Streetwise Plane - Terrafugia
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Hi Guys,
Here is an interesting travel alternative if you have a spare $160K laying around, its the Terrafugia. The company seem to have this project well under way and I think there will be a good take up in the USA with all their under utilised small airports dotted around the place.
My initial reaction was that it would be a non runner but after checking out the concept, videos and interviews I now think it has a good chance of success.
I like the statement 'If the flying weather is too bad, you can always drive home!'
Mike
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I saw a piece regarding this last week on 'GMA', looks like it will actually materialize.
At times like these this may be the alternative to the corporate jet.
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Its certainly an unlikely beast, pretty damm good as flying cars go, though.
i think the real stopping point with something like this would be the licensing requirements. its certainly quite a hassle to get a pilots license, and then youve got airport fees etc. to contend with.
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I've listened to the comments on the video and it seems that a 40 hour course (with success) will get uou the required license. I forget the actual type of license but it was not a normal pilots license.
Oh, you would need a driving license also! Imagine the look on a Driving License Examiner's face if a person turned up for a driving test in this thing. I think you might have to promise that there would be no take offs
As regards landing fees etc. I think the idea is to use the small under utilised airfields that are often Flying Clubs also. There may even be no landing fees involved just Club membership and having a club official on ground doing the necessary which I imagine the price of a few pints would cover. Our local flying field would be Coonagh, just 20 minutes away from where I live.
I have a friend that has been talking about getting a light aircraft for some time as he pops up and down to Dublin a number of times every week. Its a 3 hour one way trip either by car, train or plane. He was looking at a small chopper but this might be a better alternative if his pockets can be stretched deep enough.
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In the US there is a Recreational License which requires a minimum of 30 hours of instruction. There are limitations in that the pilot may only operate during daylight hours and within 50 NM of the departure airport. Recreational Pilots may not operate from controlled airfields. There's also some maximum power limitations I believe. The Private Pilot's Certificate doesn't have those restrictions.
That car does seem interesting and there have been times when I wished I had one. It could be a lot of fun. It is scary to think about a lot of these things flying around considering some of the drivers out there these days.
I would like to have the wings a bit higher on the plane so that one could get the undercarraige closer to the ground before running into ground effect. Looks like it would be easy to scrape a wingtip in a crosswind landing.
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@dave r said:
In the US there is a Recreational License which requires a minimum of 30 hours of instruction. There are limitations in that the pilot may only operate during daylight hours and within 50 NM of the departure airport. Recreational Pilots may not operate from controlled airfields. There's also some maximum power limitations I believe. The Private Pilot's Certificate doesn't have those restrictions.
That car does seem interesting and there have been times when I wished I had one. It could be a lot of fun. It is scary to think about a lot of these things flying around considering some of the drivers out there these days.
I would like to have the wings a bit higher on the plane so that one could get the undercarriage closer to the ground before running into ground effect. Looks like it would be easy to scrape a wingtip in a crosswind landing.
Well researched Dave. It opens up possibilities though! I imagine the wings are 'low' so that the Terrfugia can be driven into the garage
It's well worth listening the the Test Pilot's comments. He tells us the the planecar is very stable on landings as it becomes a 'car' as soon as it lands and braking is that of a car. I imagine this could help in cross winds.
Its a great start and I think it will be fun seeing how this project pans out. After all, they claim they have only completed a short take off / landing so far, much like the Wright Bros!
Mike
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Mike, it's that area between half the wingspan and the tires touching down that bothers me. It's not a car while it's still flying.
There's not a lot of room to drop the upwind wing in a slip. Looks like you can't flare too much during a landing either. That tells me you'd better nail the landing speed and have room for the roll out because you aren't going to to be able to slow it down by keeping the nose up. In that in flight picture it looks like there's a lot of up elevator for no higher than the nose is. No flaps down (maybe it doesn't have flaps?) so I'm guessing that's take off? -
There is something so comical about this...
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I understand (I think) what you are saying Dave.
Pete, that pic could not be real if they say all then have done to date is a short flight on the take off / landing strip.
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