Flying Car Finishes 1st Successful Flight

[Roon]

On Wednesday, Terrafugia, Inc., tested out its Transition Roadable Aircraft Proof of Concept, or simply put, a car that can fly and drive, reports CBS station WBZ-TV.

According to the inventor, MIT alum and Terrafugia CEO Carl Dietrich, the "flying car" is a two-seat aircraft designed to take off and land at local airports and drive on any road. The machine has the capability of changing from a plane to a car in less than 30 seconds.
http://wcbstv.com/watercooler/flying.car.flight.2.962172.html

[petronius]

1. Awesome! And it gets 30 mph while driving (so they say)

I wonder if it's legal to just take off from anywhere, or do flying vehicles need to leave the ground from a designated airstrip?

[TheMightyFavog]

2. OK wh have enough problems with vehicles that can be controlled in two dircetions.

Now you want to throw roll, pitch and yaw into the equation? :scared:

[Strong Atheist]

3. Damn! Beat me to it. This is a scary disaster waiting to happen. nt.

[mikeytherat]

11. People cannot get X and Y. Do not, I repeat, do NOT give them Z.

No Z!

mikey_the_rat

[RebelOne]

4. The article doesn't mention its top speed when in the air. n/t

[Greyskye]

7. 100 kts (115 mph)

Performance
Cruise: 100 kts (115 mph)
Rotate: 70 kts (80 mph)
Stall: 45 kts (51 mph)
Range: 400nm (460 mi)
Takeoff over 50' obstacle: 1700' Fuel burn: 5 gph
Fuel tank: 20 gallons
Useful Load: 430 lbs
On road: 30 mpg, highway speeds
Light Sport Aircraft (LSA)


http://www.terrafugia.com/aircraft.html

[guitar man]

5. wait until somebody backs into one in a parking lot

that's not a body repair, that will be an airframe repair and the cost to fix will be way up there. I bet insurance is going to be a bitch for these.

[Blue_Tires]

6. i predict a lot of future weekend cowboy crashes...

they are reckless enough on the roads...

[MajorChode]

10. You would need at least a sport pilot certificate to fly it

It's not as if some yahoo is going to be able to fly this thing with zero training. You'll still need the required hours of training and will have to pass at least 3 different tests to be qualified.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

8. Oy vey.

Now I have to watch for asshole drivers coming from above too.

[Greyskye]

9. Visibility while driving could use some work...

How do you avoid the dinosaurs when you can't see them? :shrug:

[no name no slogan]

12. Is anybody concerned about its acronym?

Transition Roadable Aircraft Proof of Concept == TRAP

I think for now I'll walk (and carry a titanium umbrella).