Is the flying really going to happen in our lifetime?
When I
was a child, I was certain we'd be flying to the grocery store by now.
But, as fast as technology is changing, somehow we are still glued to
the ground. Well, maybe not for long.
Terrafugia wants to build hybrid flying car
Computer controlled, plug-in hybrid concept would require as little as 5 hours training to fly.
By Paul Eisenstein of The Detroit Bureau
Flying
cars have long been the stuff of science fiction, though plenty of
entrepreneurs and visionaries have struggled to make the concept a
reality ? including no less than the original Henry Ford.
Several
projects are now underway and one, started by a group of MIT alumni, is
rapidly working its way towards reality. But the former college cronies
apparently are dreaming about taking their original Transition flying
car a giant leap further into the wild blue yonder with an even more
advanced design they've dubbed the TF-X.
To start with, the
four-seater would be capable of vertical take-offs and landings. And
since it would largely be controlled by a central computer network, the
TF-X would, claims a Terrafugia promotional video, require a
pilot/driver to have as little as five hours of training, a slight
fraction of what it now takes to get the most basic private pilot's
license.
Oh, and if that isn't appealing enough, the team says
their newest flying car design would use an environmentally friendly
plug-in hybrid powertrain.
The Massachusetts-based Terrafugia has
been drawing plenty of attention to itself thanks to the Transition, a
$280,000 flying car that has been slowly working its way through the
complex product development and federal regulatory process. Just 19 feet
long, it was designed to fit inside a typical suburban garage once its
27-foot wings were folded up, allowing it to drive on any conventional
road.
"Don't think of it as a car that flies," suggested Carl
Dietrich, one of the MIT students now serving as Terrafugia's CEO.
"Think of it as a plane that drives."
Perhaps, but beyond the
ability to fold up those wings, the Terrafugia would operate pretty much
like any aircraft, needing a long runway to get airborne. With the
TF-X, the company is moving closer to the sort of craft one might
envision the sci-fi cartoon family, the Jetsons, would own.
For
one thing, Terrafugia claims the four-seater could get airborne from a
level clearing of as little as 100 feet, rotating its twin wing-mounted
propeller motors to a vertical position. Airborne, they would rotate
back to a conventional, forward position ? much like the bigger Osprey
flown by the U.S. military.
Once in the air, the TF-X is
envisioned as capable of reaching 200 mph and delivering a full 500
miles of range ? plus reserves ? enough for a quick jaunt from
Washington, D.C. to Boston, or from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
The
craft could be flown manually by a licensed pilot, or essentially flown
on an advanced autopilot system requiring only minimal training. The
computer network it would plug into, Terrafugia claims, would
automatically sidestep crowded air lanes, as well as bad weather, and
could land the craft even if the pilot were to become incapacitated.
Should a more serious problem occur, the TF-X is outfitted with its own
parachute.
So, TF-X "should be statistically safer than driving a modern automobile," the company asserts.
The
craft could prove particularly appealing to green-minded flying
enthusiasts thanks to its unusual plug-in hybrid powertrain. In total,
it will be able to produce 1,500 horsepower, 600 from each of the
electric motors driving the propellers, and 300 from the gasoline engine
that will serve as a generator when the TF-X's battery pack runs down.
(end of article)
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