Trial runs will begin in 2009 for Terrafugia’s—a Boston-area company—flying automobile.

Transition, a hybrid of an automobile and airplane, is a two-seater airplane that takes regular unleaded gasoline. The vehicle, which Terrafugia is calling a ‘roadable aircraft,’ can travel 500 miles on a single tank of gas.

No need for any special accommodations for Transition, once the roadable aircraft makes a safe landing its wings fold up, allowing a consumer to drive home and park inside a garage. Now that’s a luxury addition.

While Transition isn’t the first flying car to ever be engineered, Terrafugia’s roadable aircraft is making significant headway. In fact, the company has begun taking deposits for the $194,000 roadable aircraft. Terrafugia plans to begin deliveries of the vehicle in 2010.

Terrafugia was founded in 2006 by a group of MIT students and is dedicated to bringing innovative solutions to the challenges of personal aviation.

—Lauren Varga

Photos courtesy of Terrafugia.