Imagine cruising down a California freeway in your Ford Pinto, only to hit a switch, unleash a set of wings, and soar into the open sky above Los Angeles traffic. In the early 1970s, a group of daring engineers tried to bring this sci-fi fantasy to life with the AVE Mizar—a flying car prototype that combined the humble Ford Pinto with the wings, tail, and engine of a Cessna Skymaster. The result? One of the most bizarre, ambitious, and ultimately tragic chapters in the history of personal aviation.
The Dream of the Flying Car
The quest for a practical flying car has captivated inventors and the public imagination since the dawn of the automobile and the airplane. From the classic tales of The Jetsons to the pages of Popular Mechanics, the flying car has symbolized the ultimate freedom—unshackled from both traffic jams and airport schedules. By the 1970s, new materials and technologies were making vertical flight seem just within reach, and the countercultural, can-do spirit of California was fertile ground for bold experimentation.
Enter Advanced Vehicle Engineers (AVE), founded by Henry Smolinski and Harold Blake. Their vision: to create an economical, easy-to-use flying car by marrying mass-market automotive technology with proven aviation components. Their canvas? The Ford Pinto, a compact, budget-friendly car launched in 1970. Their wings? Off-the-shelf from a Cessna Skymaster.
The AVE Mizar: A Frankenstein’s Monster Takes Flight
The AVE Mizar was, in essence, a Ford Pinto with the rear fuselage, wings, tail, and pusher engine of a Cessna 337 Skymaster bolted onto its roof and trunk. The Skymaster’s rear-mounted Lycoming engine provided thrust in flight, while the Pinto’s own engine handled ground driving. The design promised the best of both worlds: drive to your local airport, attach the flight module, and off you go. Land at your destination, detach the wings, and motor away like any other car.
On paper, the idea was brilliant. The Mizar would be affordable, with AVE projecting a price tag of around $30,000—a steal compared to the cost of a personal plane and a car combined. The transition between flight and road was designed to be simple enough for a single person to manage in a matter of minutes. And the Pinto, as a mass-market vehicle, seemed like the perfect candidate for broad adoption.
The Engineering Gamble
But the devil was very much in the details. The Ford Pinto, while economical and widely produced, was never designed to be airborne. Bolting on the heavy, draggy components of a twin-boom Cessna imposed enormous stresses on the car’s chassis and structure. Weight and balance became a nightmare for the engineers. Early test flights revealed alarming flex and instability in the airframe, as the Pinto’s body struggled to cope with aerodynamic forces it was never meant to endure.
Further complicating matters was the Mizar’s unique hybridization of flight and road systems. The car’s controls and the aircraft’s controls had to be integrated, with redundant safety measures in place for both modes. Transitioning from driving to flying required careful coordination—not only mechanically, but also in terms of pilot/driver skill. Even basic questions like crashworthiness, stall behavior, and emergency procedures took on new complexity in this hybrid machine.
The Fatal Flight
Despite these challenges, AVE pressed on. Prototypes were built and incremental test flights were conducted throughout 1973. On September 11th of that year, Smolinski and Blake took the Mizar up for another test flight near Camarillo, California. This would prove to be the project’s tragic end.
Shortly after takeoff, a critical structural failure occurred. Investigators later determined that one of the right wing struts had detached from its mounting point on the Pinto’s body, causing the right wing to partially separate from the car. The Mizar rolled, crashed, and exploded in a fiery wreck, killing both men instantly. The dream of the flying Pinto died with its creators.
Why the Mizar Mattered
In retrospect, the Mizar’s failure was perhaps inevitable. The technical challenges of safely hybridizing a car and an airplane were simply too great given the materials and engineering knowledge of the era. Still, the project left an indelible mark on the collective imagination of aviation and automotive enthusiasts alike.
The Mizar’s saga is a textbook case of "what could go wrong, did go wrong" in experimental aviation. It underscored the need for rigorous structural analysis, thorough flight testing, and the importance of not cutting corners with safety—especially when repurposing components never intended to work together. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation into the accident highlighted the dangers of mixing aviation and automotive design philosophies without adequate oversight.
Yet, for all its flaws, the Mizar was a trailblazer. It proved that the public’s appetite for flying cars was real, and that there was a market—however niche—for personal air vehicles that could bring the freedom of flight to the masses. The media attention surrounding the project inspired countless garage tinkerers and professional engineers alike to keep dreaming, keep building, and keep pushing the envelope of what’s possible.
The Legacy: Lessons for Today’s Flying Car Revolution
Fast-forward to today, and the dream of the flying car is closer than ever. Companies like Terrafugia, PAL-V, and AeroMobil are developing sophisticated, roadable aircraft using lightweight composites, advanced avionics, and safety features far beyond what was available in the 1970s. Vertical lift technologies (think: eVTOL) promise urban air mobility that would have seemed like magic to the AVE team.
Yet, the lessons of the Mizar remain relevant. Modern flying car developers must grapple with the same fundamental issues of weight, balance, crashworthiness, and dual-mode safety certification. Regulatory bodies like the FAA now demand rigorous proof of airworthiness, and the integration of automotive and aviation systems is more seamless—but still fraught with challenges. The AVE Mizar’s legacy is a cautionary tale about the dangers of overconfidence, but also a testament to the audacity of those who dare to dream big.
Conclusion: The Pinto That Tried to Fly
The AVE Mizar remains one of the most audacious and infamous experiments in aviation history. Its brief, fiery existence is a story of innovation, risk, and the indomitable human spirit that refuses to be earthbound. While the flying Pinto fell apart—literally and figuratively—it paved the way for today’s visionaries to try, fail, and try again. For every successful leap in aviation, there are failed projects like the Mizar that pushed the envelope, challenged conventional thinking, and inspired generations of dreamers to imagine a world where the sky is truly the limit.
So the next time you hear about flying car startups raising millions or see concept art of futuristic VTOL taxis, remember the AVE Mizar: the flying Pinto that soared—if only for a moment—on the wings of wild ambition.
