Small steps toward a much better world (TGS is over)

Terrafugia, Inc., the Woburn, Mass., company developing a flying car or “roadable aircraft” called the Transition, says it received special exemptions from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The exemptions, which are particular to vehicles that fly and drive on roads, will allow the company to begin delivering the Transition when it is ready late next year. They allow the Transition to use plastic windows instead of standard automotive safety glass, and tires that aren’t normally allowed on multi-purpose vehicles.

The company says laminated safety glass used on cars for decades would add too much weight and could fracture in a way that would obscure the pilot’s view through the windshield. Lightweight polycarbonate windshields used in aircraft are designed in part to withstand impacts with birds, which are generally more of a hazard to pilots than drivers.

The article is here and for the pointer I thank Alex.

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