Amazing Flying Cars: the beginning of the end

This Flying Car Concept Takes Off And Lands Like A Helicopter



Flying cars have long been a staple of futuristic fantasies, but the mainstream auto industry has made a lot more progress toward vehicles that drive themselves than those that can take to the skies.
Fortunately for those who don't want to be confined to the road, one American company has made impressive progress toward that dream.

Terrafugia, based in Boston, has already started taking orders for its FAA-approved Transition "flying car," which takes off and lands like a plane, with wings that fold up for trips on land.

Now Terrafugia has introduced a new vehicle with significant improvements. The TF-X model takes off and lands vertically (like a helicopter) so it doesn't need a runway.

The plug-in hybrid vehicle exists only in renderings for now, but given how far Terrafugia has taken its first model, it's not crazy to expect to see this on our roads someday

Isn’t there an old saying about learning to fly before you fly?
If so, the aviation start-up Terrafugia is willfully disregarding it. Last week, the Woburn company unveiled a concept design for a product called the TF-X — well before it has delivered its first product, the Transition “roadable aircraft.”
But Terrafugia’s chief executive, Carl Dietrich, says the TF-X could — a big could here — usher flying cars into the mainstream. It could take off and land vertically, outside of an airport. (Heliports or empty lots are fair game, as long as you have permission.)
It would have “fly-by-wire” controls that would let you set your destination, and the vehicle would navigate to it with minimal pilot involvement. It would be a plug-in hybrid, presumably making it more fuel-efficient than most private aircraft, with a 500-mile range.
And as with the Transition, if you encounter bad weather, you simply land at the nearest safe spot and drive the rest of the way.
If Terrafugia can attain large enough production volumes, the TF-X might be a flying car the middle class (OK, upper-middle class) could afford. (Terrafugia anticipates a $279,000 base price; Dietrich expressed hopes the TF-X would sell for less than that.) Dietrich acknowledges that getting the TF-X to market will probably be an eight- to 10-year process and require some major fund-raising