[ti:Flying Car Moves Closer to Reality] [ar:Steve Ember] [al:Technology Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:02.98]Technology Report. [00:05.17]You could fill the sky [00:06.62]with all the ideas people [00:08.86]have had for flying cars [00:11.24]-- or what Carl Dietrich calls [00:13.53]"flying-driving vehicles." [00:15.97]CARL DIETRICH: "Since the turn [00:18.46]of the twentieth century, [00:19.55]there have been many hundreds [00:22.19]of published concepts [00:23.51]for flying-driving vehicles. [00:25.10]And some of them have actually [00:26.99]been built and flown. [00:28.08]But at this point the Transition [00:31.03]is the closest to actually [00:33.57]getting to the marketplace." [00:35.76]Carl Dietrich heads a company [00:38.10]in Massachusetts called Terrafugia. [00:40.88]CARL DIETRICH: "Terrafugia [00:41.83]is developing the Transition [00:43.23]street-legal airplane, [00:45.37]which many people have characterized [00:48.26]as the first practical flying car. [00:50.05]And the Transition [00:52.54]is designed to really be [00:54.78]a general aviation airplane, [00:56.87]like a Cessna or a Piper, [00:58.86]a propeller-powered airplane [01:01.10]that can fold up its wings, [01:02.59]drive down the road and park [01:05.08]in a single-car garage." [01:06.33]He says the Transition [01:08.18]Roadable Aircraft [01:09.77]easily changes to a car. [01:11.86]CARL DIETRICH: "It takes [01:12.80]about twenty seconds. [01:14.05]It's like putting the top [01:15.74]down on a convertible, [01:16.88]only instead of folding up your roof, [01:20.73]we're folding up our wings [01:23.03]and we're transferring power [01:25.02]from a propeller to the wheels [01:29.10]for driving on the ground." [01:30.84]Development began [01:32.18]in two thousand six, [01:33.92]and the first road and fight tests [01:37.01]took place in two thousand nine. [01:39.45]The Transition had to meet [01:42.09]federal safety standards [01:43.68]for cars and aircraft. [01:45.92]Last year the Federal [01:48.01]Aviation Administration agreed [01:50.30]to let it weigh more than [01:52.49]other light sport aircraft. [01:55.03]But even fully loaded, says [01:57.81]Mr. Dietrich, it still weighs [01:59.70]about half as much as an average car. [02:02.76]The windows, for example, [02:04.50]weigh less than traditional [02:06.69]automotive safety glass. [02:08.53]Terrafugia got permission for that [02:11.07]last month from the National Highway [02:13.46]Traffic Safety Administration. [02:15.30]Carl Dietrich says the aircraft [02:18.24]can climb to more than [02:19.73]three thousand meters. [02:21.22]It can carry two people [02:23.36]at speeds over [02:25.20]one hundred sixty kilometers [02:27.29]an hour in the air. [02:29.03]And on the ground it can drive [02:31.83]at highway speeds, [02:33.23]around one hundred thirteen [02:35.17]kilometers an hour. [02:37.06]The plane needs an airport [02:39.55]for takeoffs and landings, [02:41.24]but it uses automotive gasoline. [02:43.92]The company expects to complete [02:47.11]the building process for its flying cars [02:50.34]within the next few months. [02:52.34]Then it will began an intensive [02:55.32]year-long testing program. [02:57.66]Terrafugia expects the Transition [03:01.09]to reach market by the end of twenty-twelve, [03:04.28]at a price of around [03:06.08]two hundred fifty thousand dollars. [03:08.47]Carl Dietrich says [03:10.56]nearly one hundred people [03:12.51]have already signed up as buyers. [03:15.35]He hopes to sell as many [03:17.88]as a thousand a year [03:19.63]in the near future. [03:22.36]CARL DIETRICH: "That will not [03:23.16]have any appreciable [03:24.25]or noticeable impact [03:25.35]on the air traffic control [03:27.44]infrastructure [03:28.34]in the foreseeable future today. [03:29.68]Now, twenty years down the road, [03:31.82]who knows?" [03:32.62]And that's the VOA Special English [03:35.45]Technology Report, [03:37.29]written by June Simms. [03:38.89]You can watch a flight test [03:41.32]of the Transition at 51voa.com. [03:46.00]And how do you feel [03:49.39]about flying cars? [03:51.63]Write to us at 51voa.com. [03:56.24]I'm Steve Ember.