{"id":3376,"date":"2016-07-12T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T12:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=3376"},"modified":"2016-07-11T13:30:54","modified_gmt":"2016-07-11T17:30:54","slug":"coming-soonish-flying-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=3376","title":{"rendered":"Coming soonish, flying cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Snipped from the Montreal Gazette, Sat July 9, article by Jacob Bogage, Washington Post.<\/em><\/p>\n

STREET-LEGAL AIRPLANES<\/h5>\n
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Flying cars take a major step toward entering the consumer market<\/strong><\/p>\n

It looks like a goofy mosquito, its fat cockpit shoving through the wind while aloft, its wings folded up like a dragonfly while grounded. And it marks the biggest step toward a real, commercial flying car.<\/p>\n

After a few more rounds of audits and paperwork, the two-seater mosquito-shaped Terrafugia Transition can take to the skies in the U.S. under the command of sport pilots, a low-threshold classification. It\u2019s seen here at the New York Auto Show in April. STAN HONDA\/AFP\/GETTY IMAGES FILES<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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The Terrafugia Transition has earned an exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration as a \u201clight sport aircraft,\u201d meaning the federal government is on track to legalize the first flying car.After a few more rounds of audits and paperwork, the Transition, a two-seated flying thingamajig, can take to the skies under the command of sport pilots, a low-threshold classification. Terrafugia can also commercially produce the aircraft without repeated burdensome federal airworthiness tests.<\/p>\n

Flying-car industry executives say their products should enter the consumer market \u2014 albeit at a high price \u2014 in the next decade.<\/p>\n

But all that depends on clearing regulatory hurdles both as automobiles and flying machines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve worked with the FAA, and you\u2019re going to have your bureaucrats and people who don\u2019t want anything to change, but other people can see the future,\u201d said Paul Moller, president and chief executive of aviation firm Moller International.<\/p>\n

Light sport aircraft should weigh no more than 1,320 pounds, seat two people, have non-retractable landing gear and strict speed limitations.<\/p>\n

The Transition gained exceptions to be heavier, caused by federal automobile safety requirements, and to exceed the speed limits, because a heavier airplane has to fly faster.<\/p>\n

Pilots can operate the aircraft with a \u201csport\u201d licence, which requires 20 hours of lessons.<\/p>\n

The light sport classification was created in 2004 to allow airplane makers to design personal aircraft without the intense regulation required for larger flying machines. Bringing a new model aircraft to market in heavier \u201cgeneral aviation\u201d classifications costs at least US$50 million, said Carl Dietrich, Terrafugia\u2019s co-founder, chief executive and chief technology officer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the beginning, light sport classification did spur innovation among aircraft makers. Cessna, Piper and Cirrus all made light sports, then discontinued them. Profit margins were better on heavier, more luxurious aircraft.<\/p>\n

That left the category mostly to inventors and small businesses that made planes for fun, said Dick Knapinski of the Experimental Aircraft Association.<\/p>\n

And it left the skies open to flying cars.<\/p>\n

A basic small car \u2014 the Toyota Corolla, for example \u2014 weighs 2,800 pounds. Strip out extra material to help it take flight, and it\u2019s not hard to meet FAA weight requirements, especially with a waiver.<\/p>\n

Terrafugia\u2019s waiver shows a path for other flying car companies to get a federal go-ahead. Between roadworthiness and airworthiness, experts say, approval in the latter is much more difficult to attain.<\/p>\n

In other words, it\u2019s easier to make a street-legal airplane than an airlegal car.<\/p>\n

The Transition, and models from other companies looking to utilize the light sport classification, have the footprint of a large pickup truck. They have side-view and rear-view mirrors or display screens that eliminate blind spots caused by folding wings.<\/p>\n

Terrafugia designed the vehicle so those with basic drivers licences can use it on roadways, pending the approval of federal auto regulators.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re part of a camp in the flying car industry that sees their machines taking off and landing on a runway, like a conventional airplane, then driving the \u201clast mile\u201d to a final destination. Others see the contraptions lifting off and landing vertically without the use of a runway.<\/p>\n

Both can utilize the light sport category.<\/p>\n

Slovakia-based Aeromobil also makes a flying-car-type vehicle that uses a runway. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to type-approve it as a plane and one that is recognizable as a plane, then we\u2019ll try to approve it as a car,\u201d said Douglas MacAndrew, Aeromobil\u2019s chief technical officer. \u201cThose things are certainly technical challenges, but they\u2019re not legislative roadblocks as of now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n