First flying car prepares for take-off

World’s first flying car prepares for take-off
Mark Harris
IS it a car? Is it a plane? Actually it’s both. The first flying automobile, 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 road 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 into 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 100bhp 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 petrol at a cruising speed of 115mph. Up to now, however, it has been tested only on roads at up to 90mph.
Dietrich said he had already received 40 orders, despite an expected retail price of $200,000 (£132,000).
“For an airplane that’s very reasonable, but for a car that’s very much at the high end,” he conceded.
There are still one or two drawbacks. Getting insurance may be a little tricky and finding somewhere to take off may not be straightforward: the only place in the US in which it is legal to take off from a road is Alaska.
Dietrich is optimistic. He said: “In the long term we have the potential to make air travel practical for individuals at a price that would meet or beat driving, with huge time savings.”
business.timesonline.co.uk...

I know I know they tried this in the 1950’s but it shows that even with all the doom and gloom people are still thinking outside the bank, I mean the Box.

I’m sure there are many other neat ideas coming close to truisms out there by people that see through the muck muck toward a positive future.
Do you know of any??

i just saw this on huffington post today,,, and was gonna post it,,, wow,,,,you got it 3 months ago


but i think there was another plane/car combo made in the 1960's in the US

Neat. But not exactly the "first" flying car.

1956 Aerocar


Cheers!!!!

see i knew one existed b4,,, although few were made


also my bad-----i read it as posted on oct 1,,, you know 10-1 instead of jan 10,,,,, and i'm not even dislexic










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www.goldenwingsmuseum.com...'s/Aero%20Car-1.jpg

[edit on 11-1-2009 by shortywarn]

compleast load of jetsons...

lol i cant see some copper asking are you flyng under the infulence..LOL

ah well here is to doom n glooom

great idea.. pitty we suck as implementing it :p

car will be kind for now... well untill oil runs out..

can i get a battery car/flying thing?? i want to save my carbon footprint.. maybe i can ask honda?

If you are more into the classic saucer shape, here is one that will set you back about 125k, but looks like alot of fun to fly.

Fancy Saucer


Cheers!!!!

Then there is the Moller Skycar
See Video

[edit on 11-1-2009 by shortywarn]

rf burns.....
i had a feeling you were mentioning the moller merlin 2000 or such,,, but in my head i pictured the 5 or 6 engine one


also---he's made no progress on this-----i first saw this when i was 6 or 10.. my mom ordered me some aviation book,,,,,you got a binder and each month they sent you pages to file into the sections,,,,,a page was sent on this moller merler to put in the exp. section of my binder,,,, and it still looks exactly the same today as thn almost 15-20 years later

Most people can't handle a car on the ground let alone flying one.


Baaaad idea!

im sory to say but u are correct..

aint gunna happen

I’m sure there are many other neat ideas coming close to truisms out there by people that see through the muck muck toward a positive future.
Do you know of any??


Here's one
Japanese scientist Mayu Yamamoto of the International Medical Center of Japan managed to extract a vanilla fragrance and flavor from cow dung.
2007 Winners of Ig Nobel Prize

I guess this means the end of cow pie throwing contests in the near future.