# Flying car: a little bit nearer?



## Pyan (Apr 9, 2012)

US company Terrafugia has put on display a prototype car that is licensed to fly as well as drive, at the New York International Auto Show.



> It is the first vehicle in the world to have met both the standards of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), according to Cliff Allen, Vice President of Sales at Terrafugia.
> 
> This makes it the first "street legal aeroplane", he said.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17626818


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## thaddeus6th (Apr 9, 2012)

Not so sure, to be honest.

The problem is that cars crash. Often this is very minor, but if you're flying then even a small knock could mean loss of control and hitting either the ground or a tall building/tree, which would obviously have an adverse impact upon a forthcoming MOT.


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## Montero (Apr 9, 2012)

My take is
a) Interesting as an engineering achievement
b) Would be very convenient not to have to go through check-in etc
c) Thank goodness you'd still need a pilots licence, air worthiness certificate etc, airport, flightplans etc.

Going back to all the 1950s gleaming wishful thinking pictures of the future, I've always been worried by the idea of flying cars as a general deployment to every person in the street.  People get it wrong enough with cars despite driving tests and MoT.  The idea of free roaming vehicles thundering across everywhere is a nightmare not a dream.  At least aircraft are tightly regulated and this development will be regulated as an aircraft.

On the energy efficiency front of things, wonder how this compares to driving to an airport and sharing a big plane with lots of other passengers.


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## Prophetsnake (Apr 16, 2013)

It's not the first, Molt Taylor made a road legal, certified aircraft back in the 40s. AFAIK it was the only vehicle of this type with a full type certificate (as opposed to experimental, of which there have been quite a few) 
Molt Taylor was an aeronautical genius and this machine in particular was an amazing achievement. 
I can't ever see it being a practical device. Car park knocks and other problems would make a machine like this outrageously expensive. Aircraft operation is pretty expensive as it is.


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