Puzzle 30

John Baez

What happened when Fidel Castro's brother took a ride in this flying car?

A: It ran out of gas and hit a horse.

More precisely: this "aerocar", built by Moulton Taylor in 1956, has a top road speed of 60 miles per hour. It takes five minutes to attach the removable wings and propellor, and it can then fly at 110 miles per hour. The original owner flew it to Havana and gave a ride to Fidel Castro's brother Raul. Unfortunately, it ran out of fuel, so the pilot made an emergency landing on a country road. This frightened a horse, which ran in front of the plane and damaged a wing.

Sources:

• Susan Gilmore, Tired of the commute? All you need is $3.5 million, Seattle Times, September 5, 2006.
• Aerocar goes on auction, Weekend Edition, September 30, 2006, National Public Radio.
• Aerocar, Wikipedia.

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