Terrafugia is a small, privately held corporation in Woburn, Massachusetts that is developing the Transition, a roadable aircraft. Their general aviation airplane is designed to fold its wings enabling it also to operate as a street-legal road vehicle.
Terrafugia was founded by graduates of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduates of the MIT Sloan School of Management. Their business plan was the US$10,000 Business Venture Runner-up in the 2006 MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. Terrafugia was then incorporated May 1, 2006, with much of the initial funding coming from CEO and founder Carl Dietrich's US$30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize. The first round of convertible note financing began at AirVenture Oshkosh 2006 and closed December 21, 2006 raising US$258,215. Five additional rounds of convertible note financing followed. The first round of equity financing closed in 2008 and raised US$1,531,323. Another round of equity financing is planned in 2009. In October 2008, Terrafugia reported seeking reservations for airframe number 57, and a more than US$8 million backlog.
The Transition is a roadable aircraft under development by Terrafugia, a small start-up company based in Woburn, Massachusetts.
The Rotax 912S piston engine powered, carbon-fiber vehicle is planned to have a flight range of 400 nmi (460 mi; 740 km) using automotive grade unleaded gasoline and a cruising flight speed of 115 mph (100 kn; 185 km/h). It does not come with an autopilot.
On the highway, it can drive up to 65 mph (105 km/h) to keep up with traffic. The Transition Proof of Concept's folded dimensions of 6 ft 9 in (2.1 m) high, 6 ft 8 in (2.0 m) wide and 18 ft 9 in (5.7 m) long are designed to fit within a standard household garage. When operated as a car, the engine powers the front wheel drive. In flight, the engine drives a pusher propeller. The Transition's layout, with folding wings, pusher propeller and twin tail, is similar to experimental aircraft N8072 built by Dr. Lewis A. Jackson in Xenia, Indiana during the 1960s.
The experimental Transition Proof of Concept's first flight was successful and took place under FAA supervision at Plattsburgh International Airport in upstate New York. First customer delivery, as of March 2009, is planned for 2011
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