Many of us who have been stuck in rush hour traffic have wondered when auto makers will finally develop a flying car that can drive on the roads and fly just above the roads. We’ve seen this on television shows such as the Jetsons, and movies such as Star Wars, but I’ll bet most of us never expected the flying car to happen in our lifetime.
The Terrafugia Transitionis scheduled later this month to take its maiden flight. If all goes according to plans, it may be in show rooms within 18 months. This flying car was designed by former NASA engineers. It transforms from a car to a plane in 15 seconds, fits into a normal-sized garage, uses unleaded gasoline, can fly up to 500 miles on a single tank of petrol at a cruising speed of 115mph, has been tested at driving speeds of 90 MPH, and sells for an expected retail price of $200,000.
Many issues must be resolved before the flying car will reach main stream. For example, all flying car drivers will be required to obtain time-intensive FAA pilots license, no state but Alaska allowing pilots to take off from roads, and the price is still out of most of our price ranges. However, if this flying car maiden flight is successful, it signals that the future of the flying car for the masses may be closer than we all expected.
Posted on January 14th, 2009 by Nathan Gwilliam
Filed under: Innovation
Leave a Reply