This Pilot Tried To Fly a Plane Built From a 1971 Ford Pinto

When it comes to American made cars there are as few that as well known as the Ford Pinto for being a terrible car. Some go as far as to blame cars like the Ford Pinto for being the reason that Japanese car manufacturers were able to come to the United States and take over the industry.

But that did not stop one company from believing that they could turn the Ford Pinto in a car that could not only drive on the road but could fly as well. This was an ambitious project because the Ford Pinto had a hard enough time driving on the road and had issues that made it a dangerous car for flying. Namely the fact that the Ford Pinto tended to catch fire if it was tapped on the rear bumper.

Advanced Vehicle Engineers in 1971 and until 1973 decided that they would try to combine the Ford Pinto with Cessna Skymaster. The company was founded by Henry Smolinski, who graduated from Northrop Institute of Technology with a degree in aeronautical engineering. He founded the company with the goal of creating a car that could drive on the road and easily take off and fly.

The design of the car was done as a matter of simplicity. The Cessna Skymaster has a pod-and-twin boom design that made it perfect for attaching to a car. After removing the engine and passenger space of the plane they were able to attach the air frame to the car. The Ford Pinto was chosen partially because it was a lightweight car, a necessity for the Skymaster frame to be able to lift it in the air. The company planned to have the air frame custom built for the Ford Pinto once they were successful in getting their Cessna/Ford hybrid off the ground.

By 1973 there were two prototypes of the flying car built. It was named the AVE Mizar and several taxi tests were performed in May 1973. The car was fitted with a Teledyne Continental Motors 210 horsepower engine which would be used for driving on the road and for takeoff, but once the flying car was in the air, the engine would be shut off. The car would land on all four wheels and then telescoping wing supports would allow the frame to be tied down. The air frame was also designed so that it could be easily unbolted from the Ford Pinto.

The AVE Mizar had its first test flight on September 11^th, 1973.

This Pilot Tried To Fly a Plane Built From a 1971 Ford Pinto — www.taringa.net

The AVE Mizar was piloted by Charles Janisse on August 26^th, 1973. Soon after takeoff the right wing strut mounting base detached. Charles felt that turning the aircraft would put too much stress on the wing which was now unsupported so he decided to land the plane in a bean field. The nearby roadway was then closed to traffic so that Charles could drive the otherwise undamaged plane back to the airstrip.

Despite the initial failure the flying car still sparked the imagination and many people were excited to watch its development. Smolinski had a massive ad campaign filled with sales pitches and press conferences, he promised that the vehicle was so easy to use that even a woman could attach and detach the fame. He even said that it would be affordable at only $18,000. The hype around the car was so big that the AVE Mizar was already being written into the script of the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun. The designers of the AVE Mizer were so confident in the success of their plane that when Charles Janisse was unavailable for the next test flight Henry Smolinski and his associate Harold Blake flew the car themselves.

On September 11^th, 1973 the Mizar took off and once again the wing strut detached from the plane. The air traffic controller watched through binoculars at the tower and saw the right wing fold when Smolinski tried to turn the plane. Without the wing support, the wing could not take the force of the turn. With one wing down, Smolinski could not control the plane and it crashed in a fiery explosion, likely not helped by the fact that the Pinto had a reputation for bursting into flames when it crashed.

Both Henry Smolinski and Harold Blake were killed in the crash. Investigations found that the Mizar was poorly designed and had loose parts. The welds attaching the wing support to the Pinto were poorly done which was likely the reason for the failure of the support in both test flights. Additionally, it was found that the weight of the Pinto with the engine was already over the gross weight of the Skymaster. The addition of passengers and fuel the weight far exceeded what the air frame was designed for.

With the devastating crash the Mizar project was scrapped and AVE was shut down. The Man with a Golden Gun was changed to no longer feature the Mizar and the flying Pinto was never attempted again. However, Smolinski did manage to create a car that could drive on the road, take off and land which was a massive accomplishment.

Capacity: Three passengers and 1 pilot

Range: 1,000+ miles

Cruising Speed: 130 miles

Ceiling: 12,000 feet

This Pilot Tried To Fly a Plane Built From a 1971 Ford Pinto

The AVE Mizar had its first test flight on September 11th, 1973.

The AVE Mizar had its first test flight on September 11^th, 1973.