Turbopod

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© 2016 Jason O’Neil. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse    01/04/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5049-7026-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-7025-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-7048-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015921044

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1    Flight

Chapter 2    Santiago

Chapter 3    Patent

Chapter 4    Kharbarovsk

Chapter 5    Phone Calls

Chapter 6    E-Fan

Chapter 7    Stuttgart

Chapter 8    Ordos

Chapter 9    Export

Chapter 10    Urban Flyer

Chapter 11    Kingsbury Mine

Chapter 12    Riverine

Chapter 13    Five Stars

Chapter 14    Certification

Chapter 15    Roll-Out

Chapter 16    Homestead

Chapter 17    Gold Run

Chapter 18    Chin Chin Po

Chapter 19    White House

Chapter 20    Midas Touch

Chapter 21    Sky Battle 1

Chapter 22    Decision

Chapter 23    Sky Battle 2

Chapter 24    Race Day

Chapter 25    Medals

Chapter 26    Deep Space

Chapter 1

FLIGHT

The sun shone brightly over Key Biscayne, Florida, as the Flynn brothers sat poolside. The conversation moved effortlessly from sports to politics and then, inevitably, to their groundbreaking work.

Murray, did you know that on his deathbed in 1519, Leonardo da Vinci said one of his regrets was he had not flown? Matt asked his brother. Thirty-nine years earlier he sketched a helicopter, but even today, almost 600 years later, safe personal human flight is not a reality. You know many lives have been lost and fortunes squandered pursuing the dream of flight? For crying out loud, Paul Moller has spent almost a quarter of a billion dollars on his Skycar, and he has yet to prove the thing even works.

Murray finished his iced tea as his brother continued, Your invention, the Red Box, changes everything. It’s the enabler because it means gravity is no longer an obstacle to be overcome. We are free to develop an automobile that can fly and land on and take off from water. It’s a car, an airplane, a helicopter, and a boat that doesn’t use fossil fuel. And with the Situation Awareness Suite, this new Turbopod is the safest vehicle on the planet.

Murray knew better than to stop his brother when he was on a roll, so he just smiled as Matt went on, barely stopping to take a breath. And your ‘T-Pod’ has two other great advantages: It eliminates gridlock and air pollution. Sitting in traffic isn’t a good use of American time and talent, even if the vehicle is self-driving or autonomous. These vehicles may allow passengers to work on computers while on the road, but they only add to the congestion. Your ingenuity is about to change global transportation forever.

Thanks, brother, Murray said. But let’s see if we can get it approved for use in American airspace first.

It’ll happen, I’m sure of it, Matt said. Most automobile manufacturers already offer electric vehicles. Mercedes-Benz’s B-Class electric car is competitively priced and has some amazing features — it has an electric motor with 177 bhp and 251 pound-foot of torque, regenerative brakes, a lithium-ion battery, and a voice activation system.

It’s a sweet ride, that’s for sure, Murray replied.

And a safe one. Matt said. It has electronic stability control, all-around air bags, emergency SOS services, park assist sensors, forward collision prevention assist, cameras, and inherent crush-zone design.

And to think I spent all that time as a teen learning how to parallel park, Murray joked.

You’re still a horrible parker, Matt said. But what I’m trying to say is that it would be in our best interest to continue working with Mercedes-Benz on the Turbopod. They’ve been producing aircraft and aircraft engines since 1915. After a century, they definitely know the industry, including all its successes and failures. They provided incredible support for our development of the Red Box and the Baldie seaplane — it’s in service in the Caribbean thanks to their help. Plus, they have a world-class R&D center in Sindelfingen near Stuttgart, Germany. And we’re $1 billion richer due to our collaboration on the Baldie.

You’re right, Matt, Murray replied. They’ve been a tremendous partner in our development, test, and production efforts.

So I say we pay a visit to our Mercedes-Benz friends in Santiago, Chile to their composite engineering laboratory and then their production plant in Vance, Alabama. Are you with me? Matt asked.

My bags are already packed, Murray said as he stood up, stretched, and cannonballed into the deep end of the pool, leaving Matt thoroughly drenched.

Chapter 2

SANTIAGO

Murray and his wife, Maggie, an aeronautical engineer and pilot, met Dr. Reiner Strassburg, Chief Engineer of Mercedes-Benz, and Reinhold Timm, Factory Manager at Vance, Alabama, at the Santiago airport after their flight via Baldie from Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize. A helicopter picked up the party and flew 15 minutes north to a modern business park, Centro Comercial Las Brisas, near Colina, Chile.

A long black Mercedes was waiting for them. They drove a mile to a business park filled with modern one-story buildings with white stucco walls and tinted glass windows, all surrounded by lush greenery. It reminded Murray of the high-tech laboratories in Palo Alto, California, with one delightful difference: These buildings were conveniently located in the middle of a golf course, Las Brisas de Chicureo.

The Mercedes laboratory was named after Friedrich Wohler, a famous German organic chemist who discovered aluminum, beryllium, silicone, and titanium, among other compounds. The lab is located near Santiago because the city is only a few hundred miles from the richest lithium deposits on Earth and has the most skilled labor force in Latin America, in particular a cadre that can work with such a potentially volatile substance. Mercedes-Benz has agreements with leading mining companies in Chile and Bolivia to ensure a sufficient and continuous supply of lithium.

The foursome was greeted at the door by Laboratory Manager Patrick Rosenberg, a disarmingly handsome Tel Aviv native who immigrated to Germany only to be hired by Mercedes-Benz and immediately dispatched to this R&D center, family and all.

Welcome, my friends, the 35-year-old engineer said. I have some very exciting things to show you!

Thank you, Patrick, Murray said as he shook his colleague’s hand. We’ve talked on the phone so many times. It’s really nice to meet you in person and discuss how we can make the Turbopod a global sensation.

Both Reiner and Reinhold smiled.

So we have two days to show you our progress, Patrick said. And, of course, you’ll be welcome at my home for dinner.

Patrick, we look forward to your hospitality, and I hope to reciprocate in Miami in the near future. Surely you have relatives there, Murray said.

I’m not sure, but I’ll find one! Patrick said, eliciting a round of laughter from the group.

This way, please, he said as he led the party to a clean room. White panels were spread out on black marble tables and connected to wires, which in turn were connected to a rack of equipment with multicolored blinking lights.

Murray immediately knew that the T-Pod’s panels were being checked for their combined battery strength and ability to hold an electrical charge.

Murray, I think you can see what we’re doing here, Patrick said.

Yes, I can, Murray replied with a confident gleam in his eye. Maggie, Reiner, and Reinhold walked around the room, examining several of the panels. The totality of the battery power confirms our models, doesn’t it?

Yes, with a 20 percent surplus, Patrick answered immediately. There are over 300 volts, which is enough to drive the ducted turbofans and all of the on-board electronics, sensor systems, and parachute deployment, if required.

Patrick picked up a notebook-sized panel and pointed to the edge. On the edge of the panel you can see the dark lithium-ion solid electrolyte and graphite compound sandwiched between the composite sheets with a positive or negative pole on the edge, which snaps into the adjoining panel. This means that when all of the panels are connected, the Turbopod becomes one big battery. And, because so much surface area is exposed, heat buildup is not a problem. A protective circuit module prevents overcharging. Any questions?

The team was silent but nodded its understanding.

Patrick then led them into an adjoining room with a series of hooded machines on work benches.

As you can see, we’ve set up a miniature factory on 3-D printers, all under computer control, he said. These machines make different composite parts of the T-Pod. And they do it around the clock without complaining! The team smiled.

We can say with confidence that the process is imminently scalable, so Reinhold can set up a full assembly line in Vance, where robots will snap the panels together and conduct inline testing for connectivity. I’m happy to report that we’ve been awarded the European patents for the panels and their manufacturing and testing processes.

Perhaps the process can be applied to vehicles besides the T-Pod, Murray said.

"Oh, you’re absolutely right. It reduces