Flying Cars

The Register reports that the Terrafugia car is surprise surprise coming in over budget and over time. Just about every UAS developer we know drops,” Wouldn’t a flying car be great” into the conversation at conferences.

There can be no doubt that autopilot technology and advances will have to be employed to the full in order to allow anybody to get into a vehicle and fly.

Detect sense and avoid might help those with poor eyesight or distracting children screaming in the back seat. Perhaps it might be a plan to not let the car fly if its owner has been parked out side a bar for several hours, the car would know it was there right?

As cool as the flying car concept is and we would all want one, the regulatory hurdles to jump through are immense.

Terrafugia, Inc., developer of the Transition® Roadable Aircraft, or “Flying Car”, is setting up for low-volume production in a 19,000 sq. ft. facility in Woburn, MA.  After considering proposals from locations throughout the U.S. and the world, Terrafugia has moved forward with plans that could allow low volume production to begin as early as late 2011. Longer term, high volume production plans have not yet been finalized and will be influenced by experience gained in low volume manufacturing.

Following an enthusiastic response to the release of the next generation design of the Transition®at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in July, two prototypes are currently under construction in Terrafugia’s new facility. One will undergo extensive drive testing while the other will be used to complete Light Sport Aircraft certification flight testing. Experience from the construction of these prototypes will also be used to finalize the initial price point of the vehicle, which is expected to be between $200,000 and $250,000.

Terrafugia expects to create an additional fifty skilled manufacturing jobs at its new facility by 2013 to support early production demand.  Reservations have already been placed for the aircraft that will be built in the first two to three years of production and are still being accepted with a $10,000 refundable deposit.

Terrafugia (terra-FOO-gee-ah), based in Woburn, MA, is comprised of a team of award-winning engineers who have been advancing the state of personal aircraft since 2006.  Founded by five pilots who are graduates of MIT and supported by a world-class network of advisors and private investors, Terrafugia’s mission is the innovative expansion of personal mobility.  “Terrafugia” is Latin for “escape from land.”