The first flying car to be certified to fly by the government, known as the Civil Aeronautics Administration, was designed by Robert Fulton
and developed by Continental, a company that he formed in 1945. His version of the flying car was called the Airphibian; it was a plane
with detachable wings, adapted for the road. The prototype was first flown on Nov. 7, 1946. The first production model, FA-2-101, N74153 was powered by an air-cooled modified Franklin 6A4150-3 engine.
*Mr. Chase, I enjoyed talking with you this evening about Robert Fulton's Airphibian propeller.
Our family moved to the Danbury Ct ., and within several weeks my father was employed at Robert Fulton's company, Continental Inc. as an aircraft mechanic working on Fulton's Airphibian. About two years later we moved within a half mile of the company. He, along with a couple of other mechanics, made parts as directed by Fulton, assembled the planes and performed rigorous testing. Fulton made four or five of these planes and each one was different in some way. My dad was not only an employee but was also a friend of Fulton often visiting his home in Newtown Ct. where he had a "hanger" and a grass air strip on his property. Even after the Airphibian he stayed with Fulton through his other "inventions" including the "Fulton Sky Hook", the device that rescued downed pilots. Fulton was always seeking funding for his projects both private individuals and government funding. One of the last financial supports for the Airphibian, I believe, was private or perhaps some corporation. When that ran out and no additional funding was available Fulton had to close the doors. When the shop was being cleared out the "investor" asked my father if he want this propeller. Since dad never turned down anything offered to him he took it home and it was placed in a upper bedroom where it’s been for the past 50 years.
Regards,
Phil Mudge