Flying Cars

By: Fatima Zara
People are able to buy flying cars in 2011. A US venture company said that a new flying car would be sold next year. The Terrafugia Transition can be driven on public roads as well as fly on the sky because it has wings. The wings will fold in when it is in car mode. It take around 30 seconds to convert to flight mode.
The Terrafugia Transition is a light sport, roadable aircraft currently under development by Terrafugia since 2006.
The Rotax 912S piston engine powered, carbon-fiber vehicle is planned to have a flight range of 400 nmi (460 mi; 740 km) using automotive grade unleaded gasoline and a cruising flight speed of 115 mph (100 kn; 185 km/h). It does not come with an autopilot.
On the highway, it can drive up to 65 miles per hour (105 km/h)[3] to keep up with traffic. The Transition Proof of Concept's folded dimensions of 6 ft 9 in (2.1 m) high, 6 ft 8 in (2.0 m) wide and 18 ft 9 in (5.7 m) long are designed to fit within a standard household garage. When operated as a car, the engine powers the front wheel drive. In flight, the engine drives a pusher propeller. The Transition has folding wings, pusher propeller and twin tail.
The experimental Transition Proof of Concept's first flight was successful and took place under FAA supervision at Plattsburgh International Airport in upstate New York using FAA tail number N302TF. First customer delivery, as of March 2009, is planned for 2011. The design of the production version is to be made public in July 2010.
On 1 July 2010 it was announced that the Terrafugia Transition had been granted an exemption from the FAA concerning its Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) in order to be classified as light-sport. The light-sport craft will be able to take-off weighing at 1,430 lbs while such craft are usually limited at 1,320 lbs MTOW. The extra 110 lbs account for the mandatory road safety features such as airbags and bumpers
Terrafugia had been established the plane-car 4 years ago in Massachusetts. It was developed by aerospace engineers. The plane-car is only about 2 meters wide with its wings folded, it na be stored in an ordinary garage. On one tank of gasoline this the 2-seater “roadable aircraft” are able to fly at a speed of 185 kms/h for up to 740 kms.
The Transition finally received approval from US aviation authorities late last month. It was allowed to operate as a Light Sport Aircraft after test-flights and modifications.
The company said that Terrafugia Transition had received more than 70 pre-orders for the Transition. The price is around 194,000 dollars. This will change people’s ways of traveling.