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Is the Terrafugia Transition a flying car … or a driveable airplane? Actually, the Terrafugia Transition is the world's first "roadable aircraft" as outlined by Terrafugia, the aviation -- or automotive? -- startup business developing the hybrid machine. Terrafugia announced the appearance of the Transition in airspace and on highways cleared a major hurdle Wednesday. The Federal Aviation Administration granted the Terrafugia Transition an exemption to be classified as a "light sport aircraft". It will now be easier for Transition owners to get FAA certification for living their dreams behind the wheel of a flying car.



Resource for this article: <a title="The Terrafugia Transition - the flying car that gets 30 mpg" href="http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2010/06/30/terrafugia-transition-flying-car/">The Terrafugia Transition - a flying car that fits in your garage by Personal Money Store</a>



 The flying car that fits in your garage



As a car, the Terrafugia Transition fits in a garage and blends into traffic. It is the opinion of CNET's Johnathon E. Skillings that the Terrafugia Transition looks like a "Volkswagen in the belly of a carp". He reports that the vehicle burns unleaded fuel from the corner gas station on the road and within the air. It has a top speed of 65 mph on the highway and gets 30 miles to a gallon of gas. In flight it cruises at 115 mph and has a range of about 450 miles. According to Terrafugia, the plane could be transitioned from aircraft into road going vehicle in just 30 seconds.



Light sport aircraft rules



The FAA put the Terrafugia Transition into its smallest private plane classification as a light sport aircraft. Normally it wouldn’t exceed 1,320 pounds. But it was extremely hard for Terrafugia to fit the airbags, crumple zones and roll cage required for cars into that weight. Jalopnik reports that Terrafugia regards the light sport aircraft classification as critical because as such, owners will only need 20 hours of flying time to be cleared for flying the Transition. With the FAA exemption, now Terrafugia is free to sell the Transition as long as buyers are informed of the extra 110 pounds.



Transition flies, will Terrafugia?



Safety, as outlined by Terrafugia, is one of the major advantages the Transition has over traditional light aircraft. If the weather is too severe for safe fight, The Telegraph reports, pilots can simply fold their wings and drive home. But it will be awhile until you see the Terrafugia Transition caught in a traffic jam. The machine that earned its favorable classification from the FAA is a concept prototype. Terrafugia expects a production model for customers in 2011. Even so, 70 people have enthusiastically thrown down a deposit on the $ 194,000 Transition. Each hopeful owner submitted $ 10,000, held in escrow and fully refundable, just in case Terrafugia folds before the Transition can unfold its wings.



More data accessible at these sites:



cnet.com

jalopnik.com

telegraph.co.uk