To All You TSA Haters: Flying Car To Be Released In USA Soon

Rexibit

Rexibit

Automation, I has it.
Oct 21, 2008
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GA, USA
www.matthewwatts.net
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A flying car retailing for $227,000 could be on roads in a matter of months -- and customers are already lining up to be the first to get their hands on one, its maker claims.

Just over a week ago, the Terrafugia Transition passed a significant milestone when it was cleared for takeoff by the U.S. National Highway Safety Administration. It's taken Terrafugia founder Carl Dietrich just five years to realize his dream, with some media outlets reporting that the Transition could now be on U.S. roads by the end of next year.

Last year, the project was headed for trouble after authorities demanded design changes costing Terrafugia somewhere in the order of $18 million.

Fortunately, Dietrich's company then won a $60 million contract with the Defense Department to develop a flying Humvee.

Despite the fact the price of a single vehicle has been pushed to about $230,000 from the starting order price of $170,000, up to 100 customers have already paid a $10,000 deposit for a Transition.

The next stage for Terrafugia is global domination, with the first stop outside the U.S. being Europe.

The Civil Aviation Authority told the UK's Daily Mail that the U.S. clearance meant it would be "relatively easy" for the Transition to get clearance from the European Safety Agency, based in Cologne.

"The bulk of the work has already been done in the U.S.," said Jonathan Nicholson, of Britain's Civil Aviation Authority. "Safety standards are very similar between there and Europe."

Terrafugia says more than 20 Britons have already expressed interest in owning a Transition.

The two-seat plane is made of carbon-fiber and aimed primarily at the U.S.'s 600-strong "fly-in" communities. It can lift off from almost any long straight road and, once in the air, has a top speed of 115 mph.

On landing, its wings fold up in 15 seconds, with power then routed to the rear wheels, giving it a top land speed of 62 mph and size dimensions equivalent to a large sedan.

"It's like a little Transformer," Mr Dietrich said.

The Transition will be available to those with a light-aircraft license and requires as little as 20 hours of training to fly.
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It is hopefully gonna be out there in the open within a few years. It was long awaited.

I feel like tech advancement has been quite slow in the last 15 years.

in b4 prediction of terrorists misusing this
 
jacky8 said:
It is hopefully gonna be out there in the open within a few years. It was long awaited.

I feel like tech advancement has been quite slow in the last 15 years.

in b4 prediction of terrorists misusing this
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It'll take like 20 dudes all in their own individual car-plane to do any type of damage. It'd be kind of funny to watch.
 
ha, I can see someone getting pissed driving to work in this and breaking out the wings and taking off on some interstate
 
jacky8 said:
It is hopefully gonna be out there in the open within a few years. It was long awaited.

I feel like tech advancement has been quite slow in the last 15 years.

in b4 prediction of terrorists misusing this
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EricVonDoobie said:
It'll take like 20 dudes all in their own individual car-plane to do any type of damage. It'd be kind of funny to watch.
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bauss said:
Had a good laugh to both.
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potentialeight said:
Unless it's carrying a bomb.
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Or some viral agent that can be spread through the air.

Lulz
 
Hmmm...

Now that I think about it, I guess a "True Baller" could buy it as a business asset and then take it up at least once a week with a BANNER AD flying from it's rear end!!

LOL
 
Most people can't drive a car in a straight line. These flying cars will be a great demonstration of Darwinism when some trophy wives (at least the rich ones) kill themselves.
 
Great... it's bad enough having them on the road, but now we're going to have flying douchebags texting on their phones to worry about.
 
Though the underlying idea is cool, the plane still isn't quite practical. The reason being, you're carrying around the bulk of your vehicles value, on the sides. This means, even the tiniest of side swipes, could result in $100k of damage. Someone punches a dent in your wing, and you need to get the shit tested. Insurance on this thing, will likely be higher than a lambo, and since it's a car, you are required to have it.

You would be better off with a small plane, with detachable wings, and a zip car.
 
Flying cars are not a realistic product, that is why we don't have any. 115 mph is a joke, and if you are already in airport community, you have a runway going from the landing strip to your front door. Give me a Cirrus.
 
Muthafuckas can't merge smoothly onto the feakin parkway.

But on second thought, it would thin the clueless multitudes.
 
Insomniac said:
Though the underlying idea is cool, the plane still isn't quite practical. The reason being, you're carrying around the bulk of your vehicles value, on the sides. This means, even the tiniest of side swipes, could result in $100k of damage. Someone punches a dent in your wing, and you need to get the shit tested. Insurance on this thing, will likely be higher than a lambo, and since it's a car, you are required to have it.

You would be better off with a small plane, with detachable wings, and a zip car.
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Because of its shape and cost, I don't see it as something you'd go to town in. It's more for driving from your house to an open straight away, fly some where and park it at work or to a meeting, then fly back home.

It wouldn't be something you'd take for long on the highway or around town.

Midas Touch said:
Now that I think about it, I guess a "True Baller" could buy it as a business asset and then take it up at least once a week with a BANNER AD flying from it's rear end!!

LOL
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This ^^

It'll probably be in the news as a new guerilla marketing tactic if people do that.
 
Rexibit said:
Because of its shape and cost, I don't see it as something you'd go to town in. It's more for driving from your house to an open straight away, fly some where and park it at work or to a meeting, then fly back home.

It wouldn't be something you'd take for long on the highway or around town.
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A survey by Progressive Insurance, stated that 52% of accidents occur within 5 miles of home. The chances of you getting in an accident, going to and from your runway, is pretty damn high.
 
Dudes... It still requires a pilots license, and don't let that 20 hours shit fool ya. Yeah, it's POSSIBLE to Solo and get a recreational VFR license in 20, but it's also possible that I might hit the quick-pick tomorrow.

40-50 hours is much more likely, and at 150$ + an hour for training, that's a min $6k driver's ed bill. Which is why you'll see these things sold strictly to pilots, etc. and not to the general public much.
 
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