Plane Facts: Flying Cars

First flying car built:Curtiss Autoplane, 1917

Designer:Glenn Curtiss

Patent issued:1919

Debut:Pan-American Aeronautic Exposition,NYC, February 1917

Flight:Reported to have madea few straight-ahead hops

Style:Aluminum automobile body with detachable wings and tail

Seats:3

Engine:100 hp Curtiss OXX (water-cooled V8)

Propeller:4-blade, rear-mounted

Dimensions (flight mode):27 ft. x 40 ft. 6 in. x 10 ft.

Useful load:710 lbs.

Reason development stopped:WWI

Only CAA (now FAA) certified flying cars:Fulton Airphibian, Taylor Aerocar

Most built:Taylor Aerocar; 6 built

Designer:Moulton Taylor

Models:3 (Specs for Aerocar I)

First flight:December 1949

Style:Fiberglass skin, wings manually fold backalong tail to form towable trailer, detachable prop

Seats:2

Engine:143 hp Lycoming O-320 (4-cylinder)

Max speed road/air:67 mph/110 mph

Time to change from plane to car: Advertised as under 5 minutes

Service ceiling:12,000 ft.

Climb Rate:550 fpm

Take-off/landing run:650 ft. (50 ft. obstacle--1,225 ft.)/300 ft.

Dimensions (flight mode):21 ft. 6 in. x 34 ft. x 7 ft. 6 in.

Commercial work:N103D; Used for traffic reporting, KISN Radio, Portland, Oregon, 1961-1963

Useful load:600 lbs.

Car empty weight:1,100 lbs.

Trailer weight:400 lbs.

Max gross weight:2,100 lbs.

Fuel burn road/aerial cruise:18 mpg/8 gph

Range road/air:400 miles/300 miles

Model price:$25,000

Reason it didn't go to production:Couldn't get 500 firm orders

Deposit for order:$1,000

Number of orders received:278

Planned production price:$8,500

Asking price of most recently listed models:N103D, $2.2 million; N101D, $1.25 million (neither sold)

Insurance needed:Separate auto and aircraft policies

Military Development:DARPA Transformer TX

Program started:2009

Design:Lockheed Martin/AAI

Estimated cost of Transformer program:$65 million

Reason TX didn't go to production:Lack of interest, Transformer program shifted to developing ARES unmanned transports

Some flying car prototypes currently flying:Terrafugia Transition, Aeromobil 3.0, PAL-V Liberty

Closest to FAA certification (probably):Terrafugia Transition

First flight:March 5, 2009

Style:Carbon-fiber skin, mechanically folding wing, rear-facing propeller

Estimated price:$300,000