FAA Green-Lights Flying Car for Takeoff

A 200-pound flier can carry 250 pounds of luggage in as many bags as he wants for free, because of a new Federal Aviation Administration exemption.

Of course, said flier has to be boarding a flying car, called the Terrafugia Transition.

And the vehicle doesn’t come cheaply, notes a story on the FAA exemption in the London Telegraph: The 70 people who have plunked down $10,000 deposits for the Jetsons-like invention can expect to pay another $184,000 or so upon delivery, says the company, Terrafugia, based just outside of Boston.

The Transition was designed as a "light sport" aircraft, the smallest private airplane classification under FAA regulations, with a maximum weight of 1,320 pounds, the Telegraph reports. But Terrafugia — that’s Latin for “escape the Earth,” if you’re wondering — couldn’t accommodate the safety features, such as airbags, etc., are required for road vehicles at that weight.

So the FAA granted an exemption to go 120 pounds over the limit to the two-seat car that can carry a maximum load of 450 pounds (thus, a 200-pound driver with 250 pounds of luggage) and is said to get 30 mpg. On the ground.

For the full Telegraph story, and a video, on the folding-wing carplane — Click Here Now.