# taken to the skies



## bradlupa (22 Jun 2009)

Now if I could afford it, I would love to own.

Read on to find out more.

Flying car coming sooner than you think
Updated Sat. Jun. 20 2009 7:10 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The man behind the Terrafugia Transition, dubbed "The Flying Car," says you could see his vehicle on the road and in the skies as early as 2011. 

The two-seater vehicle completed its first flight last March and just recently completed 27 additional flights, wrapping up the first of a four stage process to bring the Transition into production. 

"It's been very successful," Carl Dietrich, co-founder and CEO of Terrafugia, told CTV's Canada AM in a recent interview. 

"We've got a very good handling vehicle and our test pilot said that the flights were just remarkably unremarkable -- it just flies like a really nice, little airplane." 

The tests were held to demonstrate how the vehicle can drive, fly, and automatically transform between the two. 

Dietrich said the vehicle targets pilots who currently face a number of obstacles that prevent them from flying on a more regular basis. 

"Weather sensitivity is a huge one," he said. 

"This vehicle allows a pilot to at any time, if the weather changes, to divert to the nearest airport, fold up their wings and drive safely under the weather." 

After landing, transforming from plane to car takes the pilot less than 30 seconds. 

Dietrich said a second barrier is the expense of owning an aircraft. 

"With the wings folded up, the vehicle actually fits inside a single car garage," Dietrich said. 

He said that equates to large savings for pilots because they don't have to spend money storing the vehicle in a hangar. 

In the air, the Transition can cruise up to 725 kilometres at more than 115 km/h. 

It has front wheel drive on the road and a propeller for flight. Both modes are powered by unleaded gasoline. 

The vehicle is expected to cost around $200,000 and Dietrich said he already has 60 deposits of $10,000.


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## karl28 (22 Jun 2009)

As far as I am concerned society is not ready for a flying car especially not by 2011 . Come on most  people cant drive a regular car let alone one that flies . I shudder the thought  if these becomes a reality .


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## bradlupa (22 Jun 2009)

very good point but if those that cannot drive get a pilots license then take to the sky i think that there is going to be alot more air collision such that you will get an person that cannot wait in line to land and well the rest will be history


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## FoverF (29 Jun 2009)

In the unlikely event that this is certified as a proper aircraft, then you will still require a pilot's licence to fly one. This is why the flying car has never happened, despite the technology being readily available for more than 50 years.

And although I'm not much of an expert on cars, I'm going to go ahead and say that this will probably never, ever, ever, ever, ever be certified as a production automobile. There are plenty of cars out there made by Big 3 manufacturers that aren't made in Canada because (for example) they don't meet our head-on impact safety standards. As in, actual proper production cars with airbags and everything. What does anybody think the head-on-collision safety rating of this thing would be? 

And god help you if you want to insure the thing, because SOME insurance company SOMEWHERE will probably do it for you, and for the price they're going to ask, you may as well just buy yourself an AH-1 Cobra instead.


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