Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, meet real life. The prototype flying car has completed its first flight, Woburn-Mass.-based Terrafugia Inc.said Monday. Within the next year, the company expects to sell its first flying vehicle.
The prototype flying car, dubbed “the Transition,” during its first flight.
(Terrafugia Inc. - AP)
The vehicle, which Terrafugia calls “the Transition,” has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can also drive on land, like a car. In its inaugural flight last month, the vehicle flew at 1,400 feet for eight minutes. (For comparison, commercial jets fly at 35,000 feet, and for a lot longer than eight minutes.)
In June, Terrafugia announced that it officially received a grant of all the special exemptions it had requested from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Transition is the “first combined flying-driving vehicle to receive such special consideration from the Department of Transportation,” according to Terrafugia.
Even if Terrafugia clears all the roadblocks in its way, it may be a long time before flying cars become as widespread on Earth as they were on, say, “The Jetsons.”
The anticipated price for the vehicle is a hefty $279,000.
“The problem has never been making flying cars,” wrote The Post’s Annie Lowrey last March. “It’s selling them.”
See the Transition in action:
More photos:
The Transition travels down a street with its wings folded.
(Terrafugia Inc. - AP)
The Transition, during its first flight.
(Terrafugia Inc. - AP)
The Transition shortly after takeoff.
(Terrafugia )
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