Terrafugia flying car gets FAA clearance (VIDEO)
Terrafugia flying car has been approved by the FAA and can soon be yours for only about $200,000.
By Adam Hadhazy, TechNewsDaily Staff Writer / June 29, 2010
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.
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The flying car
Terrafugia flying car: The Federal Aviation Administration has finally given approval to the Terrafugia's Transistion, a flying car – or "roadable aircraft" as the company likes to call it – that will soon have us all living like the Jetsons.
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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.
IN PICTURES: The flying car
Yet the two-seater vehicle came in 110 pounds (50 kilograms) overweight in accommodating roadworthy-assuring safety items such as crumple zones. The FAA said that so long as customers are advised about this extra weight, the car-plane hybrid can be sold.
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.
