Terrafugia (ˌtɛrəˈfuːdʒiə) is a small, privately held American corporation that is developing a roadable aircraft dubbed the Transition

Transition (roadable aircraft)

The Terrafugia Transition is a light sport, roadable aircraft under development by Terrafugia since 2006.The Rotax 912S piston engine powered, carbon-fiber vehicle is planned to have a flight range of using automotive grade unleaded gasoline and a cruising flight speed of . It does not include an...

. Their General Aviation (GA), Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) is designed to fold its wings, enabling the vehicle to also operate as a street-legal road vehicle, and is scheduled for release in 2012.

It is the sole registered automobile manufacturer in Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

.

Founding and financial history

Terrafugia was founded by graduates of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 and graduates of the MIT Sloan School of Management. Their team and business plan was the runner-up for the 2006 MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition

MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition

The is one of the largest and most famous business plan competitions in the world. Entirely student-managed, students from all programs and levels at MIT organize and enter the $100K. Teams must include at least 1 full-time MIT student, but membership is not restricted to the MIT community...

. 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

Lemelson-MIT Prize

The Lemelson Foundation awards several prizes yearly to inventors in United States. The largest is the Lemelson-MIT Prize which was endowed in 1994 by Jerome H. Lemelson, and is administered through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...

. The first round of convertible note financing began at EAA 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 was planned in 2009. Second and third rounds of equity financing raised US$2,037,680 in May, 2010 and US$960,418 in Dec, 2010. In October 2008, Terrafugia reported seeking reservations for airframe number 57, and a more than US$8 million backlog. In March 2009 the company had fewer than 35 aircraft orders and by September 2009 they had received 70 orders.

Transition roadable aircraft

The Transition light sport aircraft is expected to be released in late 2012. The estimated purchase price is US$194,000. Owners will be required to obtain a Sport Pilot certificate, which can be acquired after 20 hours of observed flying time. Owners will be able to drive as a car from their garage to an airport where the wings can be deployed for take-off and flight within a range of 400 nmi (740.8 km; 460.3 mi). It will carry two people plus luggage and will operate on a single tank of regular unleaded gas. The design of the production version was made public at AirVenture Oshkosh on 26 July, 2010.

The Transition Proof-of-Concept's maiden flight on 5 March 2009 lasted 37 seconds and covered 3000 feet (914.4 m) of the runway at the Plattsburgh International Airport

Plattsburgh International Airport

-Top Destinations:-References:Other sources:*. Press-Republican, 2005-07-13.*. Press-Republican, 2007-05-30.*. Press-Republican, 2007-12-19.* The Montreal Gazette, 2008-07-05.-External links:*, official site at New York State DOT website...

. The test pilot then conducted 6 additional takeoffs and landings.

In June 2010, the FAA granted Terrafugia an exemption for the Transition's extra takeoff weight. The added weight accommodates the Transition's road safety features, which is needed to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. On June 29, 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also granted exemptions allowing the Transition to use a polycarbonate windshield, to use tires suited for highway and aircraft use but not typically certified for multi-purpose vehicle use, to not include an electronic stability control system that could inadvertently cut engine power during flight, and finally, to use regular instead advanced airbag deployment.

DARPA Transformer (TX) Project

Transformer (TX)

Transformer (flying car)

The Transformer or TX is a 5-year, 3-phase flying car effort coordinated by DARPA for the United States Military.The objective of the Transformer program is to demonstrate a four person vehicle that provides enhanced logistics and mobility though hybrid flyable/roadable capabilities...

 is a DARPA US$65m, five year, three phase program intended to develop a 'flying Humvee'. A Phase 1 proposal from AAI Corporation

AAI Corporation

AAI Corporation is an aerospace and defense development and manufacturing firm in Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA. It is formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of United Industrial Corporation, AAI was acquired by Textron in 2007 and currently is an operating unit of Textron Systems Corporation...

was awarded a US$3m contract in September, 2010 and incorporates deployable surfaces technology from subcontractor Terrafugia.