The Terrafugia Transition flying car‘s one step closer to your driveway. The FAA-approved “roadable aircraft” plans to begin limited production in Woburn, Massachusetts as soon as late 2011 while they continue their search for a long-term production facility. More »
The most awesome thing i can imagine is speeding down the highway, see a cop a quarter mile away and flying away.
sss888
@BrtStlnd: Personally, I think it’ll be a status thing and eventually be yet another interesting footnote in flying car history. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve done an awesome job and I’d love to own one, but no one in their right mind would drive one of these anywhere but the direct shortest route to/from their garage. Not when a .5 mph collision would probably render it unflyable. You think a replacement bumper for your Camry is expensive, wait until you need to get your horizontal stabilizer fixed.
CopterBob
@VelociraptorClintThrust: It’s in the news a million times, and people still don’t understand it’s a driveable aircraft for pilots, not a flying car for drivers. Even the title of the article continues the ignorance.
contest005
@Ash78, now featuring the Tyke Hoon: And then there was the time I accidentally tried to unlock my house with my car key. My house started up.
CopterBob
@Ash78, now featuring the Tyke Hoon: And what is the deal with car food?
badco/LoJ
Just what we need, a lot of Massachusetts drivers flying in the air. They do poorly enough on the ground as it is.
Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet
@spiegel1: Chicken!
Middleswine
@pauljones: I doubt those people would want to be seen in a Terrafugia either.
BrtStlnd
Let us hope it’s not prone to stalling.
Alfisted
I have the opening of Futurama in my head. Where the delivery ship crashes into the Billboard. Every time.
pidgeonsplatz
@BrtStlnd: I don’t see much of a market for them.
There are those that live on the island of Catalina right off the coast of SoCal, but work in Los Angeles. They take commuter planes into various airports in LA, and go to work from there.
Granted, they are very few number, are usually high-end managers/executives, and stay in LA during the week and fly home on weekends, but seriously, that’s all I can really think of, and that’s a hell of a stretch.
pauljones
But how long till we have a pic of one in a handicap parking space?
“This is why people think Terrafugia pilots are assholes”
gochomoe
@alan505:
Where’s the Bentley grille, yo?
That ain’t fly….
Baby Beater Benz
I for one, cannot wait for the first “This is why people think Terrafugia drivers are asshats”
Cobbie
@Baby Beater Benz: precisely
CRXPilot; In fast, out backwards
@tonyola: Once it’s able to appease the DOT’s safety requirements, it’ll end up being a lousy car with silly looking useless wings.
Crash Bandihoon
Particle-board spoiler to follow…
alan505
@BrtStlnd: Maybe if you had your own archipelago?
GV_Goat
@nick2ny: Ran when parked (on driveway).
Ash78, now featuring the Tyke Hoon
One of my wife’s friend’s parents invested heavily in Terrafugia. Here’s to hoping he’ll take me for a spin! Preferably not a flat spin kthnx.
SpikeJnZ + GT35R = Love
First FAA post-accident, 60 seconds after the first retail delivery.
So, according to the claim, late-2011…however, in reality, never.
Baby Beater Benz
@Ash78, now featuring the Tyke Hoon: You run on driveways?
nick2ny
Cool, but can it tow a Miata?
nick2ny
Why does one run on a driveway and drive on a runway?
Jumbo shrimp, etc
Ash78, now featuring the Tyke Hoon
If you could get it to convert from a car to an airplane while rolling and then take off, that would be cool. If not, then it’s just dorky.
Skink
@spiegel1: That bears a striking resemblance to the Canary Islands disaster (1977?). Deadliest airline accident ever.
[en.wikipedia.org]
Ash78, now featuring the Tyke Hoon
@shinjukuDLJ: Then I LOL’d
pauljones
@shinjukuDLJ: First I was like
pauljones
Seriously though, who is the target market for this? Do people actually fly to work? Is this feasible or is it just for recreation?
BrtStlnd
I’m not worried. I think most of the clientele will figure out a way to take themselves off the radar.
Cheeseslap prefers Provolone
Why did you bank?
(I hate myself for this one)
spiegel1
Avery Brooks…you want your flying cars? Here you go.
shinjukuDLJ
@tonyola: I would assume so .. a flying car is only useful if you can use it like a car.
protomech
Does it fold into a briefcase?
Related question: how old is daughter Judy, and is it creepy that I’m asking?
snapoversteer fronts the prog-rock band Camber Tweel
Believe it or not, I know a candidate for ownership. DINKs that live on a little airpatch in Northern California with a hangar attached to their house, located by a longish taxiway to a general-aviation spec runway.
Jeb_Hoge
Terrafuganummi
shinjukuDLJ
Anything with “terra” in the name opens the door to derogatory nicknames about being “terrible.”
arozzi
@Zokeseh Labala: Make sure you’ve chosen “show all discussions” at the bottom of the page.
Alfisted
The best part about this is the price. Few will be able to afford it should it ever show up, and that means fewer of them will crash land on highways, into houses, and generally cause havoc. I’ve seen how people drive, and I don’t want them flying.
VelociraptorClintThrust
They need a long-term production facility?
I’m sure they’ll be able to set up shop in one of the dark corners of NUMMI.
Franzouse
Given the way most people drive with their simple, ground-based cars, this should be called the Terrifying Flying Car.
Vette5885
My posts are not showing?
Zokeseh Labala
What’s its Gulfstream time?
pauljones
Getting FAA approval is all well and good, but does it have DOT road approval?
tonyola
The production versions should be much better than the prototype.
OA 5599
Late 2011? Tesla has the market cornered on vaporware cars, thanks.
twinturbo2
“Well, I finally got my flying car, but I’m not sure what to do once my $2- million, 50-year mortgage switches from interest only to P&I. Oh, well, AMERICA RULES!”
Ash78, now featuring the Tyke Hoon