The AVCEN Jetpod was a design proposal for a very quiet aircraft that could take off and land in short distances (STOL), developed by Avcen Limited, a company incorporated on 18 October 1988 which became a subsidiary of the Hong Kong–based company, Profit Sky Group Ltd.[1]
A number of applications were proposed, including as a military transport, an executive transport, and as a short to medium-range air taxi. Avcen Limited was the British-based headquarters while Avcen Limited Malaysia was based at Patimas Technology Centre, Technology Park, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.[2] According to Avcen's publicity materials, the Jetpod's maximum speed was designed to be 550 km/h (340 mph; 300 kn). It would need only 125 metres (137 yards) to take-off or land, allowing runways to be constructed close to the center of major cities, and would be sufficiently quiet to not be noticeable above city traffic.[citation needed]
At 12:30 p.m. on the 16th of August, 2009[3] a just-completed prototype Jetpod crashed, killing the founder of Avcen, Michael Robert Dacre, who was the sole occupant. Dacre had attempted to take off three times and on the fourth successfully lifted off and climbed to 200 meters. then the aircraft became uncontrollable and crashed. [4][5][6] According to Taiping deputy police chief Syed A. Wahab Syed A. Majid, the company had not obtained permission from the Royal Malaysian Air Force to conduct the flight tests.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Avcen Limited on Duedil".
- ^ Inventor killed in Jetpod crash, The Star, 17 August 2009. Retrieved: 18 October 2009
- ^ "Accident Avcen Jetpod -, Sunday 16 August 2009".
- ^ "Accident Avcen Jetpod -, Sunday 16 August 2009".
- ^ British aviation pioneer dies after prototype crashes in Malaysia[dead link], The Times, 17 August 2009. Retrieved: 18 October 2009
- ^ Flying taxi crashes on test flight, killing its UK inventor (Update 2), The Star, 16 August 2009. Retrieved: 18 October 2009
- ^ Pesawat terhempas, juruterbang maut Archived 24 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Utusan Malaysia (In Malay), 17 August 2009. Retrieved: 18 October 2009
External links
edit- Video of the crash showing what craft looked like before takeoff
- Another video of the crash from a different angle
- Video of the crash aftermath
- Gizmag article on the jetpod
- Avcen Limited's website
- CAD Images of the "jet pod"
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