Terrafugia obtains $1M, tests flying car

Less than two months after getting off the earth with the first test of its flying car, and looking forward to a client product later this year, Terrafugia Inc. in Woburn has taken in $1 million in equity out of a $3.5 million contribution, according to federal filings.

The company - the name of which is resulting from the Latin phrase “escape the Earth,” according to go the website - is said to be privately-funded by “a complicated group of accredited person investors.” Listed on the most recent filing are three directors who have been on the last few filings Lindsay Weaver Jr., previous Lernout & Hauspie division president Koen Bouwers and Semyon Dukach, a serial capitalist and former president of the MIT Blackjack team.

The corporation was founded in 2006 by CEO Carl Dietrich, COO Anna Mracek Dietrich, Technical Fellow Samuel Schweighart, and U.S. Marine Corps Reserves Maj. Alex B. Min. It has raised more than $7 million in equity since 2007, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange charge. The most topical was $960,000 in December 2010.

Last June, the company won special building exemptions from the National Highway Traffic Safety management for its flying car. The exemptions include use of a polycarbonate material instead of standard coated safety glass used in cars, and the use of tires reliable with its vehicle weight and highway speed driving supplies, but that do not typically align with tire necessities for  multi-purpose vehicles.

The corporation said at the time that the exemptions were the first time the NHTSA has made such dispensations for a flying-driving vehicle.

On March 23, the company reported that it had a winning test flight of its Transition Street-Legal Airplane in Plattsburgh, N.Y. The two-seat individual aircraft model is able to drive on roads and highways, park in a single car garage, and fly with unleaded automotive fuel, according to the company. The flight reached an elevation of 1,400 feet and lasted eight minutes.

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