Robert E. Fulton Jr., 95, Dies; Inventions Included Flying Car

The Airphibian could travel 110 mph in the air and 55 mph on the ground. It got 20 miles to the gallon, and to highlight its practicality, brochures showed a housewife in heels disengaging the car from the rear fuselage with a few twists of a wrench.

In 1950, he flew the craft to Washington's National Airport and then drove it to the Civil Aeronautics Administration headquarters in the District for certification. Although the CAA ordered several planes at $7,500 each, Mr. Fulton ran out of money for the project and sold his controlling interest. The Airphibian, a hit at air shows, soon faltered.

In the 1950s, he began work on his favorite venture: the Skyhook aerial rescue system, which reportedly has been used for clandestine rescue missions.

It worked this way: A plane dropped by parachute a package containing a special suit; a 500-foot, high-strength nylon line; a large inflatable balloon; and a tank of helium. The person would put on the suit, which was attached to the line, which was attached to the balloon. The inflated balloon would rise 500 feet, and the search plane would hook it with a special attachment, secure it and, after a few more maneuvers, pull the person aboard.

Mr. Fulton said that U.S. authorities once considered using the Skyhook to sweep the Dalai Lama out of Tibet in the event of a Chinese invasion.

In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled on the back of a yak.

Mr. Fulton spent his final years sculpting, writing poetry and lecturing. He also liked creating aphorisms, including: "One measure of a man is what he does when he has nothing to do."

His first wife, Florence Coburn "Sally" Fulton, died in 1996. A son from that marriage, Robert E. Fulton III, an aerial cinematographer, died in an air crash in 2002. Mr. Fulton's second wife, Anne Boireau Smith Fulton, also died in 2002.

Survivors include two sons from his first marriage, Rawn Fulton of Bernardston, Mass., and Travis Fulton of Snowmass, Colo.; two stepchildren; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.