US company Terrafugia says it is developing a flying car and is eyeing the booming economies of India, Brazil and China as future markets.

About 100 people have already order a "combined flying-driving vehicle", the Transition, which has been priced at the equivalent of R2.2-million and is scheduled for launch late in 2012.

REAR PROPELLER

The two-seat vehicle is designed to fly between local airports, drive off the runway and join everyday traffice. The company hopes it will be the world's first commercially viable flying car.

It has a rear propeller for flying and is powered for both flight and road travel by unleaded petrol from regular service stations; it's also said to be small enough to fit into a household garage.

It converts from a car into a light sports aircraft in about 30 seconds - not much slower than erecting a convertible's power roof.

MILESTONE FOR AVIATION

Carl Dietrich, chief executive and co-founder of Terrafugia, said: "We will launch it initially in the US and eventually expand into Europe but for the second phase we are looking at China, Brazil and India, growing markets for this kind of product."

Terrafugia said in June 2011 that it had received special clearance from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the vehicle to ply the US road network.

The Transition is the first combined fly/drive vehicle to receive such an exemption from US authorities. It means delivery to customers can go ahead.

Terrafugia, Latin for "escape from land", said in March 2009 that the Transition had successfully completed its first flight, hailing it as "a milestone for aviation".

Dietrich told The Wall Street Journal earlier this year that the company's initial customers would be pilots moving around smaller airports across the United States.

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