TERRAFUGIA TRANSITION
Have you ever wanted a flying car? This is it! The Terrafugia Transition is a car-plane – it can fly like a car, then fold away its wings on landing and drive along the road just like a normal car. When the Terrafugia switches between car and plane modes, the engine changes from driving the wheels to driving a push propeller at the rear of the plane. It’s equipped with an airframe parachute – a parchute that supports the whole plane if there is a failure.
PARACHUTING CAR
The Parajet Skycar (in development) will combine a buggy-style road vehicle with a parachute. Driven by a 104-kW rotary engine, it can take off from a 200 m run of road or runway. It can fl y at a maximum altitude of 4 km above sea level. On land, it’s road legal but can also plough through sand and over rough terrain, with a top speed of 225 km/h.
GYROCOPTER OR HELICOPTER?
A helicopter has a powered rotor on the top. If the engine fails, the rotor stops. A gyrocopter has a powered propellor at the rear but the rotor blades are turned by moving air. If the engine fails, the gyro-blades keep turning and the craft can glide to Earth.
The wings fold at two points – upwards near the body and downwards mid-wing – so that they stow neatly.
The cockpit has a light polycarbonate windscreen and windows to resist birdstrikes when fl ying, and modifi ed airbags for safety on the road.
WHIRLY-CAR
The PAL-V One is a cross between a car, a motorbike and a gyrocopter. Its blades, propellor and tail all fold away to create an odd-looking threewheeled vehicle that can drive on any road. Powered by a 160-kW aircraft engine, it can reach 180 km/h both on land and in the air. It’s designed to fl y at under 1,200 m to avoid competing for airspace with commercial flights.
TERRAFUGIA TRANSITION
NOT YET RELEASED
HOW HEAVY (KG) 440
TOP SPEED (KPH) 185 KM/H IN AIR;
110 KM/H ON THE
ROAD
FUEL CONSUMPTION 11 LITRES/100 KM
(FLYING)
6.7 LITRES/100 KM
(ON ROAD)
SIZE 8 M WINGSPAN;
2.3 M WIDE WITH WINGS
FOLDED;
6 M LONG
COST $279,000
POWER 75 KW
ENGINE ROTAX 912ULS
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