Would you pay a $10,000 deposit for a car that currently isn’t allowed on the road? What if that car could also fly? More than 100 people have already paid such a deposit in hopes of owning what could be the first viable combination car and aircraft: the Terrafugia Transition.
Carl Dietrich, the aeronautical engineer behind the successfully tested Transition, originally began working on its plans while he was a doctoral candidate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2006. Years later, the Transition has gotten closer to reaching the mass market than any previous flying-car concept.
The Transition’s development has been aided in part by the FAA’s “light-sport aircraft” (LSA) designation for planes that weigh less than 1,320 pounds and seat up to two passengers. The FAA rules have spurred product development in the LSA segment, making flying cars much more plausible than they were before the LSA regulations.
The Transition will be capable of speeds up to 70 mph on the road and 100 mph in the sky, and will run on regular unleaded gasoline rather than more expensive jet fuel. Dietrich anticipates that the aircraft vehicle will come to market within the next three years.
However, the dream of a road-to-sky vehicle may not be as glorious as it’s hyped up to be. As a very light and small aircraft, the Transition is dangerous to fly in any kind of inclement weather. The Transition also requires access to hundreds of yards of clear road in order to take off or land, presenting problems of access in cities or residential areas. Critics also say that a flying car as it exists today is likely to be neither a great car nor a great airplane, because of its limited capabilities. And with a price tag around $280,000, the Transition will not be affordable for many customers.
But for personal aviation enthusiasts, these hurdles are far from daunting. For those who believe the flying car’s time has come, the Transition marks the start of a new era.
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