Nationality American Died November 16, 1995 Known for Flying car | Name Moulton Taylor Role Aeronautical engineer | |
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Born 29 September 1912 Portland, Oregon | ||
Aircraft designed Aerocar, Taylor Coot Education University of Washington | ||
Moulton B. "Molt" Taylor (September 29, 1912 – November 16, 1995) was an American aeronautical engineer famed for his work on developing a practical flying car.
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Life
Taylor was born in Portland, Oregon and studied engineering at the University of Washington. After graduation, he was accepted into the United States Navy as a pilot during World War II, and spent much of the war working on the Navy's missile program, for which he was awarded the Legion of Merit medal. Shortly after the war, he designed his first flying car, the Aerocar, and founded Aerocar International in Longview, Washington, to develop, manufacture and market it. To date, it remains the closest that any such design came to actual mass production, but eventually only six were built.
Although Taylor continued to push for the viability of the flying car throughout the rest of his life, he also designed a number of only slightly more conventional designs for the homebuilt aircraft market, including the Taylor Coot amphibian and the Aerocar IMP family of sportsplane designs.
In a 1979 article about the future of flight past the year 2000, Taylor somewhat inaccurately predicted widespread use of flying autos and pusher configurations, however he did accurately predict the mainstream use of carbon materials for lightweight spars and wing ribs.
Awards and honors
He was awarded the Edward Longstreth Medal from the Franklin Institute in 1960. Six days before his death, Taylor was inducted into the Experimental Aircraft Association Hall of Fame.
The Kelso-Longview Regional Airport is also known as the "Molt Taylor Field".