Thread: And you thought you new what off-roading meant.

Can't see a "Landrover" badge anywhere. Have to get onto Tata Motors about that!

Originally Posted by Sleepy

Terrafugia - Transition®, the Roadable Light Sport Aircraft : Home





Some stats:

The time required for the transition from plane to car takes less than 30 seconds.
Vehicle speed 185 km/hour*, range is 724 km on highways
Vehicle is fueled with normal unleaded, and the price of the car is expected to be around US$200,000

Due for 2011

(* I presume that is airspeed - I am told they can do 115kmh on road!)

It would be handy on the Ipswich (park) Motorway.

Cool!

However the problem is that by the time you are in a traffic jam, you no longer have space for a runway

Someone needs to build a car/helicopter hybrid

"The first flying car to actually fly was built by Waldo Waterman. Waterman was associated with Curtiss while Curtiss was pioneering naval aviation at North Island on San Diego Bay in the 1910s. On March 21, 1937, Waterman's Aerobile first took to the air. The Aerobile was a development of Waterman's tailless aircraft, the Whatsit. It had a wingspan of 38 feet (11 m) and a length of 20 feet 6 inches (6.25 m). On the ground and in the air it was powered by a Studebaker engine. It could fly at 112 mph (180 km/h) and drive at 56 mph (90 km/h)."

The Taylor Aerocar first flew in 1949, and unlike other attempts, there was more than one made and there is one still flying.

The basic problem would seem to be that making a machine that complies with both automotive and aviation rules is very difficult, and results in a creation that is neither a very good aeroplane nor a very good automobile.

John