Flying Cars Take Long Awaited First Flight

Many uninformed individuals still think flying cars are the thing of science fiction. If you didn’t see our article from last March, there are several companies working on prototypes of a roadable aircraft that you can park in your garage at home. The company that is furthest along in the process, Terrafugia, successfully completed their first flight with their version of the flying car called the Transition today. Over 100 people have put down $10,000 deposits on the vehicle that’s expected to have a price tag of $279,000. Expect to see the Transition in the air within the next year!

Another company took to the skies in their flying car prototype this week. While the Terrafugia Transition is desinged for two, the three wheel Pal-V is built for a single passenger. The company claims the craft can drive like a sports car, and then quickly take to the skies as a gyrocopter. The Pal-V tops out at 100 MPH while the Terragia Transition can push the limits a bit more. The best part about these flying cars? It only takes from 20-40 hours to get your sport vehicle pilots license. Here is a promotional video from the first successful flight of the PAL-V.

With the introduction of the flying car to the world, one can expect the first models to have some bugs to work out, as well as cost a pretty penny. As with most cutting edge technology, expect the designs to become more sleek, efficient and affordable.

As we covered in March, there are ambitions to make flying cars completely autonomous (self-operating) and to be able to take off from a stand-still. The future is definitely in the skies, hope you’re not afraid of heights!

You can read up more on the PAL-V on their website here.
Find out more about the Terrafugia Transition here.

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