Please see the following site.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003243681_aerocar05m.html

This plane/car seems to have been listed for sale since September 06, but this is the first I have heard of it. It's priced a bit out of my price range, but maybe if we all pitched in we could own a piece of aviation/radio history!

Enjoy,

Cullen

I wonder how much a car/plane like that would be worth.

$3.5 million. It's in the article.

Wayne, you are a doorknob.

"Wayne, you are a doorknob."

Please Mrs. M - STOP.

Don't insult those poor doorknobs! They can't help themselves!

For petes sake can't you talk about something besides politics?

we're talking about people asking questions because they're too LAZY to do it themselves. this is another example of a troll, of which you are one. it has nothing to do with politics.

for the benefit of the forum, find ways to contribute to the forum, not suck the life out of it.

"For petes sake can't you talk about something besides politics?"

Now at what point in time did I ever mention politics in here? If you would take the time to read the article, it would answer the vast majority of questions. Don't hate on us for calling you out because of your ineptness or laziness (not sure which one it is).

I did the last media interview with Molt Taylor, the Aerocar inventor, at his home in Longview for KPTV's "NW Reports". At the time of his death he was working on plans for a new Aerocar using a Honda CRX and a custom trailer to carry the wings and tail section when it was being used as a car. He had some detailed drawings and specs, but couldn't find enough backers to make it a reality. Molt had some great photos of the original Aerocar being used as the KISN traffic plane.

Its not necessarily "worth" 3.5M, thats the ASKING price. If nobody offers that much then its not really worth 3.5M!
If the engineering plans, and the business plans, trademark rights, etc. were included, that might help, or maybe not.

Only four were built; only one can fly today.

Note the photo of one flying on Robin Mitchell's page is a retouched factory shot of N101D, compare http://www.1000aircraftphotos.com/PRPhotos/Aerocar.htm with http://www.rma1.com/Audio/index.html

The color touch-up may have been the factory's; see it also at http://www.pilotfriend.com/aircraft%20performance/aerocar.htm

Photo of N103D in Van Nuys in 1959: http://www.1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Coates/1155.htm
Or was it Van Nuys in 1961? http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac3/Classics/TaylorAerocar.html

Today: http://www.fly-colorado.com/aerocars.htm

Whether KISN actually operated an Aerocar (and if so, which), or merely exhibited one in the 1962 Rose Parade and promoted having one is a question which comes to mind. (As if it matters, I suppose.) Note that the legend of the KISN Aerocar even made it into The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1507105,00.html

I remember some controversy about the source of the plane-less station's traffic reports in the later '60s; competitors suspected their reports were being lifted, and in the FCC hearings allegation was made of recorded reports being played randomly. (My guess is a typical Portland rush hour was scripted--"some congestion at the east end of the Ross Island Bridge"--perhaps augmented by any available police accident reports.)

I recall from Baker's Dozen that Burden dodged questions about his sources, intimating it was some kind of secret, and a rumor that the station employed anonymous spotters with binoculars in high-rises circulated for a while as an explanation.

Have your own Aerocar for a million times less! http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Aerocar/aerocar.php (Paper model kit.)

"Don't hate on us for calling you out because of your ineptness or laziness (not sure which one it is)."

My thoughts exactly!!!

If Wayne had clicked on the link, the headline alone answered his question. Politics? Good God! A new low.

Dolt!

I didn't have an actual photo of the KISN Aerocar when writing about it on my website, so I used a generic "aerocar" shot I found on the internet.

Seattle Radio legend Pat O'Day comments on touring the AeroCar plant on this page's link:
http://www.rma1.com/Audio/index.html

Tom Murphy sent me the Seattle Times article when it came out. As mentioned in the article at the top of this thread, KISN indeed did own an aerocar in '62...it was while the Bob Cummings TV show featuring such a vehicle was still airing.

Star Stations National PD, Steve Brown, talked Burden into buying an aerocar for the publicity. "The KISN AeroCar knows Portland traffic, because it's been there!!!"

When it outlived its usefulness they sold it. Murphy mentioned in the past that there were those who felt it was "less than safe." Don't know insurance was like...since it was both a car and a plane.

KISN began airborne traffic reporting in Portland in 1960 with "Scotty Wright" in "The Spirit of Portland." There was so much engine noise, the audio was really hard to hear clearly. As I recall, Aerocar audio was clearer.

It has been an age-old policy of radio to gather info from all sources...including monitoring other airborne reporters. As Lyle Arthur...or any of the KGW "Sky View" reporters who sat in a room projecting into a 2-way for effect...can tell you.

It's all "smoke and mirrors". The information better be good.

Thanks for the info, Robin, and pardon my speculating. Perhaps Burden was impressed by the novelty of the Aerocar, or offered a deal in exchange for the inventor's hope of publicity. It obviously wasn't designed for daily service, though it was probably a safer airplane than automobile.

being an aviation buff, I'd say its the other way around. To get a plane to also perform as a car requires cutting a lot of large safety margins usually found in well designed airplanes. I bet the aerocar was a bear to fly, needed a lot of runway length to take off and land, couldn't fly far or couldn't carry much of a load, let alone handle things like bad weather (wind and ice) and inept piloting very well.

An aerocar made a lousy car and a much worse airplane. But Burden was probably correct that it was an EXCELLENT PR tool!

I can go 12 bucks, I may be able to get some radio investors to take on the rest of the debt, but will probably have to sell off some of the parts

:-)

This morning I was amused to see Fox12's Tony delivering his traffic report from a parked helicopter while they showed ODOT cams. But on closer look I notice they had the foresight to title the screen "flight standby," so it wasn't quite the obvious fudge I first thought.

The Aerocar tale reminded me of a long-ago joke: while we were collecting mail in the radio shack in the Bering to be taken off by HH-52, I drew a cartoon of a mail truck with rotor blades and a tail and put it on the bag. It got a lot of yucks, including the Old Man when he came to drop in a letter. Perhaps I had recalled the Aerocar.

Steve Brown, Vice President of Programming for the Don Burden Stations for most of their existence is alive and well. I forwarded a link to this thread to him as I knew he would enjoy reading it. He has registered with the forum, but since it takes several days to be approved by Dan, Steve asked me to post his comments regarding the car:

HELLO...I'M STEVE BROWN.

YES, I FOUND OUT ABOUT IT, AND TALKED MY GREAT FRIEND AND BOSS DON
BURDEN, (DWB) INTO BUYING IT.

YES, WE HAD THE AEROCAR, YES, WE ACTUALLY USED IT BOTH IN THE AIR AND
ON THE GROUND.

YES, IT WAS TO SOME EXTENT, PROBLEMATICAL.

WHAT MECHANICAL THINGS, AREN'T?

THE POINT IS, IT DID WHAT IT WAS INTENDED TO DO, AND I WAS RIGHT:

I THOUGHT EVERYBODY WOULD WOULD TALK ABOUT IT, IN TERMS OF MENTIONING
KISN, THE POINT OF ALL PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY.

I WAS RIGHT THEN,

AND I AM STILL RIGHT NOW, 40 YEARS LATER.

WE'RE STILL TALKING ABOUT IT, AREN'T WE?

STEVE BROWN
ESSBEE@PHONET.


He went on to provide some comments on a related "hybrid" vehicle he wanted to use for KISN promotion. What Steve doesn't know, but will after reading this post, is that the car described below is now owned by a member of my family and is still operational right here in Omaha.

Steve has registered with this fine forum and will hopefully be active in future weeks whenever something on KISN comes up. He was the guy who lived it.


STEVE BROWN:

I ALSO TRIED TO FIND A CAR I SAW THAT COULD BE USED AS A BOAT, TO DO
OUR "OPERATION WATER WATCH" ON THE WEEKENDS,

AS THE WILLAMETE RIVER, WHICH GOES RIGHT THROUGH DOWNTOWN AND ALL OF
PORTLAND, WOULD USUALLY HAVE ABOUT 500+ BOATERS ON IT STARTING
SATURDAY MORNINGS---MANY DRUNK, AND MOST LISTENING TO KISN!

NOT BEING ABLE TO GET THE CAR/BOAT, I HAD TO SETTLE FOR A TRADED-OUT
38 FOOT TOLLYCRAFT YACHT, SLEEPING 6, WITH ALL THE "AMENITIES" WE
NEEDED TO PROPERLY SUPERVISE "BOATING SAFETY" EVERY AND ALL WEEKENDS.

IT BECAME AN EVERY-WEEKEND STAFF PARTY, UNTIL IT STARTED CONTINUING
INTO SOME MONDAYS, AT WHICH TIME, WE DECIDED TO LIMIT IT'S OVER-ALL
FEASTING, DRINKING, BIKINI SUN-BATHING, WATER SKIING, HANGING-OUT,

........SERIOUS SAFETY PROMOTING, ASSIGNMENT!

AH.

Where DID those days GO?

The Amphibicar? I remember seeing a couple around town back then. Or a surplus DUKW?