Flying car set to take off

A flying car is to go into commercial production after manufacturers were given a special exemption by US aviation officials.

The Terrafugia Transition is designed as a 'light sport' aircraft, the smallest kind of private aeroplane under FAA classification.

Uniquely, however, the FAA has granted the Transition an exemption - allowing it to be classified as a light sport aircraft despite being 120lb over limit, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Light sport aircraft licences require just 20 hours' flying time, making them much easier to obtain than full private licences.

The two-seater Transition can use its front-wheel drive on roads at ordinary highway speeds, with wings folded, at a respectable 30mpg.

Once it has arrived at a suitable take-off spot - an airport, or adequately sized piece of flat private land - it can fold down the wings, engage its rear-facing propellor, and take off.

Its cruising speed in the air is 115mph, it has a range of 460 miles, and it can carry 450lb. It requires a 1,700-foot runway to take off and can fit in a standard garage.

Terrafugia says that one of the major advantages of the Transition over ordinary light aircraft is safety - in the event of bad weather, it can simply drive home instead of being grounded or flying in unsafe conditions.

The car is expected to retail at about £130,000. The company says that 70 people have already ordered the car, leaving a £6,650 deposit each.

For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity's affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss-a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity's mouth as if she were a giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world's thirstiest gerbil.

"The biggest impact Tebow has had on the team since being drafted is to raise coach Josh McDaniels' appreciation for veteran Kyle Orton."

Kill that pork Gov...but lends adequately fund the schools, eh?  That reminds me, where's all the Lotto money?  Or is the lottery commission the second bookie in history to lose money, like OTB.  

By 10am it emerged that Mr Perkins had single-handedly moved the global price of oil to an eight-month high during a "drunken blackout". Prices leapt by more than $1.50 a barrel in under half an hour at around 2am - the kind of sharp swing caused by events of geo-political significance. Ten times the usual volume of futures contracts changed hands in just one hour.

An Update from Christopher Hitchens
by Christopher Hitchens
June 30, 2010, 4:00 PM

I have been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course of chemotherapy on my esophagus. This advice seems persuasive to me. I regret having had to cancel so many engagements at such short notice.