It is a Plane, It is a Car: No, It is a Transition Road n' Air Craft

by Mary Anne Simpson

Terrafugia, Inc. has a prototype air and road craft called the Transition. It has made appearances at the Oshkosh, Wisconsin AirVenture Show in July, 2007. The Transition road nŽair craft can take to the skies, land, fold up its wings and drive home. The anticipated completion date is late 2008.

Terrafugia, Inc is in the development stage of creating an air craft that can be driven on the open road. The Road nŽ Air craft is called Transition. It is a light sport aircraft that will take to the skies and then return to airport, fold up its wings and drive home.

Terrafugia, Inc located in Woburn, Massachusetts is the brain child of MIT graduates of the school of Aeronautic and Astronautics. Terrafugia translated from Latin means "escape from land." The official specification provided by Terrafugia of the craft are as follows. It is a two seat, side- by -side light sports aircraft. It has a G-Tow of 1320 pounds with a useful load capacity of 550 pounds. It has a 20 gallon fuel capacity and a 100 hp Rotax 912 S (four stroke) engine. It has a wingspan of 27.5 feet, length of 18.75 feet and height of 6.75 feet. The on the road width is 6.5 feet.

The Transition is designed for short hops with a range of 460 miles or less. It utilizes Super-unleaded gasoline as a source of fuel. It has a take off distance over 50 foot obstacles of 1700 feet. The craft Vs is 51 mph and Vr is 80mph.

The Transition and its team of designers, mechanics and owners made a special appearance in July, 2007 at the prestigious AirVenture Show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. During the exhibit, Transition wing was cycled through a complete fold and extend process over 500 times without a hitch. The demonstration is equivalent to almost five years of usage.

The designers have left nothing overlooked in the design for strength and endurance. The wings have two blue bumper strips near the tip of the wings to prevent door dings when Transition is in its road mode. There are dual electromagnetic locks that when engaged for the road mode, provide a tight hold on the wing close to the fuselage. The Terrafugia team is leaving no detail unnoticed.

The prototype is currently a work in progress, with an anticipated completion date of late 2008. Terrafugia, Inc plans to make its first delivery of the Transcend in 2009. The anticipated selling price of Transcend is $148,000. Currently, the company is taking pre-release orders requiring a five per cent deposit that will be held in trust and fully reimbursable until a purchase agreement is executed.

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