The FAA has cleared the way for cars to fly with their approval of the Terrafugia flying car. The Massachusetts Company has revealed that it will launch its flying cars to customers by late 2011.
The US Federal Aviation Administration has cleared the way for cars to fly with their approval of the Terrafugia Transition a.k.a. flying car or roadable aircraft. With this approval, the Massachusetts based Terrafugia Inc. has revealed that it will launch its flying cars to customers by late 2011.
The Company that was founded five years ago by the graduates of MIT, got the green light from the FAA in the sport aircraft category with a weight limit exemption for the flying car.
The car which has foldable wings, successfully completed road trials and flight testing back in 2008 and 2009. Driving the two-seater car will require a sport pilot certificate. It is designed to drive on any road, and land and takeoff at small airports. The anticipated price tag is $194,000.
Seeing the car flying a “dream come true” remarked Richard Gersh, the Company’s Vice President.
Flying cars are not a new concept, and dates back to 1937 when Waldo Waterman successfully developed and flew the Waterman Aeromobile. It achieved speeds of 112 mph in the air and 56 mph on the ground.
Under the light-sport aircraft regulations, the maximum speed shall be 120 knots and the maximum capacity shall be 2 persons. The sport pilot rules prohibit IFR flight, flights outside the USA, and carrying passengers for hire.
Let’s see how this will affect the already crowded US skies.
Performance
Cruise: 100 kts (115 mph)
Rotate: 70 kts (80 mph)
Stall: 45 kts (51 mph)
Range: 400nm (460 mi)
Takeoff over 50′ obstacle: 1700′ Fuel burn: 5 gph
Fuel tank: 20 gallons
Useful Load: 430 lbs
On road: 30 mpg, highway speeds
Light Sport Aircraft (LSA)
Dimensions
Folded: 6’ 9” tall, 80” wide, 18’ 9” long
Airplane: 6’ 3” tall, 19’ 2” long
Wingspan: 27’ 6” Cockpit: 51” at the shoulder
17 Responses
This is so interesting and so close … unbelievable. I had a chat with my daughter last night talking about the days of rewinding videos and imagining what her daughter will think about today and how antiquated everything will be …wow!
Well, I saw your comment on Kiesha’s blog and said I would come check it out. What a site! So neat, so clean, so inspiring. And, it looks like you have all of your pages just right.
Nice to meet you!
Thanks Kissie! Nice to meet you too. I checked out your blog, and it looks like you are now getting started. Feel free to contact me for technical help, as I’m also a web developer.
Oh wow! This is the first I have heard of this. Of course the price tag…gulp. Still it is fascinating that we are that much closer to flying cars.
I’m thinking that the price tag will keep the crazy drivers on the ground and out of the air.
Hummm, Very interested!…flying car?…I guess so many rich guys would love to have it by 2011. I gotta work harder to get mine by 2012!!!….Thanks for sharing and i will tweet this too..
Now you have something to work towards. I wish you all the best.
This a Scoop article…you know it’s about time. As a kid I always imagined the future with cars and different vehicles flying around, maybe “the Jetsons” effect 😀
Thank you for keeping us posted.
That is very interesting! This is my first time hearing about this. Technology is really on the increase.
Thanks for sharing!
Fair exchange of information. I learnt about the King Fruit from your blog.
Curious idea! So, what - does it take off from a normal road and take off into the sky, or does it need a runway? And if it needs a runway… doesn’t that kinda defeat the purpose of it being a car too?
🙂
I think that the flying car is just a novelty item. You park it in your garage, drive to the nearest airport, unfold the wings and then takeoff. You will never get the best of both worlds with the flying car. Another thing is that it is just a 2-seater.
I had no idea about any of this until I read your blog. I am definitely going to look into this company, I’m very curious all of a sudden.
It feels like someone started a whole company based on a line in Calvin and Hobbes - there’s one part where Calvin audibly complains about the lack of flying cars in his life.
I’m happy to be the source of this kind of news. This is my niche and I love sharing information.
OMG! This really scares me! Do you think this will happen, the 2012 thing. I watched the movie 2012 and it was devastating. What will we all do? DIE?
“Maverick” can reach speed of 150 kilometers per hour ( 90 mph) on the highway. When throw the wings looks like some kind of parachute and can fly up to 100 kilometers ( 60 miles ) at a speed of 65 kilometers per hour (40 mph).
Thanks Barik. A whole new world is opening up here…in 100 years, nobody will be walking. 🙂
I love the Terrafugia transition, though learning to fly/drive this thing might be a challenge. Flying cars have really come a long way from the past, I wrote an article about flying cars throughout history on my blog at http://bowlofknowledge.blogspot.com/2011/08/flyin…