Cars that Fly......the Terrafugia Way

Planes have wheels, but only for taking off and landing, right?  Not so fast.  For years many have pursued the concept of a car that flies, unsuccessfully.  Fantasy has heretofore, however, been a necessary part of the deal.  You had to imagine either the flying part or the driving part as one or the other always seemed impossible to meld together in unison.  Well, you need to imagine no more. 

Terrafugia (ter-ra-FOO-gee-ah) www.terrafugia.com , a MA-based “Dreamworks” type company started by a group of smart and clever MIT-educated aeronautical engineers (for the technically wowing stuff) and some MBAs (for the funding and scalability stuff) has developed what they call the Transition® Roadable Aircraft (TRA).  The TRA is, with wings retracted, a strange looking, but sporty, two-passenger vehicle powered by a 100 hp motor that runs on Super Unleaded Fuel.  And it fits in your garage!  Push a couple of buttons to expand the wings and you're ready to take off and fly to destinations up to 450 miles away.   It’s that easy – or at least it seems easy.

I’m afraid of flying in small planes because they seem to crash a lot.  The folks at Terrafugia are sensitive to that fear and it shows up in their marketing of the TRA.  As you might expect, they go to great lengths to promote the vehicle / plane's safety features (they don’t have enough history to promote its safety record), even enlisting the endorsement of a veteran test pilot to claim that it’s “by far” the easiest plane to land that he’s ever flown and, presumably, landed as well.  For me, that’s comforting, but it doesn’t quite get me over the hurdle of my recollection that nearly ever article about a small plane crash includes two things:  First, a comment about the great safety record of the plane that just crashed and, second, a comment about the pilot that suggests how careful and safe he was when it came to flying….until, of course, he crashed his plane and died.   But Terrafugia anticipated my fear (perhaps I’m not the only one similarly fearful) and added this ingenious bit of bonus: ‘and if all else fails, the TRA is equipped with an emergency parachute that, when deployed, will guide the TRA to a soft landing.’   Now that’s comforting!

Cars that park themselves, remote, automated heavy vehicle operation and now, cars that fly (or planes that drive).  What a world, and what’s next??  Well. For $250k and a pilot’s license, you can be the first one in your neighborhood with the TRA.  Beats the heck out of an electric car until, of course, one of those can fly as well.    

Comments

[Freight Bill Factoring]

Traveling patrolmen and emergency head office for accidents and offenses of airborne regulations should also be integrated to maintain order.

[Carry Demaggio]

I understand your point here. I think they should implement new rules and regulations for the safety of the drivers (especially vests and parachutes). Flying patrolmen and emergency headquarters for accidents and violations of aerial laws should also be implemented to maintain order.