Finally! Flying Cars to Debut at New York
International Auto Show:
For more than a century, science fiction
writers have been tormenting us with
visions of flying machines that could be
driven on roads as well as in air. A
number of businesses have been
pursuing this dream for a long time but
none has taken off yet.
Now a Massachusetts-based company
named Terrafugia has designed a flying
car that
will be displayed at the New York
International Auto show in April this year.
The car, technically called the Transition,
has foldable wings which retracts when it
is on the road. The Transition has a
wingspan of 26 feet that tucks in and out
with the push of a button, altering
between a flying machine and a car
within 30 seconds. With a full tank, the
car can fly for 460 miles at the speed of
110 miles per hour.
Terrafugia has said that the car will be
ready for sale by the end of the year. It is
expected to sell for $279,000 and about
100 of the aircraft/car have already been
booked.
The flying car has been cleared by the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) for use on roads
and granted it special exemptions as a
roadable aircraft. The car has also been
cleared by the Federal Aviation
Administration for flight as a "light sport
aircraft"