This isn’t new; since I was a kid 55 years ago, every few years Popular Science or Popular Mechanics would have an article about some small company’s announcement of a flying car, almost always “applying to the FAA for type certification, should be delivering next year…” Next year never came.

Operating a light plane engine costs about $50 per hour just for scheduled maintenance and overhaul. That’s a pretty expensive way to drive to work or to the store!

What about your fender-bender accident that now costs $40,000 to repair? Bumping the curb with a tire could kill you the next day when that tire needs to absorb landing impact.

The discussion of putting unlicensed people in the air is silly and distracts from the real issues. The suggestions above that an electronic autopilot would alleviate the need to know how to fly were written only by those who don’t fly. As for learning to fly, I can’t believe anybody could make a plane that is easier to fly than many models made by Cessna and Piper.

The idea of a whole-airplane parachute is stupid. Most airplane accidents happen during takeoff or landing, where a parachute is useless. A parachute won’t protect you from a midair collision. If you think you need a whole-plane parachute in case you run out of fuel, you probably shouldn’t fly.

Splash road-salt on a machine I take into the air and trust with my life? I doubt it.

I agree with the writers above who say it’s possible to make a car and airplane in the same package, but it will be bad at both.

However, if their market really is people with too much money who will pay anything for any toy, I wish them luck.

Its the American “Prius”. Sure it takes additional training. Sure you can use it every day but there really are places where the climate allows use of this aircraft more often than not. In these places it would not only be cost effective but the preferred way to travel. Places like California for example. Florida.

Its where you start. Then slowly but surely you craft an all weather vehicle that is still fuel efficient and easy to master and fly/drive.

One can readily see that many of the posters here did not bother to study history … the model T did not become the Ford Mustang overnight. Years of refining the manufacturing process as well as the vehicle.

We now live in an age where computers can be used as a tool to speed all of that up. If the designers are clever enough. In this case I believe they are.

So, here you go. You want to know what the “Next” thing is? With the economy in dire straits? The stock market in a spiraling dive. Here it is. Opportunity knocking at your door … and what do most do? Denigrate the idea, poke fun at it …

Buggy whips will never go out of style … now will they?

But some will listen, will forge ahead, make the risky investment and reap the returns.

A lot of my friends think I am crazy, just like friends of people that invested 25 years ago in a startup company called Microsoft thought. Some people have better vision than others when looking into the future. I am looking forward to saying “I told you so” a few years from now when the Transitions are coming off the assembly line.

I understand this concept now. Its basically an aircraft that can land at destination airport and then drive to final destination or the gas pump. I think one commenter compared it to an amphibious airplane although I think it goes farther than that. Perhaps akin to amphibious airplane that can be doubled as a marginal boat at least.

Quite feasible and doable. We get a few customers asking things like, I have all these chain stores I own and I would like to fly to this town and surprise visit them and thus I am interested in light sport aircraft. We always ask them, well you will still need a car to get you to the store, right? This is perfect for that guy.

Of course, people using this will have to be at least sport pilots. Flying isn’t driving. Someone said once, if we make flying so easy that even monkeys can do it, what we’ll have is a bunch of monkeys in the air. I don’t want to fly with monkeys in the air. So a pilot’s license is a must.

Hopefully, we are not entirely brainwashed by the automobile and unable to consider new modes of transportation, especially those that are infrastructureless (or utilize less infrastructure than existing transportation modes). An optional carbon neutral biofueled engine for Terrafugia would make their roadable aircraft the greenest form of transportation using minimal physical infrastructure.

For the past several years at EAA/Oshkosh presentations, I’ve met the CEO/his wife/ committed staff of talented engineers on a mission working 18 hours a day, seven days a week. I observe a Jeffersonian technological revolution that our founding fathers knew was necessary to “promote the general welfare”. Terrafugia talented management team is supported by angel investors who obviously are not vested to just make a quick profit!!! I pray that their Jeffersonian revolutionary spirit will overcome the regulators/gatekeepers and allow this great team/angel investors to reach the marketplace with their innovative product.

MelKosanchick
Sonic Helicopters
31 Old Ridge Road
St Albans, Missouri, USA 63073

melkosanchick@aol.com

While I’ve always been interested in roadable airplanes, I was never satisfied with the necessary trade-offs, complexity, cost and certification challenges. In my case, it is greatly easier to combine my hobbies of airplanes and motorcycles.

MotoPOD LLC is putting the final touches on a composite cargo pod that allows pilots to carry a 250cc motorcycle beneath existing airplanes like the Cirrus SR-22, Cessna 350, Vans RV-10 and others. The streamlined pod attaches to the belly and includes an integral winch system to assist the pilot in loading/unloading their motorcycle. After landing, it takes just a few minutes to remove the motorcycle, unfold the handlebars and ride away.

For the folks that currently enjoy airplanes and motorcycles separately, this should provide a fun and convenient way to enjoy them together.

More info at http://www.MotorcyclePilot.com

Every modification, even minor mods, must be FAA approved before it can be flown. The paperwork and difficulties of making even minor modifications to any aircraft other than homebuilts is daunting and expensive. I doubt if we would see many modifications, if any.

It still won’t stop the cries of, “Are we there yet?” It’s nice to know that you could stop at a local runway and drive to a near by gas station to answer the cries of, “I have to go pee”.

1.) This is when you perform a barrel roll.
2.) Pee out the window, if the kids are young enough they’ll think its a hoot.

Will it have some kind of cameras built in to the extremities and several monitors in the cockpit to make up for the loss of mirrors?

What is the suspension like on this vehicle?
Will it be enough to absorb the bumps in the road expected to be found around small airports or will it be solid like a light plane?

Will the engine in the “car” be capable of pushing the vehicle up to 100Km/h if highway driving is required?

I may not be able to afford one, but it is very appealing. Keep up the good work!

A few times I flew to my daughter’s college and brought her home for the weekend. It was 150 miles away, an easy flight and much faster than driving due to traffic. Even though the college was only 5 miles from the airport, that was the hard part. I had to get a taxi, or sometimes the flight office let me use their courtesy van, but it was unpredictable and took extra time. Terrafugia would have streamlined that leg of the trip and made the whole thing simple and efficient. Now, I can’t say whether the cost of the plane would make sense for a weekend pilot like me, but certainly the idea is sound if they can make it work.