Flying Car

If you secretly nurtured a dream of owning a flying car, the good news is your dream can be a reality by 2011. This month MIT students, from Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, have successfully flight tested the prototype of a winged car for the first time. This car took off from a runway in Plattsburgh, New York. It flew for 37 seconds. The engine used in this whole exercise was 100 hp Rotax engine that gets 30 mpg on the highway using regular unleaded gasoline.
Carl Dietrich is the Terrafugia CEO and co-founder. He is of the view that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) rule change and the Transition could help alter the way public travels round the country particularly in country areas. He says, “One of the biggest problems pilots have right now is that most of the 5,000 general aviation airports in the U.S. don’t have any car rental facilities, or even a cab stand.” He made his stand clear by saying that the Transition could open many of these underutilized airports to easier, more convenient use by private pilots.

The vehicle may also lead to better safety. If you are a piloting such flying car, you can withstand the bad weather too. If you can detect the conditions of bad weather a little in advance, just fold up the wings and land at the nearest airport and start driving on the roads. Once the storm has passed, take off again from another airport!

Posted in: