alarm:clock

Alternative Energy - Tuesday, June 6, 2006

Flying Car Company Looks For Funding With Prototype

We almost posted months ago about an MIT grad student from Sausalito, CA who had dreams of a flying car, but we didn't think this would be of interest to pro investors. It turns out that some investors are paying attention and more than 75 pilots are offering deposits.

The Transition, developed by Terrafugia, a start-up formed by 29-year old Carl Dietrich and MIT students, was a runner-up among 164 entries at this year's annual MIT $100K Entrepreneurs Contest.

Still a prototype, The Transition would be about 18 feet long and would weigh about 1,320 pounds, or about half that of a new Honda Civic four-door sedan. Its wingspan would be 27 feet, and the wings would fold up when being deployed for the roadways (to 18.75 feet). Its engine would be 100 horsepower, and it would fly at about 120 mph.

"This isn't for driving around town, or going across country," said Dietrich, who will receive his Ph.D. in aeronautics from MIT later this year. "But driving 100 to 500 miles would be OK." The vehicle would sell for $148K

The Transition's Inspiration

Read - Flying-car design lures venture capitalists (Bloomberg)
View - Terrafugia Web site