News

Mobile? Well, yes; but it's a plane. And a car. It flies!

It's the Terrafugia; a car-plane, and it has passed its latest flying tests. When will we  be seeing them taking off from the motorways, then? Here's the answer: Terrafugia recently completed the fourth and final testing deployment of the Proof of Concept Transition (POC) at Plattsburgh International Airport in upstate New York.

"It is a thrill to see the Transition in the air, accompanied by one of our chase planes. After a total of 28 flights of the POC, Terrafugia is pleased to announce the successful completion of our testing objectives. These tests evaluated characteristics such as handling, climb, performance, take-off and landing."

The Proof of Concept, says the company, validated three basic goals: "We could design/build a roadable aircraft, drive it and fly it."

The testing programs on the ground and in the air, in addition to accomplishing these goals, have lead to a number of engineering and design modifications which will significantly improve the vehicle's performance, the designers say. "Rather than spending the resources required to modify the POC, we decided to focus our efforts on the Beta Prototype, which has a target completion date of 2010, and on our first customer delivery in 2011."

Additional footage of the flights and sessions with Test Pilot Phil Meteer are available online. You can read the accompanying press release too.