aeromed202
July 14th, 2011, 15:59
Call me a cynic but I just don't know if we're ready for this.
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The federal government says a flying car called the Transition is street legal. The company that makes the vehicle, Terrafugia, expects the Transition to hit the road or air late next year. Priced at roughly $250,000, Terrafugia says they have already pre-sold 100 of the vehicles. Richard Gersh, the V.P of Business Development for Terrafugia says Florida is one of their top states for pre-orders. Gersh would not reveal how many people in Florida have pre-ordered one of the flying cars, only that the company requires a $10,000 security deposit. The Transition was cleared by the FAA last year.
Terrafugia has been developing the flying car since 2008. The Transition is a long way from cartoon dad George Jetson's flying car zooming above traffic, or even the magical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. "There is no launch button on the (instrument) panel," Gersh noted. Rather, the car-plane has wings that unfold for flying — a process the company says takes one minute — and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to takeoff and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company is pitching the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient — and cheaper — way to fly. They say it eliminates the hassle trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go. When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive hangar fees because you don't have to store it at an airport — you park it in the garage at home. The plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Gas mileage on the road is about 30 mpg. Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal conditions.
Terrafugia is Latin for "escape from the land." The company was founded in 2006 by five Massachusetts Institute of Technology grad students who were also pilots. They received some seed money from the school.
<!-- pagination on --><SCRIPT> (function(){ GEL.register("widget.PaginationWidget", { type: "script", depends: ["widget"], requires: ["util.Selector"], path: "widgets/pagination/paginationController.js" }); GEL.thepage.initializer.addInitRoutine({ name: "pagination", callback: initPaginator, namespace: ["widget.GELTabs", "widget.AdBanner", "anim.YUIAnimator", "analytics","widget.PaginationWidget"], priority: 20 }); function initPaginator(){ GEL.thepage.artpg= new GEL.widget.GELTabs("artpagination", { changeEvent: "click", viewtrackevent: "paneChange", wrap: false, scrollAnchor: document.body, autoRotate:false, positionBanners: true, activeIndex:0 }); GEL.thepage.artpg.init(); GEL.thepage.artpgController = new GEL.widget.artPagination("artpagination"); GEL.thepage.artpgController.init(); }})(); </SCRIPT>The Associated Press contributed to this report
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Maybe if if it was strictly for qualified pilots it's just another aircraft but I wonder how strict it will be. I mean shoot- was going to get one till I saw it was no Jetsons machine. Phooey.
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The federal government says a flying car called the Transition is street legal. The company that makes the vehicle, Terrafugia, expects the Transition to hit the road or air late next year. Priced at roughly $250,000, Terrafugia says they have already pre-sold 100 of the vehicles. Richard Gersh, the V.P of Business Development for Terrafugia says Florida is one of their top states for pre-orders. Gersh would not reveal how many people in Florida have pre-ordered one of the flying cars, only that the company requires a $10,000 security deposit. The Transition was cleared by the FAA last year.
Terrafugia has been developing the flying car since 2008. The Transition is a long way from cartoon dad George Jetson's flying car zooming above traffic, or even the magical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. "There is no launch button on the (instrument) panel," Gersh noted. Rather, the car-plane has wings that unfold for flying — a process the company says takes one minute — and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to takeoff and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company is pitching the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient — and cheaper — way to fly. They say it eliminates the hassle trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go. When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive hangar fees because you don't have to store it at an airport — you park it in the garage at home. The plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Gas mileage on the road is about 30 mpg. Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal conditions.
Terrafugia is Latin for "escape from the land." The company was founded in 2006 by five Massachusetts Institute of Technology grad students who were also pilots. They received some seed money from the school.
<!-- pagination on --><SCRIPT> (function(){ GEL.register("widget.PaginationWidget", { type: "script", depends: ["widget"], requires: ["util.Selector"], path: "widgets/pagination/paginationController.js" }); GEL.thepage.initializer.addInitRoutine({ name: "pagination", callback: initPaginator, namespace: ["widget.GELTabs", "widget.AdBanner", "anim.YUIAnimator", "analytics","widget.PaginationWidget"], priority: 20 }); function initPaginator(){ GEL.thepage.artpg= new GEL.widget.GELTabs("artpagination", { changeEvent: "click", viewtrackevent: "paneChange", wrap: false, scrollAnchor: document.body, autoRotate:false, positionBanners: true, activeIndex:0 }); GEL.thepage.artpg.init(); GEL.thepage.artpgController = new GEL.widget.artPagination("artpagination"); GEL.thepage.artpgController.init(); }})(); </SCRIPT>The Associated Press contributed to this report
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Maybe if if it was strictly for qualified pilots it's just another aircraft but I wonder how strict it will be. I mean shoot- was going to get one till I saw it was no Jetsons machine. Phooey.