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"Transition" roadable plane aka flying car almost on the road?


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"It's a car George Jetson would love.

A $279,000 ride that can go 70 mph on the ground and reach gridlock-beating altitudes is poised to steal the spotlight at this year’s New York Auto Show.

Dubbed the “Transition,” the two-seater runs on premium unleaded gas, and its fold-up wings expand to 26 feet 6 inches.

“This is an airplane you can keep in your garage,” said Richard Gersh, vice president of Terrafugia, the flying car’s Massachusetts manufacturer.

“People have been trying for flying cars since not long after the Wright brothers. But the technology didn’t exist to pull it off,” said Gersh, boasting that the cartoon dream-mobile of the Space Age Jetsons is now a reality.

 

The roadable aircraft won federal approval last month and reached an altitude of 1,800 feet in a test flight.

It gets 35 miles per gallon on the road and about 20 in the air.

Owners will have to take 20 hours of flight training to pilot it.

The sky is the limit for the winged-wheels’ potential market, said Gersh. About 100 customers have already plunked down $10,000 deposits to own the first one on their block.

 

Besides having little room for luggage, the other drawback is that drivers have to take off and land from an airport — unless they’re in Alaska or Montana, where pilots are allowed to use roadways as runways.

Terrafugia, formed in 2006, has about two dozen employees, mostly engineers and technicians. The company is also helping the government develop a flying Humvee for the Marine Corps.

Gersh said the flying car gets more attention on the highway than a Maserati.

“We had people running out of the house with their cameras,” Gersh said of a recent test run. “This is a wild car.”

 

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/transition-roadable-plane-talk-york-auto-show-article-1.1056320#ixzz1r8WsHrBk

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As 100 years ago when the Model T was about to change the world forever, I am sure these new flying cars will be for the rich and elite first. Guys it's going to happen within 10-15 years most of us will own these. And hey my dream of never again having to fly on commerical airlines to see my family in Calif., London, the Carribean, etc. may soon be possible, :D

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