VOA慢速英语:Flying Car Moves Closer to Reality

You could fill the sky with all the ideas people have had for flying cars -- or what Carl Dietrich calls "flying-driving vehicles."
天空中可能飞满人们设计的各种创意飞行汽车，或者卡尔．蒂特里奇(Carl Dietrich)所说的“陆空两用车辆”。

CARL DIETRICH: "Since the turn of the twentieth century, there have been many hundreds of published concepts for flying-driving vehicles. And some of them have actually been built and flown. But at this point the Transition is the closest to actually getting to the marketplace.”
CARL DIETRICH：“自从进入20世纪以来，许多人发表了关于陆空两用车辆的概念。并且一些人也尝试过制造出这种汽车并飞行。但是现在，Transition(车名)是现实中最接近推出市场的一款。”

Carl Dietrich heads a company in Massachusetts called Terrafugia.
卡尔．蒂特里奇(Carl Dietrich)是马萨诸塞州Terrafugia公司的总裁。

CARL DIETRICH: "Terrafugia is developing the Transition street-legal airplane, which many people have characterized as the first practical flying car. And the Transition is designed to really be a general aviation airplane, like a Cessna or a Piper, a propeller-powered airplane that can fold up its wings, drive down the road and park in a single-car garage.”
CARL DIETRICH：“Transition是一款可以在街道上合法行驶的飞机，许多人认为这是第一款真正可以飞行的汽车。而Transition既可以像普通的飞机，例如赛斯纳或派珀，利用螺旋桨来提供动力，也可以将机翼折叠起来，在街道上行驶或停在车库中。”

He says the Transition Roadable Aircraft easily changes to a car.
他说，Transition陆空两用飞机可以很容易地转变为汽车。

CARL DIETRICH: "It takes about twenty seconds. It’s like putting the top down on a convertible, only instead of folding up your roof, we’re folding up our wings and we’re transferring power from a propeller to the wheels for driving on the ground.”
CARL DIETRICH：“大概只需20秒。就像是一个可以倒转来转化的屋顶，我们将机翼折叠起来，动力由螺旋桨转变为在地面上行驶的车轮。”

Development began in two thousand six, and the first road and fight tests took place in two thousand nine.
这款飞行汽车的开发始于2006年，第一次陆空试飞在2009年进行。

The Transition had to meet federal safety standards for cars and aircraft. Last year the Federal Aviation Administration agreed to let it weigh more than other light sport aircraft. But even fully loaded, says Mr. Dietrich, it still weighs about half as much as an average car.
Transition必须符合汽车和飞机的联邦安全标准。去年，联邦航空管理局同意允许这款陆空两用汽车的重量超过其他轻体育飞机。但是即使在满载的情况下，Transition飞行汽车的重量仍然只有普通汽车的一半。

The windows, for example, weigh less than traditional automotive safety glass. Terrafugia got permission for that last month from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
例如，车窗的重量小于传统的汽车安全玻璃。Terrafugia公司上个月获得了国家公路交通安全管理局的许可。

Carl Dietrich says the aircraft can climb to more than three thousand meters. It can carry two people at speeds over one hundred sixty kilometers an hour in the air. And on the ground it can drive at highway speeds, around one hundred thirteen kilometers an hour.
Carl Dietrich说，Transition可以上升到3000多米的高空。可以用超过160千米每小时的速度搭载两人在空中飞行。而在地面上，可以以高度公路规定的速度行驶，大约113千米每小时。

The plane needs an airport for takeoffs and landings, but it uses automotive gasoline.
飞机需要机场来起飞和降落，但是使用的燃料是普通的汽车汽油。

The company expects to complete the building process for its flying cars within the next few months. Then it will began an intensive year-long testing program. Terrafugia expects the Transition to reach market by the end of twenty-twelve, at a price of around two hundred fifty thousand dollars.
该公司预期未来几个月之内就可以完成这款飞行汽车的制造进程，然后开始长达一年的密集试飞工作。Terrafugia公司预期这款飞行汽车可以在2012年底之前推出市场，价格大约是25万美元。

Carl Dietrich says nearly one hundred people have already signed up as buyers. He hopes to sell as many as a thousand a year in the near future.
Carl Dietrich说，将近100人已经签约订购。他希望不久的将来每年能够销售1,000辆。

CARL DIETRICH: "That will not have any appreciable or noticeable impact on the air traffic control infrastructure in the foreseeable future today. Now, twenty years down the road, who knows?"
CARL DIETRICH：“在今天可以预见的将来，这款飞行汽车不会对空中交通管制带来任何明显的影响。从现在到未来的二十年路程，谁知道呢？”