Anna Mracek Dietrich: A plane you can drive

59,171 views ・ 2011-11-02

TED


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00:15
What is it about flying cars?
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We've wanted to do this for about a hundred years.
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And there are historic attempts
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that have had some level of technical success.
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But we haven't yet gotten to the point
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where on your way here this morning
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you see something that really, truly seamlessly integrates
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the two-dimensional world that we're comfortable in
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with the three-dimensional sky above us --
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that, I don't know about you, but I really enjoy spending time in.
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We looked at the historical attempts that had been out there
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and realized that, despite the fact
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that we have a lot of modern innovations
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to draw on today
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that weren't available previously --
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we have modern composite materials,
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we have aircraft engines that get good fuel economy
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and have better power-to-rate ratios than have ever been available,
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we have glass cockpit avionics
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that bring the information you need to fly
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directly to you in the cockpit --
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but without fundamentally addressing the problem from a different perspective,
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we realized that we were going to be getting
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the same result that people had been getting
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for the last hundred years,
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which isn't where we want to be right now.
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So instead of trying to make a car that can fly,
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we decided to try to make a plane that could drive.
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And the result is the Terrafugia Transition.
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It's a two-seat, single-engine airplane
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that works just like any other small airplane.
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You take off and land at a local airport.
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Then once you're on the ground,
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you fold up the wings, drive it home,
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park it in your garage.
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And it works.
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After two years of an innovative design and construction process,
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the proof of concept made its public debut
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in 2008.
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Now like with anything
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that's really different from the status quo,
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it didn't always go so well testing that aircraft.
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And we discovered that it's a very good thing
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that, when you go home with something that's been broken,
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you've actually learned a lot more
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than when you managed to tick off all of your test objectives
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the first time through.
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Still, we very much wanted to see
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the aircraft that we'd all helped build
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in the air, off the ground,
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like it was supposed to be.
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And on our third high-speed testing deployment
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on a bitter cold morning in upstate New York,
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we got to do that for the first time.
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The picture behind me was snapped by the copilot in our chase aircraft
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just moments after the wheels got off the ground for the first time.
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And we were all very flattered to see that image
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become a symbol of accomplishing something
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that people had thought was impossible
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really the world over.
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The flight testing that followed that
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was as basic and low-risk as we could make it,
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but it still accomplished what we needed to
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to take the program to the next step
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and to gain the credibility that we needed
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within our eventual market, the general aviation community,
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and with the regulators
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that govern the use of design of aircraft, particularly in the States.
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The FAA, about a year ago,
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gave us an exemption for the Transition
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to allow us to have an additional 110 lbs.
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within the light sport aircraft category.
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Now that doesn't sound like a lot, but it's very important,
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because being able to deliver the Transition as a light sport aircraft
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makes it simpler for us to certify it,
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but it also makes it much easier
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for you to learn how to fly it.
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A sport pilot can be certificated
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in as little as 20 hours of flight time.
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And at 110 lbs.,
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that's very important for solving the other side of the equation --
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driving.
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It turns out that driving,
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with its associated design implementation and regulatory hurdles,
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is actually a harder problem to solve than flying.
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For those of us that spend most of our lives on the ground,
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this may be counter-intuitive,
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but driving has potholes, cobblestones,
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pedestrians, other drivers
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and a rather long and detailed list
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of federal motor vehicle safety standards to contend with.
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Fortunately, necessity remains the mother of invention,
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and a lot of the design work
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that we're the most proud of with the aircraft
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came out of solving the unique problems
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of operating it on the ground --
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everything from a continuously-variable transmission
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and liquid-based cooling system
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that allows us to use an aircraft engine
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in stop-and-go traffic,
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to a custom-designed gearbox
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that powers either the propeller when you're flying or the wheels on the ground,
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to the automated wing-folding mechanism that we'll see in a moment,
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to crash safety features.
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We have a carbon fiber safety cage
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that protects the occupants
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for less than 10 percent of the weight of a traditional steel chassis in a car.
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Now this also, as good as it is, wasn't quite enough.
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The regulations for vehicles on the road
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weren't written with an airplane in mind.
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So we did need a little bit of support
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from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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Now you may have seen in the news recently,
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they came through with us at the end of last month
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with a few special exemptions
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that will allow the Transition to be sold
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in the same category as SUVs and light trucks.
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As a multi-purpose passenger vehicle,
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it is now officially "designed for occasional off-road use."
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(Laughter)
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Now let's see it in action.
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You can see there the wings folded up just along the side of the plane.
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You're not powering the propeller, you're powering the wheels.
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And it is under seven feet tall,
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so it will fit in a standard construction garage.
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And that's the automated wing-folding mechanism.
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That's real time.
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You just push a few buttons in the cockpit, and the wings come out.
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Once they're fully deployed,
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there's a mechanical lock that goes into place,
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again, from inside the cockpit.
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And they're now fully capable of handling
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any of the loads you would see in flight --
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just like putting down your convertible top.
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And you're all thinking what your neighbors would think of seeing that.
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(Video) Test Pilot: Until the vehicle flies,
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75 percent of your risk is that first flight.
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Radio: It actually flew. Yes.
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Radio 2: That was gorgeous.
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Radio: What did you think of that?
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That was beautiful from up here, I tell you.
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AMD: See, we're all exceedingly excited about that little bunny hop.
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And our test pilot gave us
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the best feedback you can get from a test pilot after a first flight,
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which was that it was "remarkably unremarkable."
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He would go onto tell us
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that the Transition had been the easiest airplane to land
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that he'd flown in his entire 30-year career as a test pilot.
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So despite making something
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that is seemingly revolutionary,
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we really focused on doing
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as little new as possible.
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We leverage a lot of technology from the state-of-the-art in general aviation
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and from automotive racing.
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When we do have to do something truly out-of-the-box,
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we use an incremental design, build, test, redesign cycle
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that lets us reduce risk in baby steps.
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Now since we started Terrafugia about 6 years ago,
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we've had a lot of those baby steps.
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We've gone from being three of us
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working in the basement at MIT while we were still in graduate school
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to about two-dozen of us
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working in an initial production facility outside of Boston.
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We've had to overcome challenges
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like keeping the weight below the light sport limit that I talked about,
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figuring out how to politely respond
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when a regulator tells you,
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"But that won't fit through a toll booth with the wings extended --
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(Laughter)
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to all of the other associated durability and engineering issues
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that we talked about on the ground.
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Still, if everything goes to our satisfaction
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with the testing and construction
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of the two production prototypes
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that we're working on right now,
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those first deliveries
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to the, about a hundred, people who have reserved an airplane at this point
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should begin at the end of next year.
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The Transition will cost in line with other small airplanes.
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And I'm certainly not out to replace your Chevy,
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but I do think that the Transition should be your next airplane.
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Here's why.
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While nearly all of the commercial air travel in the world
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goes through a relatively small number of large hub airports,
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there is a huge underutilized resource out there.
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There are thousands of local airstrips
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that don't see nearly as many aircraft operations a day as they could.
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On average, there's one within 20 to 30 miles
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of wherever you are in the United States.
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The Transition gives you
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a safer, more convenient and more fun way
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of using this resource.
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For those of you who aren't yet pilots,
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there's four main reasons why those of us who are
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don't fly as much as we'd like to:
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the weather, primarily,
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cost, long door-to-door travel time
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and mobility at your destination.
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Now, bad weather comes in,
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just land, fold up the wings, drive home.
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Doesn't matter if it rains a little, you have a windshield wiper.
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Instead of paying to keep your airplane in a hanger,
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park it in your garage.
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And the unleaded automotive fuel that we use
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is both cheaper and better for the environment
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than traditional avgas.
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Door-to-door travel time is reduced,
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because now, instead of lugging bags, finding a parking space,
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taking off your shoes or pulling your airplane out of the hanger,
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you're now just spending that time getting to where you want to go.
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And mobility to your destination is clearly solved.
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Just fold up the wings and keep going.
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The Transition simultaneously expands our horizons
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while making the world a smaller, more accessible place.
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It also continues to be a fabulous adventure.
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I hope you'll each take a moment
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to think about how you could use something like this
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to give yourself more access to your own world,
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and to make your own travel more convenient and more fun.
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Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share it with you.
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(Applause)
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