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AIRS ABOVE THE GROUND: Watch the first flight of the Transition.
Flying cars have been built before but this version might be the first to make into volume production, beginning in 2011.
Terrafugia says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2011. It recently cleared a major hurdle when the Federal Aviation Administration granted a special weight-limit exemption to the Transition.
Terrafugia vice-president Richard Gersh said: "It's the next 'wow' vehicle. Anybody can buy a Ferrari but, as we say, Ferraris don't fly."
The Transition is a long way from cartoons with flying cars zooming above traffic.
Gersh said: "There's no launch button on the instrument panel."
Rather, the Transition's wings unfold for flying - a process the company says takes one minute - and fold again for driving.
A runway is still required to take off and land. The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both.
Terrafugia has been working with the FAA to meet aircraft regulations and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
It's pitching the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient - and cheaper - way to fly, saying it eliminates the hassle of trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: you drive the car to the airport and fly away.
When you land, you fold up the wings and drive home. There are no expensive hangar fees because you don't have to store it at an airport - you park it in your garage.
The plane is designed to fly primarily under 3000m. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 650kg, including fuel and passengers. Fuel consumption on the road is about 7.8 litres/100km.
'ESCAPE FROM THE LAND'
Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for accidents by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal conditions.
The Transition will cost $194 000 (R1.5-million) but there may be additional charges for options such as a radio, transponder or GPS. Another option is a full-plane parachute.
Gersh said: "If you get into a very dire situation, it's the ultimate safety option."
So far, the company had more than 70 orders with deposits, he said.
Terrafugia is Latin for "escape from the land". The company was founded in 2006 by five Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate students who were also pilots. - New Zealand Herald, AP