Terrafugia

Since the days of the Jetsons, people have been dreaming of flying cars that would be able to carry passengers high above the gridlocked traffic below. Now, as the urban air mobility (UAM) sector gains momentum with more VTOL designs and air taxis on drawing boards, the mainstream media is more than happy to call […]

Anna and Carl Dietrich, the cofounders of Terrafugia, have left the firm as the flying car developer’s new Chinese parent company makes several changes including the closure of a California research facility. The husband and wife team, along with three other Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates, founded Terrafugia in 2006. Carl Dietrich was most recently […]

Terrafugia has chosen BRS’ whole-aircraft parachute safety system for its upcoming Transition flying car, BRS announced in a press release. It is designed to be a last resort for pilots and passengers in the event all other methods of recovering an aircraft in distress have failed. The system uses a pilot-activated ballistic rocket launcher to […]

The Terrafugia flying car, created a decade ago by a handful of MIT grads, just made another huge leap toward becoming an actual product thanks to its new owner. The South China News reported that Geely, the company that also owns Volvo, agreed to acquire Terrafugia. Reports indicate Geely was particularly interested in the Terrafugia’s […]

The FAA says the Terrafugia Transition can now be called a light sport aircraft despite the fact that its maximum weight is 370 pounds greater than the standard LSA 1,430-pound limit. Terrafugia petitioned the agency for the exemption to use the LSA label for a street-legal version of the aircraft back in 2014. Although the […]

Terrafugia is still tweaking the design of its TF-X, an electric, semi-autonomous, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) flying car, which is slated to be tested in 2016 and 2017. This week, the company announced that it will soon begin flight testing with an unmanned, one-tenth scale model of the TF-X in order to gauge its […]

A number of general aviation’s most influential lobbying groups have come out in strong support of Terrafugia’s request for an exemption to LSA weight and stall speed limits for the company’s developmental flying car. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association and Experimental Aircraft Association all submitted formal comments to the FAA supporting […]

Terrafugia has petitioned the FAA for an exemption from the limitations of the light-sport aircraft regulations for its Transition flying car to allow for an increase in the gross weight and stall speed. A notice of petition for exemption has been published by the FAA, allowing for public comment on the issue until January 20. […]

Terrafugia, developer of the Transition roadable aircraft project, has posted an appeal for funding on the Wefunder “crowd investor” website similar to the better known site, Kickstarter. Federal investor rules have changed recently, allowing the company to post on the site in September. On the Wefunder site, Terrafugia CEO Carl Dietrich described how the investment […]

Terrafugia is planning to show off the capabilities of the Transition flying car to the world at AirVenture Oshkosh, set for July 29 through August 4 this year. The Woburn, Massachusetts-based company announced it will take the unconventional aircraft to the skies around 8 p.m., just before the night airshow on Wednesday, July 31. During […]