to simultaneously meet the ASTM
standards for light-sport aircraft (LSA)
and motor vehicle design regulations of
the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, which isn’t easy. That
regulatory experience has already reaped
an unexpected bonus for Terrafugia: a
contract to help DARPA, the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency,
create a military flying car that can carry
four marines and their equipment more
than 230 miles with semi-autonomous
flying capability.
ADDRESSING GA SHORTCOMINGS AND SAFET Y
The company cofounders developed the
concept for the Transition when they were
graduate students at MIT. Their goal was
to design an airplane that addresses obsta-
cles to greater use of general aviation
(GA), identified by a survey of 1,500 pilots.
The obstacles are:
• Extreme sensitivity to weather
• High ownership cost
• Limited ground mobility at
most airports
• Long door-to-door travel time
Dietrich said that he and his wife,
Anna, Terrafugia’s chief operating officer,
often don’t fly themselves on weekend
trips because they know they have to be
back in the office Monday morning, but
they can’t be assured of doing that because
of weather. With a Transition, if the
weather becomes questionable, a pilot can
land at the nearest airport and continue
his or her trip on the highway.
At your destination airport, you can
quickly get on the road without the need
to transfer to a rental car or airport
loaner car—neither of which is available
at many airports.
The Transition has the potential to
improve GA safety since, according to
Dietrich, it brings federal motor vehicle
safety standard features to the LSA
industry. “For example, the Transition has
an integrated safety cage, crumple zones,
we have done simulated crash testing of the
vehicle, and it has air bags in it. All of these
features do make it more crash resistant
even when flying, not just driving.
“If you look at aircraft today, the
crumple zone is right where you’re
sitting,” since the engine is very rigid. But
the Transition is designed to absorb all of
the energy in the crumple zone when a
pilot makes an off-field landing at 55 mph
and slows to 30 mph before hitting an
immovable object. It also includes a BRS
parachute, which in some situations may
