Flying Car Ready To Take Off

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Posted by timothy on Sunday January 11, 2009 @11:42PM from the fill-up-on-windshield-fluid-please dept.

ChazeFroy writes "The first flying automobile, equally at home in the sky or on the road, is scheduled to take to the air next month. If it survives its first test flight, the Terrafugia Transition, which can transform itself from a two-seater road car to a plane in 15 seconds, is expected to land in showrooms in about 18 months' time. Terrafugia claims it will be able to fly up to 500 miles on a single tank of unleaded petrol at a cruising speed of 115mph. Even at $200,000 per automobile, they have already received 40 orders."

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Rules? by Godwin+O'Hitler · 2009-01-11 23:46 · Score: 5, Funny

Has anybody made an attempt at drafting traffic rules for flying cars yet?

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1. Re:Rules? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-01-11 23:55 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Yeah, there are so many flying cars up in the sky. It's getting crowded!
2. Re:Rules? by FiveLights · 2009-01-12 00:14 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Rules? Where we're going we don't need rules...
3. Re:Rules? by EdIII · 2009-01-12 00:40 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  In the air they have to obey the same rules as other planes. On the ground they have to obey the same rules as other cars. Simple as that.
  Either way I cannot wait for the first police chase involving one of these on the road. It will be fucking exciting, especially when the chase leaves the road . Better than Dukes of Hazzard on their best day :)
  That SOB is going to get TIVO'd.
4. Re:Rules? by troll8901 · 2009-01-12 00:46 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Year 2015, together with Mr Fusion reactors.
  Oh, if I remember correctly, upgrading a ground car to flight costs US$40,000 (this was a reasonably big amount when the movie was first released).
  Just remember, never appear in the middle of a lane traveling in the opposite direction!
5. Re:Rules? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-01-12 02:49 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  They make up for the extra 40 hrs by staying at a Holiday Inn Express.
6. Re:Rules? by MikeBabcock · 2009-01-12 03:14 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Just wait for that call to your insurance company about a car in your living room ... in your 17th floor condo.
  
  --
  - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
7. Re:Rules? by Sobrique · 2009-01-12 03:56 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Not to burst your bubble, but quite a lot of more rural places have small airfields with little checking.
  
  Even more places have roads that go approximately straight.
Make sure... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-01-11 23:53 · Score: 2, Funny

Make sure not to hit the "transform back to car" button while you're in mid air.
this sorta thing has been done many times by wjh31 · 2009-01-11 23:55 · Score: 4, Funny

and while many of them have taken off, none of them have taken off
Re:Roads do nasty things to vehicles by Rogerborg · 2009-01-12 01:29 · Score: 4, Funny

The people on the ground are poor though, so who cares?

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Re:we will NOT have flying cars by kannibal_klown · 2009-01-12 01:30 · Score: 2, Funny

Great,
Now Farmer's Markets will have to equip Flak cannons.
Coincidence? by Viceroy+Potatohead · 2009-01-12 01:50 · Score: 5, Funny

January: Obama becomes president.
One month later: Flying cars.

What's next?
Thanksgiving: Immortality.
Christmas: Girlfriend!

Clearly, all this fuss about Obama has been well placed! He's not even in power yet and the flying cars are already on the way! :P
Crashed.... by mrops · 2009-01-12 02:17 · Score: 5, Funny

Not sure about the car, but the website sure crashed!
Hope the car is better.
1. Re:Crashed.... by captain_dope_pants · 2009-01-12 05:38 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  SNAKES ON A CAR !
  
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  while (true != false) process_more_stupid_code();
Re:Roads do nasty things to vehicles by Joe+the+Lesser · 2009-01-12 04:32 · Score: 3, Funny

So finally the upper class is a literal definition!

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Re:It won't be most people by darth+dickinson · 2009-01-12 05:19 · Score: 2, Funny

Unfortunately, since this thing could feasibly take off from any straight stretch of road, what's to stop the "I can fly MS Flight Sim, I can fly one of these" types from just finding a nice stretch of road and taking off?

Of course, taking off and piloting are the (relatively) easy parts, so maybe the problem will take care of itself the first time they do an approach :)