Easier Said Than Done - A documentary

It seems like something out of The Jetsons, but it's real. Or at least it will be soon.

Terrafugia is perhaps just a few regulations and one very powerful battery away from clearing most of the hurdles it needs to create a flying car that consumers in the market for the equivalent of a super luxury sedan could afford.

It was in 2004, while he was completing his Ph.D. at M.I.T., that Dietrich read about new developments at the Federal Aviation Administration — new kinds of pilots' licenses and a new kind of aircraft certification. These paved the way for Terrafugia. Enter the Transition.

With a cruising speed of 100 miles per hour in the air and gas mileage of about 35 to the gallon on the ground, Terrafugia's first model of flying car exists already.

"We're flying a second-generation prototype, right now," Dietrich said of the Transition.

The Transition is basically a small general-aviation airplane that can fold up its wings with the push of a button. It runs on normal automative gasoline — about 30% less expensive than aviation fuel (its range is about 410 miles plus a 30-minute reserve). Fly the Transition to a small airport, land, and the wings withdraw in less than a minute. Its propeller disengages and its rear-wheel drive turns on. At that point, you're street legal and ready to roll. At home, the Transition is designed to fit within a single-car garage.