拒绝塞车 给汽车插上翅膀

在路上遭遇堵车的时候，你是不是曾经有过“如果车能长翅膀飞起来多好”这样的想法呢？现在，这个想法马上就要变成现实了。美国马萨诸塞州一家名为Terrafugia（拉丁语意思为：逃离陆地）的公司已经成功研制出了一款能够在一分钟内从陆地起飞升空的“有翅膀的汽车”，并将其命名为Transition。日前，这款汽车已被美国联邦航空管理局(FAA)核准为轻型运动飞机，将能合法地在公路上行驶并能在天空飞行，预计将在明年年底开始出售。这款“飞车”两边有可折叠的机翼，起飞时会自动打开，着陆行驶时便会收起恢复成正常汽车的模样。虽然名为“飞车”，但是在起飞和降落的时候，跑到仍然是个必需的硬件设施。据介绍，“飞车“的飞行高度为一万英尺，最大起飞重量为1430磅，陆地油耗约为每加仑行驶30英里，标价19.4万美元。如果用户想安装无线电、GPS或者全机伞降装置则需要另外付费。该公司介绍，设计这款车是为了让人们的出行更便捷、也更省钱：人们可以开车到机场，然后从跑道直接起飞，不用像现在那样把车存在机场转而搭乘飞机。另外，这款车也不会像私人飞机那样需要在机场花高昂的停机费用，它是汽车，所以你只需要把它停在自家的车库里就可以。

If cars had wings, they could fly — and that just might happen, beginning next year. The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Mass., says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2011. It recently cleared a major hurdle when the Federal Aviation Administration granted a special weight limit exemption to the Transition.

"It's the next 'wow' vehicle," said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh. "Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don't fly."

The Transition is a long way from cartoon dad George Jetson's flying car zooming above traffic, or even the magical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

"There is no launch button on the (instrument) panel," Gersh noted.

Rather, the car-plane has wings that unfold for flying — a process the company says takes one minute — and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to takeoff and land.

The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations

The company is pitching the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient — and cheaper — way to fly. They say it eliminates the hassle trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go. When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive hangar fees because you don't have to store it at an airport — you park it in the garage at home.

The plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Gas mileage on the road is about 30 mpg.

Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal conditions.

The Transition's price tag: $194,000. But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, transponder or GPS. Another option is a full-plane parachute.

"If you get into a very dire situation, it's the ultimate safety option," Gersh said.

So far, the company has more than 70 orders with deposits, he said.

Terrafugia is Latin for "escape from the land." The company was founded in 2006 by five Massachusetts Institute of Technology grad students who were also pilots. They received some seed money from the school.

The concept of a car-plane has been around since at least the 1950s, but it's possible that Terrafugia may become the first company to mass-produce one, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said.

"We're working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps," Brown said.