May saw a major milestone for Terrafugia’s Transition development program: Two person flights.
The Terrafugia test team has been putting the second generation Transition prototype, affectionately referred to as “D2” through its paces for about two years, alternating flight and drive testing and building confidence with the vehicle.
Throughout that process, flights were conducted by Terrafugia’s Chief Test Pilot and Director of Flight Test Operations Phil Meteer. But the Transition is a two-place aircraft and the company reports it has reached the point in its flight test plan for two-person operations.
“This portion of our flight test program included 12 individuals with a variety of pilot and small aircraft experience, from basically none to other experienced test pilots, flying with Phil to evaluate various test objectives in the Transition,” company officials report.
Flights were conducted at Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth, N.H., over the last several weeks.
“Two-person testing was a major milestone for Terrafugia,” company officials said. “Feedback from these test events dramatically increased our confidence in the Transition and in its ability to be a fun airplane that will be a great introduction to general aviation and a safe and enjoyable way to get where you want to be.”
For more information: Terrafugia.com
We always appreciate the shout out from GANews!
That said, we haven’t been flying the version of the Transition show in the picture above since 2009 — the current design looks quite different. Images of the current Transition can be seen here:
http://www.terrafugia.com/aircraft/transition
and we have more higher res stuff for media available.
Thanks! Appreciate the heads up!
Thanks for changing the picture! Most reporters don’t bother to make any updates or corrections — we really appreciate the extra effort!
-Carl