First came the Whatsit/Arrowplane (1936) ("Model T's of the air for the common man") and the Arrowbile Flying Auto, three of which were flown to the National Air Races in 1937. Both were creations of Waldo Waterman. Then came Molt Taylor's Aerocar (a great success), followed by the Waterman Aerobile (a spectacular failure). In 1945, Robert Fulton introduced the Airphibian, and the CIA ordered several. Flash forward to today. There have been many promising flying cars. Terrafugia is marketing a $194,000 "drivable plane" which it intends to release in late 2009. It hasn't yet been test-flown. So why is it being heralded by media outlets as the "World's First Flying Car"? [more inside]
posted by terranova on Jan 11, 2009 - 19 comments