Terrafugia Transition®: The Flying Car

The Terrafugia Transition is roadable light sport aircraft, has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a ca...

The Terrafugia Transition is roadable light sport aircraft, has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car.
The Transition® combines the unique convenience of being able to fold its wings with the ability to drive on any surface road in a modern personal airplane platform. Stowing the wings for road use and deploying them for flight at the airport is activated from inside the cockpit. The automated electomechanical wing fold and unfold in a touch of button.This unique functionality addresses head-on the issues faced by today’s Private and Sports pilots.

Transition can transform into a plane in about 20 seconds and can then fly up to 500 miles.

Powered by a 100hp Rotax 912ULS engine Transition can reach around 70 miles per hour on the road and 115 in the air. It flies using a 23-gallon(87L) tank of automotive fuel and burns 5 gallons(18.9L) per hour in the air. On the ground, it gets 35 (6.7L/100km)miles per gallon
It has a gross takeoff weight of1430 lbs (650 kg) and can carry a 460 lbs (210 kg) of useful load.
In case of an emergency on air a full vehicle parachute is provided for safe landing.
It also features a modern glass avionics and
latest automotive crash safety features.

Terrafugia says an owner would need to pass a test and complete 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly the Transition, a relatively low hurdle for pilots.
Carl Dietrich, the Transition's inventor, began developing Transition in 2006 at his company headquarters in Terrafugia, near Woburn, Massachusetts.

The first test flights took place in New York in 2009 and Dietrich expects to deliver a finished product to his first 10 customers by next year, with production "ramping up" in 2014.
Transition is priced at 279,000 dollars (pounds 177,000).