 450CC internal-combustion engines, one in each fuselage, drive generators that in turn power electric motors on the driving wheels and propellers. The driving of a generator by a gasoline motor is also the concept behind the Chevy Volt, under certain conditions. Four propellers, one on each wing and two on the horizontal stabilizer linkage on the tails.
Flight and driving controls are separated between the two fuselage sections. Left side are the flight controls, and right side is for driving. When in driving mode, the wings must be removed and stored between the two halves.
Scaled Composites announced the ambitious project to gauge the response and viability of the BiPod. All the while Burt Rutan spends most of his time working away on his final legacy. Scaled Composite's President Doug Shane said, "[Rutan] was here all the time - he worked really damned hard - and that was a good lesson to all our young engineers that you don't get something for nothing."
Concept design for the BiPod via Scaled Composites
You might recognize some of the past eclectic airplane designs from Burt Rutan and the team at Scaled Composites in the below video. Now you know where they all came from.
Eavesdropper
