Terrafugia, a privately held American company, has been developing something that has been a dream of mankind for many years – a flying car. Its innovative Transition has brought the reality of finally being able to own a drivable vehicle that is also able to fly to life. This small, but versatile aircraft/car can be stored at home in your garage and driven right up to the fuel pump at your local gas station.

The company’s site tout’s the Transiton, its compact airplane/car, as being fuel efficient and plenty strong enough to handle your needs. The specs for the vehicle give it a 410 mile range on a single tank of fuel, which by the way is nothing more than premium gasoline. It can achieve a cruise speed of 100 mph, and requires only 1,700 feet of runway to take off. It can haul a load of up to 500 pounds and at cruise speed it only burns 5 gallons of fuel per hour. It performs equally well on the ground, with a nice 35 mpg rating while being driven around town.

The future may be upon us, as this could lead to many people becoming interested in owning a flying car. For the price of $270,000.00 you can reserve yours now!

This is what Terrafugia’s site has to say about the Transition:

The Transition® brings a new level of freedom, flexibility, and fun to personal aviation by combining driving and flying in one state-of-the-art vehicle. Glass cockpit avionics, carbon fiber construction, and innovative mechanisms make the Transition® easy and fun to fly, drive, and convert. A steering wheel and gas and brake pedals on the ground make it familiar to drive while a stick and rudder pedals provide responsive control in flight.

By being able to land and drive, not only is the “last mile problem” solved but inclement weather will no longer stop your trip. Running on premium unleaded automotive gasoline, the same engine powers the propeller in flight or the rear wheels on the ground. Converting between flight and drive modes is comparable to putting down the top on your convertible and you can keep the Transition® at home in the garage: flying has never been so convenient!

Future Is Bright

It looks like the future for Terrafugia is definitely bright, as the innovation their team has show in building the Transition is truly amazing. The airplane is not only street legal, but is also economical to operate, and capable of shortening the amount of time spent while traveling.