Imagine getting off a plane and not worrying about finding a ride to your home or hotel. It may be possible sooner than you think.Two Ohio State engineers are working to develop a hatchback aircraft that opens from the rear to load a motorcycle of up to 250 pounds. They call it the Killdeer project, named after a bird that is equally adept in the air and on the ground.Mike McKee and Matthew Curran, both OSU graduate students in engineering, were approached by OSU alumnus Andy Ross in October of 1995 to help construct a plane with some unique characteristics.”We work closely with our sponsor Andy Ross,” McKee said. “We meet with him on a weekly basis. He is very involved with the design of the plane.”Ross has a law degree from OSU but is an engineer at heart, McKee said. Repeated attempts to reach Ross were unsuccessful.”Ross was looking for something in a plane that he never had seen before,” McKee said.The main goal of the Killdeer project is to construct a plane that has excellent visibility from the cockpit and can carry ground transportation, he said.Gerald Gregorek, chairman of the OSU Department of Aerospace Engineering, Applied Mechanics and Aviation, said in the beginning there were five different concept planes. Ross chose the one he felt would satisfy his requirements.”This project has been interesting and fun,” McKee said. “I especially enjoy the hands-on experience of it all.””We had a lot of undergrad help with the project, which was a great learning experience for them also,” Gregorek said.Curran said the Killdeer project has been a huge team effort. “I am very pleased with the results,” he said. “Its been great being able to be part of a design that began as a blank sheet of paper, then moving it on to wind-tunnel testing and actually seeing the fruits of our efforts.”The Killdeer project is almost complete. It is currently in the OSU wind tunnel to verifying its design. If the design proves to be aerodynamically sound, Ross will take it to a manufacturer.Gregorek said the wind tunnel tests done thus far show the plane performs how they had anticipated.”We expect it to fly, and fly correctly,” he said.