Sky Commuter Concept Craft for Sale
If you’re nothing like me and you have $50,000 in extra cash just laying around, you might want to check out this wacky item on Ebay.
According to the seller, this is a concept Sky Commuter craft built by Boeing back in the 1980s and is the only model left of its kind. At 14 feet long, 8 feet wide, and a mere 400 lbs., this craft was supposed to revolutionize the automobile and airline industries. The idea was that the craft would be able to "lift off" and fly to its destination, then drive on the road to park like a car.
Buyer beware, however, according to some commenters on this auction, the test crafts never got more than 10 feet off the ground and all ended in crash landings. Not to say that the seller isn’t being honest. He says that it is not functional but that it is a very cool piece of aviation history… and the last of its kind.
If only to indulge your curiosity, check out the auction, pictures, and all the comments it has received at this link. But act fast, the auction will be over in less than 24 hours!
via Dumb.com
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POSTED IN: Dumb Ebay Items, Dumb Pictures, Dumb Science, Just Weird
5 opinions for Sky Commuter Concept Craft for Sale
Steve Carstens
Jan 13, 2008 at 6:27 pm
If I understand this correctly the gentleman selling this device he helpde design while he was an employee paid to worked on this project that was funded by USA tax payer money.
Why should be be allowed to profit off of my money? He earned his salary while working on this project and than some how got hold of it? Now he feels he has the rights to make a 50 or 60 thousand dollar profit for the theif of government equipment. I belive that the officals should step in and place this tax prayer own item in a display for eneryone to see in hope of stemming a desire to find a solution to the average gas powered car.
The overall benifet to the entire population of the USA could be a life changing experence rather than letting a couple of people proft from what our tax dollars paid for.
Once this happens what will become of this vechical, store in a private collection, destroyed, sold to someone that will try to reverse engineer it for thier own profit after the US ax payer has already spent millions on it?
It was my tax dollars that paid his wages, he somehow got hold of it, hid it for 30 years and now thinks he has the rights to make a profit off of a item that belongs to the peopleof the USA not to him. Is it just me or does anyone else smell something wrong with this idea?
Steve C.
Ariel
Jan 13, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Interesting point Steve. You should email him and demand that he hands it over to us, the taxpayers! What do you think, better in the Smithsonian or shared for one day for each taxpayer in America? I call first dibs. :-p
Doug W.
Jan 14, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Just a couple of comments relative to Steve C’s remarks. . . The eBay listing says the device was developed by Boeing engineers, not by Boeing (the Company). I’m a Boeing engineer (retired) and I developed and built a few things that were done on my own time with my own money. The second thing is the listing says the project was financed by 60 investors, and not by Boeing. As for Boeing spending taxpayer dollars, that only happens when it’s a government contract. Each of Boeing’s new commercial airliners is developed with Company funds, and because of the very high development cost, Boeing essentially bets the Company every time it develops a new commercial jet.
As far as this concept vehicle goes, I found it interesting that not one of the pictures in the eBay listing shows any mechanical details. I believe (although I can’t prove this) that this device is a marketing mockup and was never intended to operate and may not even contain any mechanical systems. It is finished and painted much too well to be a true engineering prototype, based upon my personal experience with prototype hardware.
Steve Carstens
Jan 14, 2008 at 10:32 pm
It sure is amazing that no body had anything to say until after I spoke up. I wonder where all the comments were before that? I’ve also worked on Research Projects for serveral large companys like 3M and IBM everything we did on sight belonged to them. So I wonder where this gentleman got the 6 million to do the work allowing him to retain the product like is suggested. Boing must be a very generous employer when it comes to wages and bennfits.
Ariel
Jan 15, 2008 at 10:23 am
In fairness, you did post your first comment within a few hours of the post itself going up! Regardless, Steve thanks for kicking off the discussion!
Have you worked on any interesting and odd products we should be featuring here?
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