William Atkins
Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:34
Science -
Space
Page 2 of 3
The website of The Transition says, “
It’s time to make the Transition.” See pictures of the first flying car ever to be "hopefully" built and successfully sold in the United States.
Even though the first 37-second, 3,000-foot flight was short, it (and six subsequent flights) still successfully completed its mission to show the world that it was able to be controlled and maneuvered while in the air.
The Transition had previously been tested on the road and on runways in order to test its taxiing abilities.
According to Carl Dietrich, chief executive officer (CEO) of Terrafugia,
“This flight is a symbol of a new freedom in aviation. It's what enthusiasts have been striving for since 1918.” [ComputerWorld: “
Flying car takes off on first test flight”]
The company has already announced that over forty orders have been submitted to Terrafugia for the estimated price of the flying car of between US$148,000 and $194,000. The vice-president of Terrafugia hopes to have the first one ready for its first customer by 2010.
According to the ComputerWorld article, we shouldn’t think that this is a new wave for the future—that we will be seeing flying cars all over the place in the near future.
We shouldn't think that way because the United States, nor any other country in the world, is not set up physically to accommodate a lot of flying cars streaking across the skies.
Anna Dietrich, the chief operating officer (COO) of the company states,
“We're not going to have a flying car, as people think of it, for a while. I would never say it's not going to happen, but today the infrastructure is not there, nor is the training, nor are the avionics that would make the training unnecessary. What makes sense right now is a 'roadable' aircraft." [ComputerWorld]
Now, who is Felix Longobardi? Read page three for the answer.
