Mirror, signal, lift-off: Car that turns into a plane in 15 seconds prepares for take-off

Mirror, signal, lift-off: Car that turns into a plane in 15 seconds prepares for take-off

By Ray Massey
Last updated at 8:50 PM on 11th January 2009

It's long been the fantasy of every motorist stuck in a never - ending traffic jam - a flying car.

Well, the good news is that one is scheduled to take to the skies next month.

The bad news for commuters is that it needs 1,700ft of uncluttered road before it can take off. And it costs £132,000.


The Terrafugia Transition will undergo its first test flight next month

Undeterred, the craft's inventors, who include former Nasa engineers, say it could finally be the breakthrough of a long-held dream - instant travel by air.

Said to be the first flying car with wings that fold up automatically at the push of a button, the Terrafugia Transition should be equally at home in the sky or on the road.

It can switch from being a two-seater road car to a plane in only 15 seconds.

If the vehicle survives its first test flight, it is expected to land in showrooms in about 18 months' time.

Its maker says it is easy to keep and run because it uses normal unleaded fuel and will fit into a garage.


How the flying car shapes up

Carl Dietrich, who runs Massachusetts-based Terrafugia, said: 'This is the first really integrated design where the wings fold up automatically and all the parts are in one vehicle.'

An earlier flying car - the Aerocar of the 1950s, which is still flying today and featured recently on James May's programme Big Ideas - requires the wings to be removed and stowed separately when not flying.

The new Transition is powered by the same 100 brake horsepower engine - about the same power as a Ford Fiesta - on the ground and in the air.

Terrafugia claims it will be able to fly up to 500 miles on a single tank of petrol at a cruising speed of 115mph.

Up to now, however, it has been tested only on roads at up to 90mph.


The vehicle uses normal unleaded fuel and will fit into a garage

Mr Dietrich said he had already received 40 orders, despite the £132,000 price tag, the same as a Bentley or Ferrari.

He said: 'For an airplane that's very reasonable, but for a car that's very much at the high end.'

There are still one or two drawbacks to an idea which has already suffered many false dawns. For example, owners may find it difficult to get insurance.

And finding somewhere to take off may not be straightforward if the driver is away from an airport.

The only place in the U.S. in which it is legal to take off from a road is Alaska. And as well as your driving licence, you will need your pilot's licence.


The flying car could be available in showrooms in 18 months' time

But Mr Dietrich is optimistic that his flying car has a future.

'In the long term we have the potential to make air travel practical for individuals at a price that would meet or beat driving, with huge time savings,' he said.

A flying car - fictional rather than real - featured in the 1970s James Bond movie The Man With The Golden Gun when the villain Scaramanga, played by Christopher Lee, used one to escape Roger Moore's 007.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1112105/Mirror-signal-lift-Car-turns-plane-15-seconds-prepares-off.html