engineering

Paul Moller

Paul Moller is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Paul Moller rather than just read about it. In short: Paul Sandner Moller (born December 11, 1936, in Fruitvale, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian engineer who has spent over fifty years developing the Moller Skycar personal vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle. The engine technology developed for the Skycar has also been adapted as a UAV platform called the "aerobot".

Key takeaways

Paul Moller belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Paul Moller to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Paul Moller from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Paul Sandner Moller (born December 11, 1936, in Fruitvale, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian engineer who has spent over fifty years developing the Moller Skycar personal vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle. The engine technology developed for the Skycar has also been adapted as a UAV platform called the "aerobot". The rotapower engine itself has been spun off to a separate Moller company, Freedom Motors.

Education Moller holds several degrees and certifications:

D.A.M. (Diploma Aircraft Maintenance), Provincial Institute of Technology and Art, 1957 D.A.E. (Diploma Aeronautical Engineering), Provincial Institute of Technology and Art 1958 Master of Engineering, McGill University, 1961 Ph.D. in Aerodynamics, McGill University, 1963

Career In 1972, Moller founded Supertrapp Industries to market his invention of an engine silencing system. Moller sold Supertrapp in 1988 in order to fund development of his Skycar and its rotapower engine. In 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Moller for civil fraud (Securities And Exchange Commission v. Moller International, Inc., and Paul S. Moller, Defendants) in connection with value of shares after the initial public offering of stock, and for making unsubstantiated claims about the performance of the Skycar. Moller settled this lawsuit without admitting guilt by agreeing to a permanent injunction against claiming projected worth of Moller International stock and paying US$50,000. The shareholders of Moller International - collectively known as SOMI ("Shareholders Of Moller International") banded together on a website (no longer active) to tell the Moller-side of the SEC issue. Moller was a professor of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, from 1963 to 1975, at the University of California, Davis and lives in Davis. He was featured in Popular Science's January 2005 issue and appeared on the radio show Coast To Coast AM. In 2007, Moller announced that the M200G Volantor, a successor to the Moller Skycar, would hopefully be on the market in the United States by early 2008. His proposed Autovolantor model includes an all-electric version powered by Altairnano batteries. Moller is President of Aerobotics Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of Moller International, which designed an aerial system for video inspection of bridges, for Caltrans. The project was suspended in 2008 after significant issues were identified with the test design. Moller's credibility has been questioned in recent years because of the vaporware nature of his creations. In April 2009, the National Post characterized the Moller M400 Skycar as a 'failure', and described the Moller company as "no longer believable enough to gain investors". On May 18, 2009, Moller filed for personal protection under the Chapter 11 reorganization provisions of the federal bankruptcy law, however Moller International (corporation) did not file for bankruptcy and continues to do business as of October 24, 2013. By 2009, Moller International had accumulated a deficit of $43.1 million. In December 2020, A Moller International newsletter explained that the company remains inactive while waiting for Rotapower motor production in India.

In June of 2023, Moller published a newsletter on his blog discussing the forthcoming sale of 300 million additional shares and conversion of a limited amount of shares from Moller International to its sister company Freedom Motors. The newsletter also discusses the benefits of hybrid power systems, where batteries and electric motors are supplemented by Rotapower engines as range extenders.

Media appearances Father of the Flying Car (2022) 2057 : "The Body" (2007) Future Fantastic (1996) Mythbusters (2005) Secrets of the Gods (The Force Beyond) (1977)

See also Moller Skycar M200G Volantor Moller M200X Flying car

References

External links Moller International website Supertrapp Industries Freedom Motors Paul Moller and his flying car from Downside.com Paul Moller: My dream of a flying car | TED Talk 2004

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paul Moller

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paul Moller claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Paul Moller before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Paul Moller ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Paul Moller

In research: Paul Moller appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Paul Moller in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Paul Moller is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1936 births, Aviation inventors, Canadian expatriates in the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paul Moller outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Paul Moller in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Paul Moller means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Paul Moller out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paul Moller in simple terms?

Why does Paul Moller matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Paul Moller?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Paul Moller.