Terrafugia's flying car makes maiden voyage

[Naim 6]

March 18, 2009 1:27 PM PDT

 

Terrafugia's flying car makes maiden voyage

by Jonathan Skillings

 

It may look like a Volkswagen Beetle in the belly of a carp, but the Terrafugia Transition (at right) is a bona fide flying car.

(Credit: Terrafugia)

 

See VIDEO here:

 

The start-up Terrafugia first popped up on our radar screens in early 2006 with a one-fifth scale model, $30,000 in prize money, and an urge to build a car that could fly. Or is that an airplane you can take on the highway?

 

Some signs point strongly to the latter. Terrafugia describes its Transition vehicle as a "roadable aircraft" and is pitching it in part as giving private pilots an easy travel alternative when bad weather makes flying a bad idea, or simply to avoid having to take a separate car to the airport. Also, in the eyes of the Federal Aviation Administration, the vehicle falls into the light sport aircraft category.

 

On March 5, Terrafugia got to show that--whatever the eventual business prospects--the Transition can indeed fly. The maiden voyage (the duration wasn't specified) took place at the Plattsburgh International Airport in New York, with a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve colonel in the pilot's seat. The flight followed six months of static, road, and taxi testing.

 

As a car, the two-seat Transition is designed to be easy on garages and oncoming traffic--its wings fold up quite snugly. In folded mode, the approximately 19-foot-long vehicle is 80 inches wide, and 6 feet, 9 inches high. As an airplane, it stands a few inches shorter and has a wingspan of 27 feet, 6 inches.

 

The vehicle runs off unleaded fuel from your run-of-the-mill gas station for both terrestrial and aerial travel, cruising at highway speeds on land and better than 115 miles per hour in the air.

 

But Woburn, Mass.-based Terrafugia (Latin for "escape from land") still has a long road ahead of it. The vehicle that flew earlier this month is still just a proof of concept, and a production prototype has yet to be built, tested, and certified. The company says it expects to make the first customer delivery of a Transition in 2011.

 

http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10000560-1.html

 

 

 

 

 

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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a...flying car?

 

by Rachelle Murcia & KOMO Staff

 

Originally printed at http://www.katu.com/news/weird/41473332.html

 

SEATTLE -- It seems the future is now.

 

Flying cars have long been talked about as a child of the future. But a company in Massachusetts just announced it will soon sell planes you can drive on the road. It will be, more or less, a flying car.

 

KOMO News obtained video of the first flight of the Terrafugia Transition. Its looks may not be very impressive, but the flying car could help the future of transportation take off in a new direction.

 

Transition requires little transition between air and land travel. The driver can essentially go from the runway right to the road.

 

Its wings fold up and the vehicle becomes a fuel-efficient two-seater car. It gets 30 miles on a gallon of unleaded gas, and is small enough to fit in a normal garage.

 

The flying car has an accelerator and a brake pedal just like a regular car. And for flying maneuvers, there's a stick under the steering wheel, a throttle on the center console and a rudder pedal by the feet.

 

Carl Dietrich, CEO of Terrafugia, is one of five MIT grads who have been working on the project with engineers since 2006.

 

At the first test run earlier this week, Dietrich watched his concept finally come to life. Retired Air Force Col. Phil Meteer got to do the honors.

 

"It was just rock-solid," Meteer said. "The controls responded just like any normal airplane. In fact, I made the comment that it was remarkable for being unremarkable. It just flew like a really nice airplane."

 

Operators will need at least a sport pilot license, and the Transition can fly no more than about 400 miles per trip.

 

But there's still more testing and perfecting planned before the future will be yours for the taking. Terrafugia is taking orders for the Transition now, but deliveries won't be made until 2011. Each vehicle runs around $194,000.

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Edited March 19, 2009 by Naim

[Wilber Tan 0]

gosh, i will like to have 1!!!

[Naim 6]

gosh, i will like to have 1!!!

 

US194k a pop, not inclusive of local taxes and the precious AP.

[Wilber Tan 0]

about 1 S420 BenZ?? not tad bad...

[Kevin Teh 0]

Looks pretty cool! Imagine there is a runway infront of your house, taxi out and take off... avoid all the jam!

Edited March 19, 2009 by Kevin Teh

[Nik H. 3]

US194k a pop, not inclusive of local taxes and the precious AP.

 

Dumb idea the flying car. Really dumb idea. Its probably a poor handling car, and is also an inefficient airplane.

 

USD194k @ 3.7 = RM717k.

 

Good 2nd hand Cessna 172 with 4 seats = RM 300,000.

Good 2nd hand Lotus Elise with 2 seats = RM 130,000

Still have RM RM 280k in hand, enough to pay for maintenance, hangarage and lots of flying costs for the Cessna. And petrol for the Lotus.

And when its time to sell the Cessna, you'd probably get back your investment. Likewise the Lotus.

 

The 172 will fly better than the 'ahem' flying car, and the Lotus will eat up Ferraris when the roads starts twisting.

 

The Flying car is more likely to remain grounded as a comercial project.

[Seth K 3]

I would rather buy Ferrari with that kind of money

[Simon 3]

Not a great idea but the idea is there

[Naim 6]

Not a great idea but the idea is there

 

I'd wait for an anti-gravity machine. VTOL, silent, fast, and the lot!

 

Edited March 19, 2009 by Naim