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Terrafugia Transition made its first public takeoff.

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The boundless imagination of post-war American car design has long been on display at the AirVenture museum in the form of the 1949 Aerocar. But as of Monday, flying cars became a bit more relevant when the long-delayed, street-legal Terrafugia Transition took off and flew in public for the first time, reports the Journal Sentinel.

It was the first day of the EAA AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, an international event where the newest in aviation technology is often unveiled. The Transition took off, flew smoothly and circled around the airfield for the public audience, and the low-speed landing looked especially drama-free, with all four of the flying car’s wheels touching the ground at the same time. After landing, the pilot parked for a minute to show off a crucial feature: motorized self-folding wings. The pilot/driver can fold the wings up after a flight and be ready for street driving without ever having to get out of the vehicle. The vintage Aerocar, on the other hand, had removable wings that had to be towed when it was driven on the street.

While everything seemed to go as planned for the Transition, at the 31-second mark in the first video we noticed that the wings didn’t fold up at the same speed, which has us questioning the effectiveness of the prototype’s wing-folding mechanism. It’s a good thing that this is the second of three generations of prototypes, so Terrafugia has plenty of time to iron out the details.

Look for the Transition to go on sale in 2015 or 2016 with a projected price tag of $279,000. The company is taking $10,000 refundable deposits now, the Journal Sentinel reports, and over 100 people have already reserved their own flying car. Check the takeoff, flight and landing in the videos below.

Continue reading Watch Terrafugia Transition flying car make its first public flight

Watch Terrafugia Transition flying car make its first public flight originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

By Seyth Miersma

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One of the idiosyncratic stars of the 2012 New York Auto Show, just about one year ago, was the Terrafugia Transition. Proposing to bring the long-dreamed-of flying car to the masses – well, “masses” of people that can pick up a $279,000 check, at any rate – news about the Terrafugia has been pretty thin in the intervening 12 months. The good news, we hear, is that the paucity of press releases has been a result of the company working hard on bringing the Transition to market.

AOL Autos reports that the folks at Terrafugia are hard at work with the dual certification process that makes the vehicle such a complex one to bring to market. Having already cleared the hurdle of obtaining a VIN from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as well as an N-number from the Federal Aviation Administration (both achieved by way of the Transition prototype), the company must now have the vehicle completely certified by NHTSA. The FAA doesn’t require certification for craft that fall into the “light sport” category, like the Transition, but the company is prepping for likely audits of its manufacturing and risk-management processes, nevertheless.

Terrafugia won’t discuss exactly when its flying car might start actual production; at least not until the certification process has been completed. With that goal post still being a year or more out, don’t expect to see your neighbor winging home in his Transition anytime soon. When production does begin (fingers crossed), the company expects to ramp slowly, building just two or three vehicles per month in the early going. Scroll down to watch the original debut video of the Transition.

Continue reading An update on Terrafugia’s flying car, one year after its NY debut

An update on Terrafugia’s flying car, one year after its NY debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog