Mizar

The AVE Mizar (named after the star Mizar) was a roadable aircraft built between 1971 and 1973 by Advanced Vehicle Engineers (AVE) of Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California. The company was started by Henry Smolinski and Harold Blake, both graduates of Northrop Institute of Technology's aeronautical engineering school. Development Prototypes The prototypes of the Mizar were made by mating the rear portion of a Cessna Skymaster to a Ford Pinto. The pod-and-twin-boom configuration of the Skymaster was a convenient starting point for a hybrid automobile/airplane. The passenger space and front engine of the Skymaster were removed, leaving an airframe ready to attach to a small car. AVE planned to have its own airframe purpose-built by a subcontractor for production models, rather than depending on Cessna for airframes. By mid-1973, two prototypes had been built and three more were under construction. One prototype was slated for static display at a Van Nuys Ford dealership, owned by AVE partner Bert Boeckmann. The other prototype, fitted with a Teledyne Continental Motors engine, was unveiled to the press on May 8, 1973. Both vehicles were photographed by Petersen Publishing photographer Mike Brenner for Hot Rod magazine in late April. It then began a series of taxi tests at Van Nuys Airport. AVE made special arrangements to do flight testing at the U.S. Navy's test facilities at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California. AVE stated that Federal Aviation Administration certification flights were underway in mid-1973.