No doubt the highlight of 2012 for us was avery special event held on Saturday, October 27, 2012. It was a milestone day at Terrafugia where we gathered at Lawrence Municipal Airport to show the Transition® in action to 300 employees, customers, investors, FAA and other government personnel. Chief Test Pilot Phil Meteer put the vehicle through its paces, demonstrating the Transition® driving, converting and flying -- and then converting and driving again.
This demonstration was a milestone day that
we had looked forward to for years.
Testing Continues: Of course, what consumes us these days is continued flight testing and drive testing. We are actively flight testing and drive testing to evaluate the durability of the Transition® airframe in real-world environments. Any issues that are discovered in this phase of testing are either noted as items for evaluation and potential redesign on the next vehicle or are modified in place on the current prototype.
Once the engineering team is satisfied that the majority of the field issues have been identified from this prototype, we will evaluate if the number and magnitude of potential modifications warrant the construction of another prototype prior to final compliance testing for certification.
You may be interested to know that some drive testing has taken place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and not just in our corporate parking lot. Recent testing has determined that the Transition® is capable of stopping from a speed of 60 miles per hour in a distance of only 110 feet on dry pavement! This remarkable braking performance is due to a combination of the Transition's powerful all-wheel disc brakes, its low weight, and its tires which provide excellent grip.
Drive testing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Our test drivers have been impressed with the Transition's ground performance. "It handles really well - especially considering it's an airplane; it's fun to drive!" says Vice President of Engineering, Andrew Heafitz.
Strong funding continues. This past year, CEO/CTO Carl Dietrich closed a $2.7 million Series D1 investment round, and Terrafugia successfully completed its contribution to Phase II of the DARPA TX program with the delivery of ¾ scale hardware and test data.
In the meantime, Terrafugia COO Anna Mracek Dietrich has been actively participating as an industry representative on the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to analyze and provide recommendations for the revamp of FAR Part 23 which has given the company tremendous insight into the evolution of the light aircraft certification process. These new developments have led Terrafugia to initiate a new internal program which we look forward to announcing at the appropriate time.
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