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{{short description|Canadian engineer (born 1936)}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Paul Sandner Moller
|birth_place = [[Fruitvale, British Columbia]], Canada
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|12|11}} 
}}

'''Paul Sandner Moller''' (born December 11, 1936, in [[Fruitvale, British Columbia]], Canada) is a [[Canadian]] [[engineer]] who has spent over fifty years developing the [[Moller Skycar]] personal [[VTOL|vertical takeoff and landing]] (VTOL) vehicle. The engine technology developed for the Skycar has also been adapted as a [[Unmanned aerial vehicle|UAV]] platform called  the "aerobot".<ref>[https://moller.com/moller_aerobot.html aerobot] <!--{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716032933/http://www.moller.com/aerobot/ |date=2006-07-16 }}--> from Moller.com</ref> The rotapower engine itself has been spun off to a separate Moller company, Freedom Motors.

==Education==
Moller holds several degrees and certifications:
* D.A.M. (Diploma Aircraft Maintenance), [[Provincial Institute of Technology and Art]], 1957
* D.A.E. (Diploma Aeronautical Engineering), Provincial Institute of Technology and Art 1958<ref>{{cite web |title=School University Awards 1958-05-09 No 1275 |url=http://www.albertagenealogy-research.ca/Lists/1958C/SchoolUniversityAwards1958-05-09No1275.htm |website=Alberta Genealogy Research |access-date=20 June 2022 |quote=Following are members of the 1957-58 graduating class: AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING ... Paul Moller, Fruitvale, B.C.;  ... ART ...  Karen Joanne Moller, Fruitvale, B.C.;}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Tech-art record 1957/58 |date=1958 |publisher=[[Provincial Institute of Technology and Art]] |location=Calgary, Alberta |url=https://archive.org/details/N027993 |language=English |via= [[archive.org]] |quote=Yearbook of Alberta's Provincial Institute of Technology and Art. In 1960, the name of the institution becomes the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (S.A.I.T.). <!-- MOLLER, Karen; Fruitvale, B.C.; ? -->}}</ref>
* Master of Engineering, [[McGill University]], 1961
* Ph.D. in Aerodynamics, McGill University, 1963

==Career==

In 1972, Moller founded Supertrapp Industries to market his invention of an engine silencing system. Moller sold Supertrapp in 1988 in order to fund development of his Skycar and its rotapower engine. <!-- source following the links on Moller International's home page http://www.moller.com/ -->

In 2003, the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] sued Moller for civil fraud (''Securities And Exchange Commission v. Moller International, Inc., and Paul S. Moller, Defendants'') in connection with value of shares after the initial public offering of stock, and for making unsubstantiated claims about the performance of the Skycar.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/comp17987.htm |title=Complaint: Moller International, Inc., and Paul S. Moller |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2003-02-19 |website= |publisher=[[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] |accessdate=May 29, 2014}}</ref> Moller settled this lawsuit without admitting guilt by agreeing to a permanent injunction against claiming projected worth of Moller International stock and paying [[United States dollar|US]]$50,000.<ref>[https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr17987.htm Securities And Exchange Commission v. Moller International, Inc., and Paul S. Moller, Defendants] from the [[Securities and Exchange Commission|U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] website</ref> The shareholders of Moller International - collectively known as SOMI ("Shareholders Of Moller International") banded together on a website (no longer active) to  tell the Moller-side of the SEC issue.<ref>[http://www.somi2003.org/index.html SOMI 2013 - Stock Holders of Moller International] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184954/http://www.somi2003.org/index.html |date=2013-10-29 }} website with Moller's side of the SEC settlement story</ref>

Moller was a professor<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ernst |first1=Kurt |title=Cars of Futures Past - Moller M200G Volantor / Neuera |url=https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2014/01/02/cars-of-futures-past-moller-m200g-volantor-neuera |date=January 2, 2014 |access-date=20 June 2022 |work=[[Hemmings Motor News]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220620010245/https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2014/01/02/cars-of-futures-past-moller-m200g-volantor-neuera |archive-date=20 June 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref> of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, from 1963 to 1975,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Flying Car |url=https://www.talkzone.com/episodes/199/CSP102615.html |website=The Conspiracy Show |publisher=Talkzone |access-date=20 June 2022 |date=October 25, 2015}}</ref> at the [[University of California, Davis]] and lives in [[Davis, California|Davis]]. He was featured in ''[[Popular Science]]''{{'}}s January 2005 issue<ref>{{cite magazine | first = Jeff | last = Wise | url = http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/08b889c49db84010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html | title = Paul Moller: Artful Dodger, with Eyes on the Prize | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060313225440/http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/08b889c49db84010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html |archivedate=2006-03-13 | magazine = [[Popular Science]] | date = January 1, 2005 | accessdate = 2009-09-24 }}</ref> and appeared on the radio show ''[[Coast To Coast AM]]''.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}

In 2007, Moller announced that the [[M200G Volantor]], a successor to the Moller Skycar, would hopefully be on the market in the United States by early 2008.<ref name=BBC>{{Cite news | url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6970031.stm | title = 'Flying saucer' nears US take-off | work = [[BBC News]] | date = 2007-08-30 | access-date = 2007-08-30}}</ref> His proposed Autovolantor model includes an all-electric version powered by [[Altairnano]] batteries.<ref>Paul S. Moller [http://www.moller.com/downloads/Autovolantor.pdf Autovolantor –An Automobile That Can Occasionally Operate Above Traffic] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327094634/http://www.moller.com/downloads/Autovolantor.pdf |date=2009-03-27 }}, (presented at the 2008 SAE Wichita Aviation Technology Congress & Exhibition, August 21, 2008), www.moller.com website. Retrieved 09.24.2009.</ref>

Moller is President of Aerobotics Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of Moller International, which designed an aerial system for video inspection of bridges, for [[Caltrans]]. The project was suspended in 2008 after significant issues were identified with the test design.<ref>{{cite web |title=Final Reports |url=http://ahmct.ucdavis.edu/publications/search-publications/ |website=Advanced Highway Maintenance & Construction Technology Research Center |publisher=Department Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering [[University of California at Davis]] |access-date=19 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619215250/http://ahmct.ucdavis.edu/publications/search-publications/ |archive-date=19 June 2022 <!-- https://archive.today/20220619215059/http://ahmct.ucdavis.edu/publications/search-publications/ -->}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Moller |first1=Paul |title=CALTRANS Bridge Inspection Aerial Robot (Final Report) UCD-ARR-08-10-01-01 |url=http://ahmct.ucdavis.edu/pdf/UCD-ARR-08-10-01-01.pdf |website=Advanced Highway Maintenance & Construction Technology Research Center |publisher=Department Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering [[University of California at Davis]] |access-date=19 June 2022 |date=2008}}</ref>

Moller's credibility has been questioned in recent years because of the [[vaporware]] nature of his creations. In April 2009, the ''[[National Post]]'' characterized the Moller M400 Skycar as a 'failure', and described the Moller company as "no longer believable enough to gain investors".<ref>[https://nationalpost.com/cars/story.html?id=1486209, "Flying cars"]{{dead link|date=October 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. ''[[National Post]]'', April 9, 2009</ref>

On May 18, 2009, Moller filed for personal protection under the [[Chapter 11]] reorganization provisions of the federal bankruptcy law, however Moller International (corporation) did not file for bankruptcy and continues to do business {{as of|2013|10|24|df=US|lc=y}}.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} 

By 2009, Moller International had accumulated a deficit of $43.1 million.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Melanie |title=Flying-car developer might lose space, but still driving research |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2009/02/09/story4.html |access-date=20 June 2022 |work=American City Business Journals |date=February 8, 2009}}</ref>

In December 2020, A Moller International newsletter explained that the company remains inactive while waiting for [[Rotapower]] motor production in India.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moller |first=Paul S. |date=December 2020 |title=Moller International/Freedom Motors Dec 2020 Newsletter |url=https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?u=84c20a8ab4539585a29aaaa59&id=9b7e9119da |access-date=July 10, 2025 |website=us2.campaign-archive.com}}</ref>

{{Transcluded section|source=Moller M200G Volantor}}

As of 2025, the last update provided by Moller is a June 2023 newsletter published to their blog which mainly discussed the company's newly obtained ability to sell 300 million additional shares of their company, as well as its legal permission to have a limited amount of share conversions from Moller International shares, to shares of its sister company Freedom Motors. Aside from that financial discussion, the newsletter outlines the benefit of converting to a hybrid power system, where batteries and electric motors are supplemented by the company's Rotapower engines as range extenders.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moller |first=Paul S. |date=June 2023 |title=Moller International/Freedom Motors June 2023 Newsletter |url=https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?u=84c20a8ab4539585a29aaaa59&id=94efb40ff6 |access-date=July 10, 2025 |website=us2.campaign-archive.com}}</ref>

==Media appearances==
* [https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0B2RG25BK/ref=atv%20dp%20share%20cu%20r Father of the Flying Car] (2022)
* [[2057_(TV_series)#"The_Body" | 2057 : "The Body"]] (2007)
* [[Future Fantastic]] (1996)
* [[MythBusters (2005 season)#Episode_32_–_"Jet_Pack"|Mythbusters]] (2005)
* [[Secrets of the Gods]] (''The Force Beyond'') (1977)

== See also ==

* [[Moller Skycar]]
* [[M200G Volantor]]
* [[Moller M200X]]
* [[Flying car]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.moller.com/ Moller International website]
* [http://www.supertrapp.com/ Supertrapp Industries]
* [http://www.freedom-motors.com/ Freedom Motors]
* [http://www.downside.com/scams/moller/ Paul Moller and his flying car] from Downside.com
* [https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_moller_my_dream_of_a_flying_car Paul Moller: My dream of a flying car] | [[TED Talk]] 2004

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moller, Paul}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Aviation inventors]]
[[Category:People from Davis, California]]
[[Category:McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni]]
[[Category:People from the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary]]
[[Category:Canadian expatriates in the United States]]