The flying car is (almost) for real

The first time Carl Dietrich brought his flying-car concept to the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual AirVenture gathering, he had only a video to show. The following year, he brought the mock-up of a wing.

Six years later, in July 2013, he was finally ready to fly the prototype. As the announcer who introduced the Terrafugia Transition put it: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of the most incredible things we've seen, ever. Twentyfive minutes ago, this was a street-legal automobile. Now, it's in the air."

The promise of a massproduced flying car has taunted aviation enthusiasts for generations. However, Dietrich is closer than anyone since pilot Moulton Taylor's ill-fated attempt in the 1950s.

"What Carl is doing is a re-creation of that dream, with another lifetime's worth of technology, computing and crashworthiness," says Jake Schultz, a technical analyst at Boeing.