Could Terrafugia's Flying Car be the ultimate way to avoid those silly airline fees, nasty seatmates and the overall frustrations of flying commercial? Possibly. Officially called the Transistion, the plane-car hybrid made its first flight out of the Plattsburgh Airport in upstate New York on March 5 and you can watch the video here. So how does it work and when we can we get one? According to CNET:
As a car, the two-seat Transition is designed to be easy on garages and oncoming traffic--its wings fold up quite snugly. In folded mode, the approximately 19-foot-long vehicle is 80 inches wide, and 6 feet, 9 inches high. As an airplane, it stands a few inches shorter and has a wingspan of 27 feet, 6 inches.
The vehicle runs off unleaded fuel from your run-of-the-mill gas station for both terrestrial and aerial travel, cruising at highway speeds on land and better than 115 miles per hour in the air.
The vehicle is not quite ready to be sold to the public but the first delivery is expected in 2011. And you have to be Richard Branson-rich to afford one. The car reportedly will cost $200,000. Hopefully in 2011 we still won't be in a recession.
[Photo: Terrafugia]]]>