Flying cars at last?
Terrafugia is the newest version of a decades-old dream
The eggheads have been promising us flying cars for more than 90 years, and there actually have been a few during that time. A very early prototype dates back to 1917, and there have been some genuinely clever back-yard versions, along with not a few designed to separate investors from their money.
The latest version of this decades-old dream, an apparently honest attempt to build a mass-produceable flying car, is the Transition, a Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) from a company called Terrafugi. And they’re far enough along in the design, testing and production process that they are taking deposits. Terrafugia Chief Operating Officer Anna Mracek says “Our anticipated purchase price is $148k, and a deposit of 5% of that anticipated price will secure your place in line, but not guarantee that exact price.”
The Transition is designed to make general aviation more practical for personal transportation. The Transition weighs 1,320 pounds, holds two adults and luggage and is powered by a 100 horsepower engine. It drives like a car on public roads and can transition into an aircraft at the nearest airport by lowering its 27-foot wings and taking off. As an aircraft it has a top speed of 130mph, a range of 500 miles, a cruising altitude of 3,500 to 8,000 feet (with a maximum of 12,000 feet) and can carry a payload of 430 pounds. One stop gives you over a thousand miles of range inside eight hours. Then you land and fold up the wings and you’re back on the road.
Animation of the Terrafugia Transition
The Transition delivers 30 mpg in either car or plane mode and promises a true integrated roadable aircraft at an economically compelling price. A prototype is being constructed and deliveries will start in 2009. The Transition will be capable of driving at normal highway speeds, flying at speeds that approach the light sport aircraft ‘Easy-Pilots-License’ limit, and park in a standard garage.
The CEO and CTO of Terrafugia is Carl Dietrich – note that name as he’s been incredibly impressive in everything he’s ever attempted and this is an ambitious play. Of course it’s not just Carl. Terrafugia was founded by Dietrich and a team of high achieving graduates of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is currently based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Dietrich and the Terrafugia team are keen to get his Transition out there because he fears that if a freely available, low cost form of air transportation doesn’t come along, hundreds of airports across America will close. He’s principally betting that the timing is right – Personal Air Vehicles are inevitable, and to date there has been no spark that has ignited public demand, and one that doubles as a car would supercharge the American aviation industry.
“Common wisdom suggests that any vehicle design combining two disparate modes of transportation — flying and driving — will always result in a compromise that will do each task poorly, and, consequently, be unattractive to the marketplace,” says Dietrich. “Advocates say that the potential benefits of such a vehicle could outweigh the performance compromises. Of course, such a bimodal vehicle presents a tremendous engineering challenge, and the devil is in the details. Only those details of the compromise will determine which school of thought is correct.”
Terrafugia Transition Specifications:
Transition is being designed to be a factory certified Light-Sport Airplane.
Two seats, side-by-side.
GTOW: 1320 lbs (600 kg)
Useful Load: 550 lbs (250 kg)
Fuel Capacity: 20 gal (120 lbs / 54 kg)
Engine: 100 hp Rotax 912 S (four-stroke)
Vs = 45 kts (51 mph, 83 km/hr)
Vr = 70 kts (80 mph, 130 km/hr)
Cruise Speed (75% power): 100 kts (115 mph, 185 km/hr)
Fuel Consumption (75% power): 4.5 gph
Range: 400 nm (460 mi, 740 km)
Takeoff Distance over 50 ft obstacle: 1,700 ft (520 m)
Fuel: Super-unleaded autogas
Wingspan: 27.5 ft (8.4 m)
Length: 18.75 ft (5.7 m)
Height: 6.75 ft (2.1 m)
On-Road Width: 6.5 ft (2.0 m)
Development Schedule:
Prototype development now in progress!
Anticipated completion: late 2008
First delivery: late 2009
Editor’s Note: as with all projects of this kind, all information, data and dates are preliminary and subject to change.
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