“Look! In the air! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s…a car?”
Yep. And it’s a plane. It’s the Aerocar. And Eric Sweeney can relate to the astonished looks Superman probably got when he first hit Gotham City.
“I love to fly it for the simple fact of the reaction it gets when I’m back on the ground,” says Sweeney from his office at Auburn Airplane Works.
Among the vintage war planes and muscle cars, Sweeney’s slightly space-age Aerocar will be an unusual display at this year’s Pacific Coast Dream Machines Show, April 25 at Half Moon Bay Airport.
Looking a bit like a small SUV with wings on top, the Aerocar was built by inventor Molt Taylor in 1956. It is very different from the single, twin, and jet engine planes Sweeney is used to working on with partners Michael Haisten and Rob Moore.
“Our particular Aerocar is serial #4 out of four preproduction-built Aerocars.”says Sweeney.
He explains that the craft is very maintenance-intensive, as are most preproduction vehicles used on a regular basis. When attending air shows such as Dream Machines, the Aerocar is transported in a large trailer instead of being flown.
“It gets converted between airplane and car more than the design was intended,” says Sweeney. “All of this leads to high maintenance for the small number of hours flown.”
The Aerocar never really took off as a viable mode of transportation. But it did catch the attention of Hollywood. Actor Robert Cummings, a huge aviation buff, used Serial #4 in his 1955-59 TV series “The Bob Cummings Show (later renamed “Love That Bob” in syndication). The Aerocar was an integral part of Cummings role as a dashing photographer and man-about-town.
Like a fading movie star, life for the Aerocar was not so glamorous after Cummings sold it. It was purchased by the owner of a hamburger chain, who used it in parades to promote his business. He then let his teenage sons drive it to school every day, sans the wings. Eventually, it ended up in storage, where a building collapsed on it.
“My father was good friends with Aerocar inventor Molt Taylor, and had gotten a ride in an Aerocar when he was young,” says Eric. “So when (model number) N102D came up for sale in 1986, my dad had to have it. Restoring it was a labor of love.”
Now in son Eric’s hands, the passion for the Aerocar has continued.
“It is a pleasure to show this little slice of aviation history — and my father’s dedication to restoring it — to the crowds at air shows,” he says.
