Besides the story about the Charlotte-bound US Airways plane that had to return to the gate in Atlanta because maggots started dropping from an overhead bin (watch video at your own risk…)
…the best aviation-related story making the rounds today was about yet another FAA-approved flying car. The Christian Science Monitor’s story about the Terrafugia Transition includes some very cool photos and a video describing the prototype of a two-seater car that can be transformed into an airplane – and purchased for $194,000.
It does seem promising but, The Jetsons aside, it’s not new. Back in 1949, Vancouver, Washington resident Moulton Taylor created a car that did the same thing.
The final version of that car, the Aerocar III, which was actually the sixth version of the car, is on display at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.
Taylor wasn’t the first to make a flying car. The Smithsonian Institution displays the Waterman Aerobile, which first flew in 1937.
And, from 1950, the Fulton Airphibian
Both the Airphibian and the Aerobile are on display in the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport.