Terrafugia TF-X
TERRAFUGIA TF-X
We
have seen many terrestrial vehicles that have played a pivotal role in transporting
us from one place to another place. Our dreams to fly got fulfilled with the
Invention of Airplanes, but even then there was a void in the transport
segment. Given the limitations of a terrestrial vehicle to cover large
distances with precision and safety was not answered until 2009, when a team of
graduates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology invented a new technology
in the personal transportation sector. And that very invention called up a
standing ovation. It was a transformable/convertible plane-car that can be
owned, given that you pass the Test Pilot Licensing Examination. The first
Ave-Car was the Transition.
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| The TF-X can fit in a regular car shed/garage |
Given
to the complex systems inside the Transition, a new Hybrid Ave-Car known as
TERRAFUGIA TF-X has been developed. The whole vehicle is Electric powered. It
has same modes as that of Transition, but with some significant modifications.
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| It can be driven as a terrestrial car |
Unlike
Transition, the TF-X uses VTOL method for Landing and Take-off. To achieve
this, the vehicle is equipped with a twin rotor, which helps the vehicle to
levitate in the air and hover just like a helicopter, whereas the Transition
uses generally Horizontal Landing and Take-off methodology.
The
TF-X:
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| See the Aerodynamically Streamlined Shape of the Car |
The
TF-X is a 4-seater personal flying machine as well as Street Legal Car Aircraft
that runs on Electricity, It has a smooth metal body (Might be Aluminium, for
making the flight easy and light), with retractable tyres and Twin Boom Rotors
with Six blades each, and a large turbine at the rear end of the vehicle (This
turbine comes into act when the Car is in Flight Mode)
Working
of TF-X:
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| These Torpedo-like Rotors help the TF-X to levitate, which later fold back after a certain altitude is achieved |
There
are two modes in the TF-X: they are Drive Mode and Flight mode. In the Drive
mode, the vehicle runs just like any other road vehicle using the Internal
Batteries that generally power the car as well as drive the vehicle. Note that
this vehicle uses Electricity from Batteries to drive and not petrol or diesel.
The Car can get charged at Petrol Bunks if necessary. These work with Auto
transmission mode (The P-R-N-D-S [P: Parking; R: Reverse; N: Neutral; D: Drive;
S: Secondary] Selector Bar, with a Steering Wheel)
When
the driver selects flight mode, the driver now has now the option to pilot the
vehicle, before that the driver has to input Source and Destination and the
Shortest path in the GPS Module in the Dashboard-cum-Cockpit of TF-X, he should
also enter emergency landing points in case, there is some sort of emergency
that might occur en-flight, the Rudder and the Fly-by-wire Console now
activates and the scapula like structure at the rear of vehicle, just behind
the cabin, gets activated, and the cowling is released at the bottom of the
vehicle (below the doors of the cabin), and a torpedo-like motor with 6-folded
blade is exposed, the bent arm, now unfolds, and creates a pseudo-wing, with
the torpedo-like motor at the end-point, which fold out from both the sides of
the vehicle.
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| Lo! The TF-X with Tyres Retracted into the Chassis and Flying |
The
Twin Torpedo like motors now power the 6-blades that now bloom out, and then
spin in order to create a upward thrust, that helps the vehicle to levitate,
once fully levitated, and at the correct altitude, as input earlier, the wheels
get inside the vehicle and the trapdoors get closed and the torpedo motors now
bend forward, and the blades fold, when the thrust and levitation are balanced,
the turbine at the rear now comes to play and creates a thrust (as seen in a
normal airplane’s gas turbine engine), and pushes the vehicle forward, with the
help of aerodynamic shape of the vehicle and the specially modified wings, the
vehicle can cruise at a speed of 100-120 knots and can fly a range of 500
miles.
Another
Speciality of this Ave-Car is that, during flight, in case of low battery
power, there is a facility to charge the batteries using engine power, similar
to that of an airplane, where a flywheel mechanism can generate enough voltage
that can power the whole plane, even when batteries are fully discharged: The
usage of Airplane exhaust gases to run a mini-power plant that generate the
power is termed to as turbo charging. Such a technique is used in Locomotives,
which is called Regenerative Braking: The brake power applied to the wheels is
again taken back by a generator to generate electric power.
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| The TF-X is the Mini Personal Aircraft cum Car: Thanks to TERRAFUGIA, Now everyone can fly :) |
When
the TF-X is nearing destination that was set, it alerts the pilot to check
whether there is any traffic at the place that was mentioned as Landing point,
when the pilot “assures” the machine, the split torpedo rotor, now turns back
from horizontal position to vertical position and the blades unfold, and spin
and make the vehicle afloat, and slowly brings down the vehicle, as the vehicle
is just a few metres above the ground-level, the “fuselage” opens up and all 4
wheels now touch the ground, the torpedo-like motor now folds down into the
previously open slot that was discussed earlier, and the cowling closes up on
it, and the wing-like scapula turns 45 degrees and locks in place. This
completes the flight mode. Now the driver can drive the car into the garage, as
any general car.
Note:
The above description of the vehicular procedure and the manoeuvring techniques
are created by me, based on the data found on the TERRAFUGIA TF-X web-site.
This article is not a reproduction of any material that is found on the
web-site, but is created by the author after knowing the basics of how the
vehicle can be controlled.
TERRAFUGIA
is a private company, based at Woburn, Massachusetts that
manufactures/experiments/tests these Ave-Cars, which was co-founded by
engineers from MIT. TERRAFUGIA is pronounced as TERRA-FOO-GEE-AH.
Transition
and TF-X are the Trademarks or Registered Trademarks of TERRAFUGIA Incorporated
based at Woburn (MA). Transition has been tested in the year 2009 under
experimental basis. The TF-X is still in its concept base with 1-2 prototypes,
and may see the light by another 8-12 years span.
The
Information mentioned here is based on the information present on the
TERRAFUGIA’s website and not an as-is replica. Images and Video courtesy: http://www.terrafugia.com/
The
TF-X uses Non-tower communication, for flight, it bases on the information from
GPS Satellites and not from any legal ATC Towers, for the convenience of
non-interruption of the Domestic and International Flight Communications, which
are more important, and does not interfere with those towers. It is also
equipped with a full-vehicle parachute system, in case a gross failure may
occur during flight mode.
Disclaimer:
The Information mentioned here is for educational purposes and meant to give a
basic knowledge of how a Car-cum-Flight vehicle can be controlled. The author
of this article strongly disclaims any untoward incidence occurring out of
viewing this information and the reader may not rely only on the data and
procedures mentioned here for manipulating the original Ave-Car. This article
throws a light on general Aviation Electronics (AVIONICS) and Mechanical
Electronics (MECHATRONICS). Only Working of TF-X is mentioned in this article,
which depicts the working of a fully electric hybrid street-legal light aircraft
cum car.
Interesting Video of TERRAFUGIA TF-X: