Is it a car? Is it a plane? Actually, it’s both. The first flying car, equally at home in the sky or on the road, is scheduled to take to the air next month.
If it survives its first test flight, the Terrafugia Transition, which can transform itself from a two-seater car to a plane in 15 seconds, is expected to land in showrooms in about 18 months’ time.
Its manufacturer says it is easy to keep and run since it uses normal unleaded fuel and will fit in a garage.
Carl Dietrich, who runs the Massachusetts-based Terrafugia, said: “This is the first really integrated design where the wings fold up automatically and all the parts are in one vehicle.”
The Transition, developed by former NASA engineers, is powered by the same 100 bhp engine on the ground and in the air.
Terrafugia claims it will be able to fly up to 500 miles on a single tank of gas at a cruising speed of 115 mph. Up to now, however, it has only been tested on roads at up to 90 mph.
What do you think? Would you be first in line to purchase one of these? That is, assuming money was no object.
What do you think will happen when it hits 88 mph on land? Will we be instantly transformed into another time? Folding wings or not I still think it is going to take a pretty good sized garage. But it is unique. Let's all go back to the future.
ReplyDeleteI'd be all over that one. That is assuming that you don't need a pilot's license.
ReplyDeleteIt looks more like a hard-body ultralight.
ReplyDeleteWhile high on the cool-factor, probably not. I'd have to find a place to take off and land, and given the realities of take-off/landing, you'd need to allow for circling and taxi time, which would cut into your air time. Would take-off use more fuel versus cruising speed? That just further reduces the distance between pit-stops.
So if you had to land on the frontage/side road of a highway to refuel, you'd be going significantly faster than the speed limit - no doubt. Would you get stopped for speeding as you slowed down to transition into a car? ;-)
Will...you have definitely given this WAY TOO MUCH thought! :)
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