A Boston-area company plans to begin flight tests this year of a two-seater airplane that moonlights as a car.

The aptly named Transition takes a stab at bridging the gap between automobiles and airplanes. Some people call it a flying car. The company designing and selling the vehicle prefers the term “roadable aircraft.”

Either way, it boils down to this: You sit down behind the steering wheel, drive to the runway, unfold two wings and take off. You can fly 500 miles on a tank of gas — regular unleaded — and when you land, you simply fold up the wings and drive where you want to go. At the end of the day, you fly back, drive home and park inside your garage.

Terrafugia, of Woburn, Mass., is not the first firm to attempt what may be the ultimate hybrid.

Terrafugia may have a winner with their “roadable aircraft” since government regulations on private aircrafts and pilot licensing have lessened in recent years. At a price tag of $194,000 only innovators with large check books and a sport pilot license will have access to the ‘flying car’ that evokes memories of the Jetsons.

Source: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/01/22/flying-car.html

What to read or watch next

• Social Experiment: Virtual Street Corners – Connecting Brookline and Roxbury

Tagged boston, discovery, flying car, roadable aircraft, Terrafugia