Terrafugia Transition - Closer Than You Think

Specs

• Manufacturer: Terrafugia
• Type: Light Sport Aircraft
• Class: MotorcycleLight-Sport Airplane (LSA)
• Propulsion system: 100 hp Rotax 912 S (four-stroke)
• Top Speed: air, 100 kts, road 51 mph
• Zero-to-60: NA
• MPG: 30mpg (air as well as road)
• Vehicle range: air, 400 nautical miles (460 miles); road, 80 miles
• Fuel(s): Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG)
• Tailpipe emissions: Yes, but minimal
• Estimated Price: $194,000

The Manufacturer Says

“The Transition® is a roadable Light-Sport Aircraft that will be able to land at the airport, fold up its wings, and drive on the road.”

The Critics Say...

"While it’s not the sort of flying car you might imagine where you can just decide to fly over a traffic jam on a whim, it is a step forward in the flying-car dream and fills a small niche market of aviation enthusiasts who want to drive their plane to the airport and then fly it somewhere." -- Motor Authority

Overview

The Transition is a two-seat road-worthy light aircraft currently under development by Terrafugia, a privately held and funded company began in 2004 by pilots and engineers out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The company is led by aeronautical whiz kid and Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winner Carl Dietrich (a name we all may be very, very familiar with in the future), and the Transition’s current completion date is late 2008 with a late 2009 delivery.

What We Like

Commitment to safety. Terrafugia boasts a safety cage, crumple zones, airbags, a number of in-built pre-flight safety measures, and the possibility of a full-vehicle parachute (approval pending, but that’s hard not to like).

An insurance package. While this is preliminary, the web site offers a pdf file suggesting a “customized insurance package for Transition owners” that would extend coverage to both auto body and aircraft hull. This is uncharted territory, and proof that, if nothing else, the folks at Terrafugia are trying to think of everything.
The transition technology. According to the web site, the transition from plane to car (folding up of the wings, etc) will require nothing more than the push of a button.
The fuel. The 100 hp Rotax four-stroke engine will run on LPG, a far better alternative to conventional gasoline, at least in this instance.
The price. The current price estimate is $148,000.

What We Don’t Like

The class. As a Light-Sport Airplane, the Transition will require a pilot’s license, and no auto-pilot technologies are planned for the aircraft. That said, it will only require a Sport Pilot’s license, which doesn’t take nearly as long as a traditional license.
The performance. The Transition will be something of a gas guzzler, earning around 30 mpg in the air and on the road.

Moller Skycar - Long Time Coming

The M400 kicks off a sweet daydream. Who can’t, after a gasp, imagine themselves cruising at 36,000 feet, zooming along at 360 mph in your own personal flying car, tunes cranking at full blast? Sadly it’s simply too difficult to take it all very seriously.

Specs

• Type: Personal Air Vehicle (PAV)
• Manufacturer: Moller International
• Propulsion system:Eight Rotapower duel-fuel Engines
• Top Speed: 375 mph
• Zero-to-60: NA
• MPG: NA
• Vehicle range: 750 miles
• Fuel(s): Ethanol or gasoline
• Tailpipe emissions: Yes

The Manufacturer Says

“Moller International has developed the first and only feasible, personally affordable, personal vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle the world has ever seen.”

The Critics Say...

“It would look right at home on the set of Bladerunner or the latest Star Wars film, but the Moller M400 Skycar… is definitely for real.” —- gizmag.com

“This matter involves a fraudulent, unregistered offering and the filing of a fraudulent Form 10-SB by Moller International, Inc. ("MI" or "the company"), a California company engaged in the development of a personal aircraft known as ‘the Skycar.’”—From Securities and Exchange Commission v. Moller International Inc and Paul S. Moller, Defendants (U.S.D.C., Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division, Civil Action No. 2:03-CV-261)

Overview

So much of the automotive industry runs on the fumes generated by hype; how much air can you blow? And it’s very easy, even for jaded industry veterans, to fall for it, generally because you want to believe. One look at the 4-passenger Moller M400 Skycar and we don’t much care who you are, this is a dynamo—hustler and hooker, the collective futurecars dream.

Then we wake. And it’s a mess. Of the manufacturer’s claims quoted above, namely that the M400 is “feasible, personally affordable, personal vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle”, the one that is hardest to accept—and that almost ruins the dream for us—is the VTOL aspect. This technology requires an extraordinary amount of force and thrust. The manufacture claims it can achieve this with “a patented thrust deflection vane system that redirects thrust.” Could be, but to get an idea of how successful the far-better-funded US Army has been with VTOL, read about the V-22 Osprey. Or better yet, read about the RAF’s Harrier Jump Jet, with which the M400 claims some technological affinity.

What We Like

The design and the cockpit. In the video on this site, watch Adam Savage from Mythbusters gush when he gets in. He’s gushing for all of us, because that is one killer cockpit, purely because of what it suggests for the future.

The fuel. Ethanol, with some suggestion that compressed natural gas (CNG) might also be feasible.

The safety. Emergency parachutes (you won’t likely see that again anytime soon in a car review).

What We Don’t Like

The efficiency. After gasping at so many of the web site’s proposed specifications, 20 mpg is a bit of a disappointment.