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back to article Terrafugia flies first prototype: Flying cars 'within a year'

The much-delayed street-legal flying car from US firm Terrafugia has passed another milestone on its long road to mass production: a successful flight from an airport. Terrafugia's flying car It's not too pretty. But it can fly... The Transition carplane prototype passed its initial drive and conversion test before taking …

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    1. Richard 12 Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Moller is the definition of vapourware

      They've been promising that their one is going to be available "really soon" for the last twenty years, and still have no solution to any of the tricky problems of a flying car.

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  2. Ayelis

    Moller looks better...

    So what happened to the Moller Skycar? D:

    Thing was stylin'.

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    1. Mike Flugennock
      Reply Icon

      Re: Moller looks better...

      Stylin' for sure, but from all accounts, it's pretty much vaporware. It's apparently been at the same stage of development for ten or fifteen years; check out this old footage of a tethered filght test where it looks as if all it's doing is hovering in the ground effect.

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  3. miknik
    Unhappy

    I love the idea but...

    The problem as I see it (in the UK at least) is most GA friendly airfields have grass runways which aren't flat by any stretch of the imagination. Couple that with the fact that most publicly maintained roads have more pot holes than GA airfields have bumpy runways and you are left with the stark realisation that this thing just doesn't have enough ground clearance to be of practical use.

    If you don't obliterate the thing landing it, you probably will driving it home. Oh, and it's a tail dragger just to make it a bit less user friendly...

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  4. Framitz
    Thumb Down

    Wait for Moller

    This has been done at least twice before and it failed. It will fail this time too as it is impractical.

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    1. Ru
      Reply Icon
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Wait for Moller

      Can you not tell the difference between the Moller and the Terrafugia?

      Hint: one was designed to be practical, and has actual flying, working prototypes. The other is a fantasy. Moller has had rather short shrift from the Reg in the past, for good reason.

      If the Terrafugia fails, it will be because it is financially unviable, not because it is total vapourware peddled in a near fraudulent manner.

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  5. jungle_jim
    Happy

    has no one tried

    A Rogallo wing?

    that can be opened up and packed up a damn sight easier than a parawing surely

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    1. Charles 9
      Reply Icon

      Re: has no one tried

      I think size is the problem here. Most Rogallo wings are SEMI-rigid (those that aren't use inflatable skeletons) while parawings are completely NON-rigid and therefore compact much more easily. Then there is the matter of the size of the wing relative to the payload.

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  6. Wombling_Free
    Meh

    Just don't drive it on a a road or park it anywhere.

    The first time some dickwad in a SUV with 'My Family' stickers all over it slams their door into your wing at the supermarket your flight-worthiness certificate is revoked.

    Interesting design, bravo for trying to get it to work, but maybe all that effort could have gone into something useful rather than what is essentially engineering performance art?

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    1. Steven Roper
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      Upvoted

      for the "My Family" sticker reference.

      Anyone with one of those on their car is someone I automatically classify as "sheeple"!

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  7. Matt Bryant Silver badge
    Happy

    "....The Transition, which can .... park in a single car garage...."

    Not a UK single car garage!

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  8. Aldous
    Stop

    dings in supermarkets

    do you guys relise this is to solve the problem of having a light aircraft. landing then needing a cab to destination?

    this is for sport pilots (easy license) to drive to the airfield (thus saving on storage of plane) reach destination. land and go to destination.

    its not for doing the fscking school run

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  9. Tom 13
    Joke

    I don't think it will quite fold up

    the way Mr. Jetson told me it would...

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    As if there aren't enough crazies already on the motorways

    Even God can't fix stupid.

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