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Sunday April 3, 2016 |
The Transition® and the TF-X™ from Terrafugia are futurustic driving cars that can fly. By LadyDragon MONTREAL--(LadyDragon.com)03/04/16--3.23am EST, LadyDragon wrote - Terrafugia is pronounced (ter-ra-FOO-gee-ah) since Terrafugia is derived from the Latin for “Escape the Earth”. We’re Driven to Fly.™ Terrafugia intends to catalyze a revolution in personal mobility. Their vehicles bring a new level of safety, convenience, and freedom to personal transportation. They are now developing 2 vehicles plus a third generation conforming prototype. The Transition® street-legal airplane is the first step on the road to the practical flying car.
Terrafugia’s vision for the future is the TF-X™: a bold concept intended to lead the creation of a new industry and bring personal aviation into the mainstream.
This computer-generated animation illustrates Terrafugia’s vision for the future of personal transportation: the TF-X™. Company Facts and Figures: Terrafugia was incorporated in 2006, the Proof of Concept Transition® vehicle was first flown in 2009, and the second generation prototype was first flown in 2012. Since then, the second generation Transition® has completed over 100 hours of flight testing, and the drivetrain durability work is underway. They are currently developing our third generation conforming prototype, which will be tested in 2016 and 2017. First deliveries of the Transition® will follow the completion of the testing on the conforming prototype. The TF-X™ program was announced in 2013 and is in the early R&D design stage. In parallel with TF-X™ R&D, Terrafugia is working with international ASTM committees to develop the standards to which TF-X™ will be certified. Once the certification basis is determined, the program can be formally scoped, but until then, the timeline remains to be determined. Terrafugia is based in Woburn, MA, and initial Transition® production will be out of our facility. They are a privately funded company. Transition® Facts and Figures: Dimensions: 19’ 6” long; 7’ 6” wide; 7’ 9” tall; 26’ 6” wingspan. Engine: Rotax 912iS fuel-injected engine. Avionics: Dynon SkyVu. Safety features: BRS parachute, airbags, safety cage, crumple zone, knee bolsters, and more. In the air: Requires a 2,000 ft. runway for take-off and landing at standard sea level conditions. Note that there are over 5,000 public use airports in the US that meet this requirement; 98% of the population lives within a 30 minute drive of one of these airports. They are pursuing certification as a Light Sport Aircraft. The Transition® will require at least a Sport Pilot Certificate to fly. Range: 400 miles with reserve, 5 gallons per hour at cruise, cruise speed of 100 mph, 23 gallon tank. On the ground: The Transition® will drive at highway speeds and will fit in a standard parking space or standard single-car garage. It will require a driver’s license to operate. Conversion between flight and drive modes takes less than 40 seconds. Pilot must perform a standard preflight inspection before takeoff. TF-X™ Facts and Figures: Overview: The TF-X™ is Terrafugia’s vision for the future. It is a four-seat, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), plug-in hybrid-electric, semi-autonomous flying car. The technology components exist to make the TF-X™ today, but there are significant technical integration and regulatory barriers to overcome. Specifications: If the certification basis can be determined in the next three years, the TF-X™ could go into production in as little as eight years. Price will be consistent with high-end luxury cars. We are not taking deposits or releasing specifications for the TF-X™ at this time due to the early stage of the development program. Certification: Existing standards do not contemplate a vehicle like the TF-X™, so we will be working with regulators and the international standards community on the creation of new certification standards for the TF-X™. Flying the TF-X™ will only require an operator certificate, as opposed to a traditional pilot’s license. The operator certificate could be earned in substantially less time than would be required for a traditional license. The specific requirements of this operator certificate will be determined in conjunction with the relevant regulatory bodies as we move closer to production of the TF-X™. Latest news from Terrafufia below was in January and February Terrafugia is a member of one of the four teams selected by the FAA to receive a System Engineering 2025 (SE2025) Small Business, Research and Mission Analysis Contract. Our team is led by Mosaic ATM and is tasked with advising federal regulators on the future of air traffic management and aviation infrastructure. In addition to Mosaic ATM and Terrafugia, the world-class team includes Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Virgin America, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and several other premier aerospace institutions and companies. The SE2025 program gives our team the opportunity to respond to proposal requests from the FAA and to suggest innovative areas of work that will facilitate a more automated national airspace system (NAS). To date, the FAA has issued proposal requests pertaining to airspace modeling, aviation safety risk factor modeling and analysis, and the integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the NAS. The four selected Research and Analysis teams together with five Systems Engineering teams will be eligible for up to $767.6 million in federal funding to support the advanced research, systems engineering, and analysis that will pave the way towards the future of FAA air traffic control and regulation. Emphasizing the importance of bringing together a diverse team of world-class innovators and aviation experts to tackle these cutting-edge technological and regulatory challenges, Mosaic ATM President and Principal Analyst Chris Brinton commented, “Terrafugia brings key knowledge and experience with small aircraft manufacturing, certification and operation in the NAS, as well as a bold and exciting vision for truly transforming air transportation. The FAA SE2025 contract will allow Mosaic ATM and Terrafugia to support the FAA in ensuring that the National Airspace System can enable and facilitate safe and efficient personal aviation operations.” Terrafugia CEO Carl Dietrich added, “We are excited for the opportunity to work with this top-notch team and look forward to contributing to the next generation of federal aviation infrastructure.” This opportunity is especially exciting for Terrafugia because of its implications both for the broader aerospace industry and for the development of our own vehicles. Specifically, the successful development and production of the semi-autonomous TF-X™ will require close collaboration with the FAA to ensure our technology fits within established regulatory structures for UAS operation. As a part of the SE2025 team, Terrafugia will have the unique opportunity to help craft the tools and infrastructure that will make our vision for the future of transportation a reality. February news The Terrafugia team is pleased to share that we have successfully completed static load testing of a scale prototype of the TF-X™ wing. This test verified that the one-tenth scale carbon fiber wing will be able to safely withstand the necessary loads during wind tunnel testing, and is an essential step along the path towards TF-X™ development. Terrafugia’s vision for the future, the TF-X™ is a plug-in hybrid electric flying car with semi-autonomous flight and vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. Estimated to enter production in 8-12 years, the TF-X™ will create a new dimension of personal freedom. To complete this test, Terrafugia engineers developed one-tenth scale prototypes of the wing and applied loads to both the central wing structure and the side motor pods to test its performance at progressively higher loads. The wing maintained structural integrity at over five times the maximum predicted loads, validating the wing design and allowing the team to move forward with further preparations for wind tunnel testing. The picture below shows the scale prototype of the wing successfully enduring loads applied to the body of the wing and to each motor pod. While this is among the first of many tests that will be integral for TF-X™ development, successful static testing of the wing is an important and exciting milestone as we move forward with further testing and design iteration. About Terrafugia Terrafugia
was founded in 2006 to revolutionize personal
transportation by making aviation safer, more convenient,
and more accessible through the development of practical
flying cars. Based in Woburn, MA, Terrafugia‘s
initial program is a two-seat folding-wing roadable
aircraft known as the Transition®. Building on this
foundation, in 2013 we launched the TF-X™ program:
a four-seat, hybrid-electric flying car with
semi-autonomous vertical takeoff and landing
capabilities. Still in the early stages of development,
the TF-X™ is Terrafugia’s vision for the
future of personal mobility. Please go the http://www.ladydragon.com for more news LadyDragon Project --->LadyDragon's Eco-House Laboratory For Breaking news please Follow @LadyDragon13 |
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