back to article Jetpod 'flying taxi' inventor dies in prototype crash

The inventor of a potentially revolutionary super-quiet "flying taxi" has died in a crash while test-flying his prototype in Malaysia. That Jetpod range in full Any colour you like. Michael Dacre, MD of British-headquartered Avcen, was at the controls of a "Jetpod" aircraft at Tekah airstrip near Taiping when it crashed …

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  1. Throatwobbler Mangrove
    Thumb Down

    oh

    that's sad. :(

  2. Ludd
    Coat

    Hope this doesn't end development

    I've got a wonderful mental image now of swarms of these things flitting along the Thames buzzing the boats full of tourists... kind of like the Pod Race from Phantom Menace but slightly more genteel...

    Mine's the one with the gaffi stick in the pocket...

  3. DZ-Jay

    Revolutionary?

    Pressumably, other prototypes have crashed also, so how revolutionary is this one if it manages to work just as well as the others?

    -dZ.

  4. The Indomitable Gall

    RIP.

    Condolences to family and loved ones.

    He had the guts to put himself in the way of danger rather than a test pilot -- that makes him one of the good guys in my book.

  5. peter garner
    Unhappy

    Shame!!

    @oh .,.

    Doubly a shame - being able to escape from sh1te-hole Woking in 4 minutes would be something I'd gladly pay 50 quid for!

  6. Anthony 11
    Unhappy

    Sad day

    "This stance may have been motivated by the reflexive and mostly poorly-informed hostility towards the term "flying car" which has come to permeate much of the internet hive-mind in recent times."

    Or, from the sounds of it as described, it may have come from the fact that the design is in no way a car. It's a small quiet light aircraft.

    Can only agree with above comment though. Very sad for his friends and family, as well as the loss to the industry.

  7. Frank Bough
    Unhappy

    Very Sad

    ...I just hope that the machine continues to be developed if it has the engineering merit claimed for it.

  8. MinionZero
    Unhappy

    RIP

    That is very sad news. It appears he died doing what he loved doing, but I feel sorry for his family. I have the utmost respect and admiration for pioneers like him. Sadly history shows too many people fail to support and help pioneers, but where would we be without them. So it takes real guts to stand up and fight for what they believe in, to the point some even risk their own lives in the pursuit of their dreams. We need more pioneers not less.

  9. Apocalypse Later
    Grenade

    well yes but

    "Mr Dacre liked to characterise the design as a "flying taxi", but didn't care for the term "flying car" "

    May I suggest that the real problem seems to have been the word "flying".

  10. h4rm0ny

    Great shame

    Condolences to his family and friends. It's a loss of a visionary. I hope that the project will live on.

  11. Uwe Dippel

    An entrepreneuer he was

    ... and that's the good side of him. Having followed the progress of avcen for the recent years (can almost see the workshop looking out of my window), I never really liked, that since 2006, he told everyone that his flying machine was 3 months away from manufacturing. From what I read on the paper, finally he was trying to force that thing into flying (3 unsuccessful starts in one direction of the runway, followed by 3 unsuccessful starts in the other direction, and a fourth finally lifting him into an uncontrollable situation). Maybe he was more of a business-person than an engineer?

    Sad it is, in any case. Our world has a great need for daring individuals working hard to realise their most fantastic dreams.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    With all due respect to the deceased

    I think further development on this project has now ended. And it is not a flying car. It is a rocket propelled coffin

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    Bummer

    But this hive minder wants his flying car.

    Sorry for friends and family.

    Here's one to you!

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    There are old pilots, and bold pilots...

    Condolences to his family.

    But maybe he should have waited 'til later in his flight-test programme to try the 125m take-off run? Sounds like he had insufficient airspeed to stay up; there's a reason "real" aircraft manufacturers take "baby steps" for the first few flights (and it ain't just to give Mr Page something to bitch about, either). May [insert deity name here] have mercy on his soul.

  15. sun_god

    Umm...

    Had this guy not heard of helicopters before? Personally I'd have much rather had a personal jetpack, but I'm sure the jerk in the BMW jetpack would still cut me off on my way to work.

  16. Lord Elpuss Silver badge
    Coat

    @Apocalypse Later

    Damn - I was getting all ready to cut you to shreds for being frivolous and not adopting the proper respectful tone at the passing of a great man - but to my great shame and embarrassment I couldn't help but laugh at your comment.

    Right. Harrumph. Very sad etc etc. Coat plzkthx

  17. Dillon Pyron
    Unhappy

    Sigh, but ...

    Almost everyone I know who builds their own plane (loads here in the US) has a professional test the plane. Or at least someone who isn't "invested" in it. I'll bail on Mr. Darce's plane where he might well have "ridden it in".

    That said, he was definitely dedicated to getting the project going. My condolences to his family and friends. I agree with others, I hope this continues development. Anything that would get me from Orlando (MCO) to Port Canaveral without paying those f***ing tolls would be worth more than the price of the tolls and the rental car.

    Fifty quid, that's what, $6000? Haven't looked at the exchange rate.

  18. Mike T
    Flame

    @Apocalypse Later

    Perhaps the real problem could be the word "taxi"?

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sad

    Always sad when anyone dies in an accident, I am sure his work will continue.

    Did notice in the picture that the front air taxi has no windows, a slight design flaw perhaps.

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