10.7.11

Bridgeport:

Many thanks to the Gordon family for loaning us this Bridgeport mill. We’ve been growing our prototyping capabilities for several upcoming projects. If you require engineering, design or prototyping assistance, we’re always looking for innovative and challenging projects. Please visit our new “Special Applications” page and contact David to discuss your unique needs: 847-651-4373.

09.27.11

MotoPOD in Brazil:

We’re happy to announce that Integris Aviation Group will be representing our products in Brazil. David Clark grew up in Brazil, speaks fluent Portugeses and understands the needs of Brazilian pilots. He’ll be helping our customers navigate the international complications of purchasing, shipping, customs, taxes and installation of our products. Brazil has a growing number of Cirrus and RV-10 owners. However, the general aviation infrastructure is not as developed as the United States. If you’ve found ground transportation to be frustrating in the US then perhaps you can imagine what it’s like to fly in Brazil. We believe our products are an excellent fit for the needs of our Brazilian friends. We look forward to helping pilots around the world overcome their unique needs and travel more freely than ever before. Please contact David Clark for more information.

07.31.11

Airventure 2011:

We had another great show at AirVenture 2011 and enjoyed meeting many wonderful new people. Once again, there was a growing roadable aircraft presence. Just before the show, Scaled Composites announced the first test hops of a new roadable airplane called the BiPod. The BiPod gets its name from its twin fuselage design. It will eventually be equipped with a hybrid propulsion system and the wings will be manually removed and stored between the fuselages during driving mode. Terrafugia displayed a production prototype which features many improvements over the original proof of concept vehicle. We look forward to their first flights, probably in early 2012. ITEC brought their Maverick powered parachutes and Jim Sweeney’s AeroCAR made an appearance at AeroShell Square. A startup company was conducting market research surveys for a new roadable airplane design. However, when asked if I’d like to buy a roadable airplane, I had to politely reply, “No thanks, I already have a flying motorcycle.”

07.23.11

ALEA:

A mock-up sensor pod was displayed at the 41st annual conference of the Airborne Law Enforcement Association. This particular pod will eventually carry a wide-area surveillance package from Persistent Surveillance Systems. Using an array of high-resolution cameras, a single aircraft will be able to watch up to 16 square miles and provide analysts with the equivalent of "Real-time Google Earth with TIVO." Potential applications includes border patrol, harbor security, event monitoring, disaster response, law enforcement and more!

05.15.11

Swiss Pod:

We shipped a pod to our first International customer in Bern, Switzerland. He's currently putting the final touches on his RV-10 and we look forward to posting an update on his first flights!

05.01.11

Generation 2 Improvements:

Our work on certified pods has resulted in some great product improvements. All of these refinements are now available in our experimental pods as well!

Lighter Foam Cores

All of these refinements are now available in our experimental pods as well. In this first picture, we carefully evaluated a new foam core that will shave 2.7 pounds from each pod. A sample of sandwich material was simply supported at the edges, deliberately damaged by impact from brick, and then loaded with more than 1,000 pounds of sand!

In-Mold Primer

What's the number one complaint about fiberglass parts from Van's? Pinholes! We tested a number of in-mold primers in order to eliminate 100% of exterior pinholes. Our pods are now factory finished with a lightweight primer that's easy to sand. Sand the exterior to the desired final grit, then top-coat with your favorite paint system.

Safety Latches

Our new latch system adds new safety features and durable new coatings. A pawl system automatically resets the latch with each use, even if you forget to. Tethered safety pins provide a simple preflight action, since the pins can only be inserted when the latch is properly engaged. Also, once inserted, they provide a redundant locking feature. The new hardware is machined to incredible standards and finished with durable hard chrome.

Kevlar Winch Box

Kevlar has been added to the winch box for its abrasion-resistant properties. This will allow the winch system to operate for decades without showing signs of wear.

Bigger Wheels

New, larger wheels allow the pod to roll better on grass and unpaved surfaces. Sealed ball bearings and machined axle bushings will hold up to years of abuse. This picture shows the first prototype, which was loaded with sand bags and towed around the airport for dozens of miles.

02.12.11

Presentations:

David recently gave his "Motorcycle On Board" presentation to the Vintage Wings and Wheels Museum and several local EAA Chapters. The 60 minute presentation covers the hands-on development and testing of our first belly pods and motorcycle carriers. David usually brings plenty of hardware for show and tell. If your aviation group is looking for a speaker, contact David at MotoPOD@gmail.com

12.15.2011

Swappable Sensor Pods

Stay tuned for updates on our swappable sensor pods. We're working with industry partners to provide a variety of remote sensing packages. MotoPOD can integrate a wide range of equipment, including EO/IR cameras, tracking antennas, cell phone repeaters, PA systems, laser scanners and more. Because our patent-pending belly pods are so easy to attach and remove, it will be possible to reconfigure and airplane for nearly any mission, in less than 60 seconds. Contact us to discuss your unique mission needs.

10.15.10

Test fly our products in X-Plane

Walt Fuller, RV-10 builder #40584, has modeled our products in the X-Plane Flight Simulator. You can download a beautiful RV-10 with our belly pod here. Great job Walt!

09.08.10

Plane & Pilot Magazine, "11 Best New Products"

Plane and Pilot Magazine, a leading aviation publication, has included MotoPOD in the "11 Best New Products" feature article. Click here to read more.

08.08.10

In the News

Following our successful Airventure exhibit, numerous publications have reported on our progress:
General Aviation News, "Flying motorcycle company wins Wolf Aviation Grant"
Aero-News Network, "Wolf Aviation Fund Awards Grant to MotoPod"
EAA E-Hotline, "Flying ‘Kangaroo' Carries Motorcycle in Belly Pouch"
121five.net, "Flying Motorcycle Company"

08.04.10

EAA Airventure Wrap-Up

Our new indoor display attracted plenty of attention at EAA Airventure. Several roadable aircraft companies exhibited prototypes at the convention this year. We're excited to see a growing interest in ground transportation solutions and we will continue to lead the market in performance, cost and practicality. See you next year!

05.02.10

Wolf Aviation Fund

The Wolf Aviation Fund has selected MotoPOD LLC to receive a grant. Since 1992, the organization has awarded special grants for efforts supporting general aviation. We're very thankful for both the recognition and support.

04.01.10

Visit Us At AirVenture 2010

We'd like to meet you. Please visit us at Exhibit Hangar A and see our products up close.

03.26.10

Spring Break Notes

David had an opportunity to visit Florida in a Cirrus SR-22. The airplane wasn't equipped with a street-legal motorcycle so they had to rent a car... just like the early pilots did back in the 1930's. Proving to be a full-time engineer, even during spring break, David documented his "inter-modal delay" for further analysis. Here are some of his notes:

(5:58am, Leaving hotel) (6:26am, Filling rental car with gas) (6:39am, Returned rental car and waiting for taxi) (6:58am, Still waiting...) (7:34am, Arrived at airport) Total Inter-Modal Delay: 96 min.

Further analysis showed that riding a motorcycle directly to the airport would have saved 62 minutes over returning the rental car. The Cirrus + Rental Car combo had a door to door travel time of 7.9 hours and a trip speed of 135.6 knots. The Cirrus + Motorcycle combo would have arrived 43.2 minutes earlier, with a trip speed of 149.2 knots. The savings, which are more profound on shorter trips, are still significant on a 1071 NM flight! Inter-modal delays have a big impact on door-to-door travel performance. Why own a fast airplane if you are going to waste your time with ground delays?

03.16.10

MotoPOD Featured on PilotVids.com

Our 2-minute "Flying to Riding" video was featured on the homepage of www.PilotVids.com, an aviation photo and video website. It's a new website and they are interested in gathering more aviation media. If you have some great photos, please consider posting them for others to enjoy.

03.12.10

RV-10 Hard-Point Kits Are Shipping!

Our NEW and improved RV-10 hard-point kits are finally available. We just shipped a kit to Europe and we're excited that our products will be enjoyed around the world. The kits include pre-drilled sheet metal components, machined billet pieces, complete hardware kit and CAD instruction manual. It's best to install the kit during fuselage construction but it may be installed at any point, including flying airplanes. Our demo airplane received hard-points after accumulating 200 hours of flying.

Check back at the end of the week for more detailed information about the new hard-point kits.

01.25.10

Brake Wedges

With the front wheel removed for a prolonged period of time, the brake calipers have a habit of closing. To prevent this from happening, we fabricated some aluminum "brake wedges." These chamfered spacers quickly slide into place and secure with an elastic bungee.

01.20.10

More Parts

We're busy making parts for another batch of pods and motorcycles. This week, Larry helped weld and machine a batch of passenger pegs. These parts will be anodized next week. Leia helped make fitted blankets, which prevent cargo from scratching the fuselage belly. Thanks for the help!

01.08.10

New Motorcycle Graphics

The folks at Decal Works have designed a professional graphics kit for our folding motorcycles. The sharp new design includes a number of helpful placards and a built-in "Pre-Ride Checklist" for your safety. The colors may be adjusted to match your airplane and each set is customized with your own N-number.

12.05.09

Website Changes

We're giving you more reasons to visit our website: More News, more pictures and more videos. Check back to see what we're working on and how our customers are using their products. We're also adding more interaction so you can share your comments, take a survey or sign-up for our newsletter. We're developing products to serve you so please don't be shy in sharing your needs.

11.01.09

Shipped Another motorcycle

After completing a series of product improvements, we shipped a brand new bike to Martin. From visiting his mother to touring Mexico, Martin plans to put his new vehicle to serious use! We hope he'll send us some postcards.

10.25.09

Upgraded Handlebars

The folding handlebars are now nickel-plated and a new welding fixture assures precise construction. The latch mechanism now has a smoother motion and we gave the latch a "soft lock" for the folded position, allowing the handlebars to unfold a little quicker.

10.18.09

Upgraded Plumbing

The catch-can, which collects fuel from the carb and fuel tank vent, is now even easier to drain. With the addition of a 12V fuel pump, you simply press a button and watch the fuel return to the main tank. Nifty!

09.09.09

New Video

We published a short video clip in response to the GA News article. This real-time clip shows how easy it is to hit the roads in less than 2 minutes.

08.13.09

GA News: From Runway to Highway in 4 Minutes

GA News visited us at Airventure and reported on our products. Despite the title, we can actually hit the roads in under 2 minutes!

There is also an interesting read about roadable aircraft in KitPlanes.

08.05.09

Back from Airventure

We're back from Airventure and working hard to fill orders. Congratulations to Martin, the new owner of our motorcycle-equipped demo airplane. We look forward to hearing about Martin's travels.

07.01.09

MotoPOD Welcomes Intern

Jarred Raymond will be working with us for a few weeks. He's an aerospace engineering student and eager to gain experience with composites.

06.27.09

COPA Migration

MotoPOD exhibited at the COPA convention in Duluth, MN. We're pleased with the level of interest and we plan to begin certification for Cirrus aircraft in the fall.

06.15.09

New Hire

Josh Cisneros is the newest member of the MotoPOD team. Josh is an aerobatic pilot and recently earned his A&P certificate. Welcome aboard!

06.13.09

RV-10 Fly-in

David and Leia attended an RV-10 fly-in at Sheboygan. After lunch, they hopped on the motorcycle visit a state park and enjoy some time on the beach.

06.09.09

Recent Magazine Coverage

Our products appeared in the March/April edition of Pilot Getaways and July issue of Kitplanes.

05.13.09

MotoPOD featured on FullFlap.TV

A British aviation show released a video about MotoPOD LLC. The four minute video looks at how the motorcycle pod improves trip speed and offers a practical alternative to roadable aircraft.

05.12.09

New Quilted Blankets

This high quality moving blanket is custom shaped to fit inside our pods. When draped over your cargo, it protects the aircraft belly from scratches. Quilted blankets are now available in our catalog and more accessories are on the way.

04.29.09

RV-10 FOR SALE (SOLD)

We need a Cirrus so our demo RV-10 is for sale. Own a beautiful airplane with ground transportation. SOLD

04.27.09

MotoPOD Returns from Sun n' Fun:

David brought the demo airplane to Sun n' Fun where it attracted crowds in the homebuilt parking area. He hosted two forums and met with enthusiastic customers. On the way home, David got stuck by a slow-moving cold front. He hopped on the motorcycle and explored the town for several hours before riding to a hotel for the night. The frustrating delay turned into an enjoyable adventure.