Move Over, Jetsons: Flying Car In Works!

(CBS)  How many times have you been stuck in traffic and dreamed of being able to just have your car take off and fly over it?

Well, the future is almost now.

A flying car made by Woburn, Mass.-based Terrafugia has already been cleared for use on roads by the company's home state, and the process of getting it OK'd for use in the air is well under way, Terrafugia says.

The car/plane, dubbed the Transition, is the brainchild of Terrafugia founder Carl Dietrich, who brought one to The Early Show plaza Thursday to show weather anchor and features reporter Dave Price, who happens to have a pilot's license.

The Transition can go from drive to fly in 30 seconds -- that's how long it takes for its wings to extend and lock into place, as Dietrich demonstrated for Price.

If all goes as planned, the Transition will be on the market by the end of 2011.

To fly it, someone would need a minimum of a light sport plane pilots license, which basically allows you to fly a plane weighing less than 1,350 pounds.

Terrafugia says about 40 people have plunked down a $10,000 refundable deposit toward the $194,000 purchase price.

The Transition needs 1,700 feet to take off, the company says.

It runs on regular unleaded gas, has a steering wheel -- and pilot's telescopic stick, with rudder peddles on either side of the gas and brakes.



CBSNews.com partner CNET provided this video of a scale model of the Transition flying:

[problem09]

there is already something like this that is more compact and sleeker looking than what this company is going to try to sell. given what i just said this a very cool idea and i always wanted a flying car. for those complaining about the idiots on the road flying these things: if you read the story it said that it would be used to fly those distances 300 miles or so not to the super market or downtown. although i wouldnt doubt that happening sometime in the future when the design becomes more compact and you wouldn't need 1,700-2,000 feet to take off.

[Biggles7]

This is a great idea, but will only work for the right people in the right places. I dont think the common person is going to 1. have the money and 2. the patience to get a licence to fly it... As for getting hit by other drivers your right! but thats why people living in congested areas shouldnt bother with it.
This is very good for business men/women who commute long distances, it shouldnt be used for poping down the local supermarket. :)

[nfava001]

I can't believe many of you people really think that bad drivers can get a pilot's license. First, the cost just to get the license is so prohibitive that it will weed out anyone who does not have a serious passion or need to fly. Secondly, there are serious tests involved, of which most people would probably not pass. Thirdly, how many people can and want to buy a 200k car/plane. I'll tell you who. A person who is already a pilot and adheres to the strict regulations that flying entails, or a person who is extremely wealthy and wants a chauffered car/flight service, at which they will hire a professional pilot.
So, this is an incredible leap in our society, technologically and socially. Don't cheapen the moment by inferring it will be used by idiots and is therefor a dumb idea.

[erasmus111]

Think about this... look at the fool slumped sideways in the driver's seat, smoking a joint, talking on the cellphone, and now imagine him flying below you... between you and a safe landing...

Buckle up.

Posted by nancy_naive at 10:19 AM : Mar 20, 2009

Hahahaha!

[Aviatrixagain]

That's why you need to be a licensed pilot to operate it folks: so you know the laws regarding where you may or may not take off and land an aircraft. You might have trouble at some major airports, because of security paranoia, but secondary airports usually have gated access for private vehicles to bring supplies to private aircraft. In this case the supplies are the airplane itself.

I saw the demo vehicle on the ground at Oshkosh last year and my greatest concern in traffic would be people crashing into one another while trying to get a look at my very cool car.

And CBS, they're rudder *pedals*. I was going to forward this story, but the misspelling undermines the article's authority.

[parisdakar]

How rediculous. Those 40 people are idiots.

[cajundweeb]

WHOA! Now THAT'S COOL!!
I guess they'll have to start building control towers in downtown!


;-)

[ccjenkins3]

This is a cool idea. I always wondered when we would be able to imitate the Jetson's cartoon and invent a flying car. I can hardly wait to see this in action.

[sincity_q]

Oh, as if we weren't dangerous enough on the ground?

Lovely. Time to build that basement now.

[erasmus111]

Let the computer take over. Yep. I say it is about time. Let the computer do the driving/flying. Why not. There was a day I was so sacred of the computer I would not touch the bloody thing. . a FLYING CAR. nOW THAT IS COOL.

Posted by barbaram99 at 3:32 PM : Mar 19, 2009

Hi Barbara

It scares me to think of a computer in contol. I watched a program once where a train was controlled by a computer and something went wrong. The person in charge couldn't get control away from the computer. No thanks.:)

Thanks for letting me know what c/p meant. You said that the pain woke you up at night. I'm sorry to hear that.