Earlier this year we brought you images of the first flight of a road-registered flying car when Terrafugia’s TRA (Transition Roadable Aircraft) made its maiden flight. Now the manufacturer claims its flying car will be available for purchase by 2011.
Terrafugia says the TRA is capable of flying at speeds of up to 185km/h with a range of 725 kilometres in the air, while on road it is capable of just 105km/h. Best of all the TRA can be road registered (in the US), and fits inside a normal parking spot or garage just like any other car. The transformation from winged aircraft to road-going car takes less than 30 seconds.
The manufacturer is currently accepting deposits on the TRA from as little as US$10,000 (AUD$11,150 approx.), though an additional US$185,000 (AUD$206,500 approx.) will need to be paid upon delivery.
that’s stupid. so where are you suppose to land it? on a runway right. well it’s not like there’s runways for us to land on. if it could land and take off like a helicopter, then that’d be cool cause then you could land anywhere
Yes its a bit misleading because the market for this plane is people looking to fly on a budget. The beauty of it is you avoid airport parking fees. Park it a home, drive to airport and off you go. To keep you plane parked at somewhere like Moorabbin can cost as much as 15K per year.
Surely a pilots licence is needed, and those that go to the trouble of getting one surely wouldnt want to be seen in a Jetsons mobile
Of course a pilots licence is needed. It’s a plane. Most drivers have enough trouble thinking in the single dimensionsal world of controlling a simple vehicle on the ground, much less adding two new dimensions of motion.
Someone needs to invent a commercial jetpack instead of persisting with this silly Jetsons idea.
http://www.gizmag.com/the-spri.....way/11593/
Yeah one of these, and similar concepts with a full computer fly by wire control system could even eliminiate the need for a full pilot system. Given the person has full faith in the computer control system..
I’d rather a normal aircraft and a decent road car, then to look like tool driving around with one of these things folded up! Not to mention the damage that could be incured from normal driving on bad roads!!
http://www.gizmag.com/flying-c.....cept/8508/
I think one of these (and similar concepts) will be much more better, albeit significantly further in the future…
If you care more about what other people think than about your own enjoyment, then you deserve exactly what you have, which is neither…
This thing isn’t intended for the rich. This is for people who don’t have boatloads of money but really, really want to fly. It would be far cheaper to run and store than your average plane, and can function as a car so giving up the garage space isn’t such an issue.
I think it’s awesome! I hate flying to outback airstrips 5km from the nearest town and having to organise expensive lifts into town and then not being able to explore the local area without a car. Think of it as a plane that can drive, not a car that can fly
Getting away from Police need never be a problem again with one of these…
Except they will know who you are because surely there wouldnt be more than one dawk in the town getting around in one of these
There’s the little problem that the slowest police car can go faster than this thing can fly, never mind the fact that with a top road speed of 63 mph the police are unlikely to have a reason to stop you… LOL
I think the police are even up on the whole powered flight thing themselves these days so maybe best to keep the speed limit.
After all, loosing your license in this is double punishment because then you can’t fly either.
:-)
I know it is not what we had in mind about the flying car, but it’s good to know that this is the beggining. Hopefully one day will use something different than gas and had a computer pilot with GPS and everything so we don’t need to be pilots to drive them.