Driving “Above” The Influence

Ever wonder if the Jetsons were the only ones with flying cars? Wouldn’t it be nice to escape the two dimensional world of traffic? The Jetsons had many many “highways” of cars going in every direction. Well, we might not be able to reach the potential yet, but there are developments striving to this goal.

Terrafugia is a company that was founded by MIT graduates has made great advancements in this area of research. They have created the Transition, an automobile that “transitions” into an aircraft. This aircraft is currently the epitome of this specific area of development.

The vehicle can move up to 65 mph on the road and 115 mph in the air. Traffic isn’t going to slow anyone down in this vehicle! The vehicle sports a 35mpg tank, matching many of the automobiles on the road today. When flying, however, it uses about 5 gallons an hour.

By folding the wings up vertically, the vehicle becomes able to fit on a normal road. It can hold 1 other passenger besides the pilot and sports a wingspan of almost 26 and a half feet.

This vehicle is rumored to be released in 2012, so we are bound to see these flying around in no time. However, this “carplane” sports a hefty price tag of $279,000.

Sources
Terrafugia – Transition

One Comment

Lorena Barba posted on October 21, 2011 at 7:19 pm

Very cool invention! (a bit off-topic to the course, though, I must say).