Getting a light plane-car hybrid off the ground seems to be an arduous process.
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But if your interest needed a pique, the company has announced something new: the updated exterior design of the TF-X (or outer mold line).
“The model will be tested at the MIT Wright Brothers wind tunnel, the same tunnel that was used to test models of Terrafugia’s Transition”.
We’d like to tell you some info on pricing – also because we want one badly – but back in 2013, the company estimated it will need around six to eight years to produce a fully-operational TF-X, which means we’re in for a long wait. The TF-X is the spiritual successor to the Transition.
“The wind tunnel test model will be used to measure drag, lift and thrust forces while simulating hovering flight, transitioning to forward flight and full forward flight”, Terrafugia said.
The Terrafugia Transition is a less cool looking flying vehicle.
The street-legal, four-passenger TF-X is meant to fit in a standard single-car garage, and should take about five hours to learn to fly, the company says.
Unfortunately don’t expect the TF-X to be arriving any time soon as the company says it requires another 8 to 12 years of development before it will be able to launch the flying auto to consumers. That vehicle was initially going to sell for about $279,000 Dollars. With a new streamlined body that makes it look even more like something out of “Star Trek” the TF-X is the auto that hopefully you’ll be able to buy when it eventually goes on sale a few years from now.
The video below is an animation of how the newly-designed TF-X is projected to look in action.
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In an era where the Federal Aviation Administration is poised to start regulation drones, and increasing efforts are being made to develop autonomous cars, the idea of flocks of private citizens taking to the skies seems far-fetched.
