Published August 19, 2010

Back in July, when the FAA green-lighted a flying car built by MIT grads in Woburn, we made the mistake of calling it the “first.” The commenters complained.

While it’s definitely “a” first, it’s not “the” first. I e-mailed the company, Terragufia. Here is the response from COO Anna Mracek Dietrich:

I think we would tend to side with your listeners.  There have been concepts that combine driving and flying since 1918.  The Roadable Times (www.roadabletimes.com) might be of interest as a reasonably complete survey.  While the Transition(R) incorporates many improvements in both safety and convenience, it isn’t the “first flying car”.  We actually prefer to think about the Transition(R) a plane that drives instead of as a “flying car”.  There are a number of implications associated with the term “car” that aren’t applicable to the Transition(R), namely that it is a mass-market product that requires minimal training to operate and that it can be flown directly to and from your house (as opposed to using airports and connecting roads).

You’re telling me I can’t drive on Storrow and then take off when the traffic gets heavy?

OK, but here’s what you can do: You can park it in your driveway. You can take it to the gas station and fill up. You can drive it to the airport. And you can fly away. It retails for less than $200,000, carries two people and their luggage and can travel a few hundred miles on a one tank. Cape getaway, anyone?

As for other flying cars? Er, roadable aircraft? There have been many concepts, but concepts don’t count. Commenter Shannon Moon said the Taylor Aerocar was actually built — more than 50 years ago — and at least one is still flying. Wikipedia has a list of other models.

So we can’t fly around town like the Jetsons just yet. Might it be possible in our lifetime?

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