Solution to the junior lot may be on the horizon

Natalia Ghan
Staff Writer

Apex students crawl to the exit after school.

A car that can fly sounds like something straight from a science fiction novel. As of today, no such car can be seen transitioning from earth to sky on Carolina roads. But by 2015, the expected year that Terrafugia Transition is to go on the market, a flying car may just become a daily reality.  MIT graduates from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics started working on the project in 2006. The engineers were not able to build an automobile capable of airborne travels as quickly as they expected. However, the car’s very first public flight was showcased at Wisconsin Air Show just this past August.



Terrafugia Transition converts from aircraft to automobile in 60 seconds. CEO Carl Dietrich says, “The potential benefit to humanity of a practical flying car is tremendous.” It could make navigation smoother with the absence of traffic jams or detours. A long, stop and start drive to work could turn into a speedy flight. Automatic emergency landing and a built in parachute are included as important safety features.


 However, even if released in 2015, many people argue a flying car still wouldn’t be practical. The majority of the public wouldn’t be able to own the vehicle ($300,000 is not pocket change), and drivers would need special pilot training to operate the vehicle. The invention’s engineering would require an airport runway to lift off, so spontaneously taking flight during a traffic jam would be impossible. But if MIT graduates can successfully finalize a flying automobile in the next couple of years, perhaps in another fifty students will be flying, not driving, to school.