(Image source: Terrafugia)
BY LEXA DECKERT
ANCHOR JIM FLINK
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How would you like to fly anywhere you wanted on a whim? Now, it’s a reality. A flying car just got the green light for takeoff.
“George and Judy Jetson eat your heart out. This was created by a Massachusetts company called Terrafugia. The Transition is a small private plane -- until it lands and then the wings fold up and you can drive right off the runway.” (ABC)
The FAA approved The Transition last year, but first, it had to meet both aviation and car standards. Mother Nature Network reports Terrafugia’s latest achievement.
“This clearance will have Americans asking one another, why drive when you can fly and drive? The car-plane hybrid can operate as a vehicle on the road and with the flip of a switch, wings will extend and the car will take flight.”
The aircraft can clilmb to more than three thousand meters while carrying two people. In the air, the Transition can reach speeds more than 160 kilometers per hour and on ground it manages highway speeds -- around one hundred thirteen kilometers per hour. (Terrafugia Inc)
Terrafugia is lucky the FAA allowed the Transition to remain a ‘light sport aircraft’ despite being a little heavier than the weight limitations -- and NHTSA had to allow some exemptions for the car too. Emirates 24/7 has details...
“...the main hurdles to approval were the use of motorcycle tires that aren’t approved for multi-purpose vehicles and a polycarbonate windshield, both of which the company says needed to keep the weight of the 970-pound Transition as low as possible for efficient flight.”
People can pre-order the Transition now with a $100,000 down payment -- with a total price tag of $250,000.
As exciting as the idea of a flying car is -- CNN reports on the aspects that still make it less than a Jetson mobile.
“Anyone with a valid drivers lisence can drive them on the road but if you want the flying car to fly, you’re going to need at least a sport flyer’s lisence -- so you gotta get a lisence first. And here’s another stipulation -- you have to actually take off and land at the airport -- you can’t be on the highway.”
Terrafugia plans to do mostly prodcution and testing this year with big market sales in 2012 -- there have already been 100 orders placed.
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