[EKaru]

The Terrafugia, a small airplane that can drive on roads and has been billed as the first "flying car," is now one step closer to becoming street- and sky-legal.

The vehicle has cleared a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulatory hurdle for craft classification by weight. A full-fledged production prototype might be just around the corner, according to multiple reports.

At issue was Mass.-based company Terrafugia wanting its Transition vehicle to be classified as a "Light Sport Aircraft" by the FAA so people eager to fly it would need only 20 hours of flying time.

The Terrafugia completed its maiden voyage last March in upstate New York. According to its maker, the Terrafugia can transform from a roadable vehicle that can hit a highway speed of 65 mph to a winged aircraft in 30 seconds.

The plane version can cruise at about 115 mph (185 kph) and cover about 400 miles (644 kilometers) worth of turf before needing a refill of regular unleaded gas.

The price of a Terrafugia is expected to be around $200,000 and deliveries could start next year, assuming the vehicle passes crash tests. The company has envisioned its vehicle as finding a home with amateur pilots who live near air fields, but as any Jetsons' fan knows, flying cars might well be the wave of the future.

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/From-the-ne...learance-VIDEO

[EKaru]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqEVpuqcx8A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSPkIsd9C-U

[Super Gyros]

LOL. Any pedestrian protection tests it's got to pass?

[RSRlover4life]

And it looks so good too

[///M Rat]

Cool - a dual-purpose vehicle that does neither well.

[P4lm3r]

Would make getting away from cops a little easier.

[maditalian]

fukkin awesome!

Work takes me to NYC rather often, so how great is this! i can drive from my office to the closest LSA strip, fly over to nyc lulzering all the way at I-95 traffic, land, drive to the properties and park right in the garage.
Once done, i can just go to the garage, drive to a LSA again, fly to DC, land and drive home.
And if the weather is to bad for flying (a common issue with light aircrafts) i wont get stuck in NYC. I'd just drive it.

Right now the LLC is not big enough to justify a 200k company expense. But one day . . .

thumbs up, big time!

[bimmer777]

Originally Posted by maditalian

fukkin awesome!

Work takes me to NYC rather often, so how great is this! i can drive from my office to the closest LSA strip, fly over to nyc lulzering all the way at I-95 traffic, land, drive to the properties and park right in the garage.
Once done, i can just go to the garage, drive to a LSA again, fly to DC, land and drive home.
And if the weather is to bad for flying (a common issue with light aircrafts) i wont get stuck in NYC. I'd just drive it.

Right now the LLC is not big enough to justify a 200k company expense. But one day . . .

thumbs up, big time!

Why am I not surprised that you are the one who likes this idea...

[maditalian]

Originally Posted by bimmer777

Why am I not surprised that you are the one who likes this idea...

look at it as a business tool, not as a plane nor as a car.

Imagine you do a lot of meetings in the surrounding cities and that you live in a densely populated region such as the Mid-Atlantic.

Driving around will get you often clogged in traffic on the interstates. Plus you will average 65mph not 110.

Flying a Cessna will have you driving to your hanger and land you in an small airport. So you will have to call cabs or figure out ways to get to the meeting or the property. Then you will have to figure out a way to get back to the airport and if the weather is not fit for SA flying, you will get stuck on land and with no means to go back home.

This, as a LSA, can take off and land pretty much in any small stretch of LSA certified land, and upon landing, you will be 100% mobile as you can just drive to where you need.
Inclement weather wont stop you neither as you can just drive it back should the skies be too rough for flying.

Perfect, just perfect.

right now i am too small of a fish to justify that expense, but big boys in the business world will love this. And its obviously a write off as well.
I can see myself getting into this some yrs down the line as the company expands beyond DC, MD and NYC.

last but not least, should i embed myself on land by crash landing this thing, you wont see my my ass around here anymore

[EKaru]