What is it about flying cars? We've wanted to do this for about a hundred years. And there are historic attempts that have had some level of technical success. But we haven't yet gotten to the point where on your way here this morning you see something that really, truly seamlessly integrates the two-dimensional world that we're comfortable in with the three-dimensional sky above us -- that, I don't know about you, but I really enjoy spending time in.
Što je s letećim automobilima? Željeli smo to napraviti stotinama godina. I postoje povijesni pokušaji koji su imali neki stupanj tehničkog uspjeha. Ali još nismo došli do poante gdje na vašem putu ovdje jutros vidite nešto što zaista, stvarno, neprimjetno integrira dvodimenzionalni svijet u kojem nam je ugodno s trodimenzionalnim nebom iznad nas -- u kojem, ne znam za vas, ali ja zaista volim provoditi vrijeme.
We looked at the historical attempts that had been out there and realized that, despite the fact that we have a lot of modern innovations to draw on today that weren't available previously -- we have modern composite materials, we have aircraft engines that get good fuel economy and have better power-to-rate ratios than have ever been available, we have glass cockpit avionics that bring the information you need to fly directly to you in the cockpit -- but without fundamentally addressing the problem from a different perspective, we realized that we were going to be getting the same result that people had been getting for the last hundred years, which isn't where we want to be right now. So instead of trying to make a car that can fly, we decided to try to make a plane that could drive.
Pogledali smo među povijesne pokušaje koji postoje i shvatili da, unatoč činjenici da imamo mnogo modernih inovacija koje danas možemo prikazati, a da prije nisu bile dostupne -- imamo moderne mješavine materijala, imamo zrakoplovne motore koji imaju ekonomičnu potrošnju goriva i imaju bolje stope provizije no ikada prije, imamo staklenu avioelektroniku u pilotskim kabinama koje nam daju informacije koje nam trebaju za let direktno u pilotsku kabinu -- ali bez osnovnog pristupa problemu iz drugačije perspektive, shvatili smo da ćemo dobivati isti rezultat koji ljudi dobivaju posljednjih sto godina, a to nije ono gdje želimo trenutno biti. Dakle, umjesto da pokušavamo napraviti auto koji može letjeti, odlučili smo napraviti zrakoplov koji možemo voziti.
And the result is the Terrafugia Transition. It's a two-seat, single-engine airplane that works just like any other small airplane. You take off and land at a local airport. Then once you're on the ground, you fold up the wings, drive it home, park it in your garage. And it works. After two years of an innovative design and construction process, the proof of concept made its public debut in 2008.
I rezultat je Terrafugia Transition. To je dvosjed, zrakoplov s jednim motorom koji radi jednako kao i bilo koji drugi mali zrakoplov. Polijećete i slijećete s lokalne zračne luke. Onda kada ste na zemlji, pospremite krila, odvezete se kući i parkirate u svojoj garaži. I to funkcionira. Nakon dvije godine inovativnog dizajna i izvedbi, dokaz koncepta je debitirao u javnosti 2008. godine.
Now like with anything that's really different from the status quo, it didn't always go so well testing that aircraft. And we discovered that it's a very good thing that, when you go home with something that's been broken, you've actually learned a lot more than when you managed to tick off all of your test objectives the first time through. Still, we very much wanted to see the aircraft that we'd all helped build in the air, off the ground, like it was supposed to be. And on our third high-speed testing deployment on a bitter cold morning in upstate New York, we got to do that for the first time. The picture behind me was snapped by the copilot in our chase aircraft just moments after the wheels got off the ground for the first time. And we were all very flattered to see that image become a symbol of accomplishing something that people had thought was impossible really the world over.
Kao što je s bilo čime što je stvarno drugačije od statusa quo, testiranje te letjelice nije uvijek dobro prošlo. I otkrili smo da je veoma dobra stvar to što kada odete kući s nečim što je slomljeno, zapravo ste naučili mnogo više nego kada ste po prvi puta pustili sve testne objektive. Ipak, još smo uvijek željeli vidjeti letjelicu, koju smo svi pokušali napraviti, u zraku podalje od tla, kako bi i trebalo biti. I na našem trećem brzinskom razvojnom testu jednog veoma hladnog jutra u New Yorku, uspjeli smo to učiniti prvi puta. Sliku koju vidite iza mene fotografirao je kopilot u našem lovnom zrakoplovu samo nekoliko trenutaka nakon što su se kotači podigli s tla prvi puta. I bili smo veoma ponosni što možemo vidjeti sliku koja postaje simbol postizanja nečega za što su ljudi širom svijeta mislili da je nemoguće.
The flight testing that followed that was as basic and low-risk as we could make it, but it still accomplished what we needed to to take the program to the next step and to gain the credibility that we needed within our eventual market, the general aviation community, and with the regulators that govern the use of design of aircraft, particularly in the States. The FAA, about a year ago, gave us an exemption for the Transition to allow us to have an additional 110 lbs. within the light sport aircraft category. Now that doesn't sound like a lot, but it's very important, because being able to deliver the Transition as a light sport aircraft makes it simpler for us to certify it, but it also makes it much easier for you to learn how to fly it. A sport pilot can be certificated in as little as 20 hours of flight time. And at 110 lbs., that's very important for solving the other side of the equation -- driving.
Testiranje leta koje je slijedilo bilo je osnovno i s malim rizicima koje smo si mogli priuštiti, ali je ipak ispunilo ono što nam je trebalo kako bismo pomaknuli program na sljedeću razinu i dobili faktor povjerenja koji smo trebali unutar našeg potencijalnog tržišta, opće zrakoplovne jedinice, a s regulatorima koji vladaju upotrebom dizajna letjelice, naročito u SAD-u. FAA nam je prije godinu dana dala izuzeće za Transition kako bi nam dopustila još dodatnih 50 kg unutar lake sportske kategorije letjelica. To ne zvuči mnogo, ali je veoma važno zato što je mogućnost da Transition proglasimo lakom sportskom letjelicom učinila lakšim to da je ovjerimo, ali je i učinila mnogo lakšim vama da naučite kako je voziti. Sportski pilot možete postati sa samo 20 sati letenja. A s 50 kg, to je veoma važno u rješavanju druge strane jednadžbe -- vožnje.
It turns out that driving, with its associated design implementation and regulatory hurdles, is actually a harder problem to solve than flying. For those of us that spend most of our lives on the ground, this may be counter-intuitive, but driving has potholes, cobblestones, pedestrians, other drivers and a rather long and detailed list of federal motor vehicle safety standards to contend with. Fortunately, necessity remains the mother of invention, and a lot of the design work that we're the most proud of with the aircraft came out of solving the unique problems of operating it on the ground -- everything from a continuously-variable transmission and liquid-based cooling system that allows us to use an aircraft engine in stop-and-go traffic, to a custom-designed gearbox that powers either the propeller when you're flying or the wheels on the ground, to the automated wing-folding mechanism that we'll see in a moment, to crash safety features. We have a carbon fiber safety cage that protects the occupants for less than 10 percent of the weight of a traditional steel chassis in a car.
Ispada da je vožnja, s udruženom provedbom dizajna i regulatornim preprekama zapravo veći problem od letenja. Za one koji provode veći dio života na tlu, ovo bi moglo biti suprotno intuiciji, ali vožnja uključuje rupe, kamenje, pješake, druge vozače i relativno dugačak i detaljan popis državnih standarda za sigurnost prilikom upravljanja motornim vozilima s kojima se mora natjecati. Srećom, nužnost ostaje majka izuma i mnogo dizajnerskog rada kojim se najviše ponosimo u vezi letjelice, došlo je rješavajući posebne probleme rada na tlu -- sve iz neprekidno varijabilnog prijenosa i tekućeg sistema za hlađenje koji nam dopušta da upotrijebimo letjelicu u kreni-stani prometu do mjenjača napravljenog po narudžbi koji pokreće ili propeler dok letite ili kotače na tlu, do automatskog mehanizma za uvlačenje krila koji ćemo vidjeti za trenutak, do dodataka za sigurnost prilikom sudara. Imamo sigurnosnu kutiju od karbonskih vlakana koja štiti putnike s manje od 10% težine za razliku od tradicionalne čelične šasije u autu.
Now this also, as good as it is, wasn't quite enough. The regulations for vehicles on the road weren't written with an airplane in mind. So we did need a little bit of support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Now you may have seen in the news recently, they came through with us at the end of last month with a few special exemptions that will allow the Transition to be sold in the same category as SUVs and light trucks. As a multi-purpose passenger vehicle, it is now officially "designed for occasional off-road use."
To također, iako je bilo dobro, nije bilo dovoljno dobro. Propisi za vozila na cesti nisu pisani s razmišljanjem o zrakoplovu na cesti. Stoga nam je trebala mala potpora od Administracije sigurnosti prometa na autocesti. Možda ste nedavno vidjeli na vijestima, došli su do nas krajem prošlog mjeseca s nekoliko posebnih izuzetaka koji bi omogućili da se Transition proda u istoj kategoriji kao i SUV ili manji kamioni. Kao višenamjensko vozilo, sada je službeno „dizajnirano za povremenu upotrebu van ceste.“
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
Now let's see it in action. You can see there the wings folded up just along the side of the plane. You're not powering the propeller, you're powering the wheels. And it is under seven feet tall, so it will fit in a standard construction garage. And that's the automated wing-folding mechanism. That's real time. You just push a few buttons in the cockpit, and the wings come out. Once they're fully deployed, there's a mechanical lock that goes into place, again, from inside the cockpit. And they're now fully capable of handling any of the loads you would see in flight -- just like putting down your convertible top. And you're all thinking what your neighbors would think of seeing that.
Sada pogledajmo to na djelu. Možete vidjeti da su se krila uvukla na stranama zrakoplova. Ne pokrećete propeler, pokrećete kotače. I niži je od dva metra pa će stati u svaku standardnu garažu. I to je automatski mehanizam za uvlačenje krila. To je stvarno. Samo pritisnete nekoliko dugmeta u pilotskoj kabini i krila se pojave. Jednom kad su potpuno postavljena, postoji mehanička brava koja se stavlja na mjesto, ponovno, unutar pilotske kabine. I sada su potpuno spremna za rukovanje bilo kakvim opterećenjem što ćete vidjeti tijekom leta -- kao da spuštate krov svog kabrioleta. I svi razmišljate što će susjedi misliti kad ovo vide.
(Video) Test Pilot: Until the vehicle flies, 75 percent of your risk is that first flight.
(Video) Pokusni pilot: Dok vozilo leti, 75% vašeg rizika je taj prvi let.
Radio: It actually flew. Yes.
Radio: Zaista je poletio. Da.
Radio 2: That was gorgeous.
Radio 2: To je bilo divno.
Radio: What did you think of that? That was beautiful from up here, I tell you.
Radio: Što misliš o tome? To je bilo prelijepo odavde, kažem ti.
AMD: See, we're all exceedingly excited about that little bunny hop. And our test pilot gave us the best feedback you can get from a test pilot after a first flight, which was that it was "remarkably unremarkable." He would go onto tell us that the Transition had been the easiest airplane to land that he'd flown in his entire 30-year career as a test pilot. So despite making something that is seemingly revolutionary, we really focused on doing as little new as possible. We leverage a lot of technology from the state-of-the-art in general aviation and from automotive racing. When we do have to do something truly out-of-the-box, we use an incremental design, build, test, redesign cycle that lets us reduce risk in baby steps.
AMD: Vidite, svi smo neizmjerno uzbuđeni zbog tog malog zečjeg skoka. A naš pokusni pilot nam je dao najbolju povratnu informaciju koju možete dobiti od pokusnog pilota nakon prvog leta, a to je da je bio „nevjerojatno uobičajen.“ Dalje nam je rekao da je Trasition bio najjednostavniji zrakoplov za slijetanje koji je vozio u svojoj cijeloj 30-ogodišnjoj karijeri kao pokusni pilot. Dakle, unatoč tome što smo napravili nešto što je vidljivo revolucionarno, doista smo se fokusirali na nešto novo koliko smo mogli. Mnogo smo utjecali na tehnologiju što se umjetnosti tiče u općem zrakoplovstvu i automobilskom utrkivanju. Kada moramo doista učiniti nešto da označimo stavku, koristimo inkrementalni dizajn, gradnju, testove, redizajniranje ciklusa koji nam dopuštaju da smanjimo rizik u prvim koracima.
Now since we started Terrafugia about 6 years ago, we've had a lot of those baby steps. We've gone from being three of us working in the basement at MIT while we were still in graduate school to about two-dozen of us working in an initial production facility outside of Boston. We've had to overcome challenges like keeping the weight below the light sport limit that I talked about, figuring out how to politely respond when a regulator tells you, "But that won't fit through a toll booth with the wings extended -- (Laughter) to all of the other associated durability and engineering issues that we talked about on the ground. Still, if everything goes to our satisfaction with the testing and construction of the two production prototypes that we're working on right now, those first deliveries to the, about a hundred, people who have reserved an airplane at this point should begin at the end of next year.
Otkad smo započeli s Terrafugiom prije 6 godina, imali smo mnogo tih prvih koraka. Prešli smo s toga da nas je troje radilo u podrumu MIT-a dok smo još bili na postdiplomskom studiju do oko dva tuceta nas koji radimo u početnom proizvodnom pogonu van Bostona. Morali smo prijeći izazove poput zadržavanja težine ispod lake sportske granice o kojoj sam pričala, shvaćanja kako uljudno odgovoriti kada vam regulator kaže, „Ali to neće proći kroz naplatne kućice s raširenim krilima“ -- (Smijeh) do svih drugih pridruženih pitanja u vezi izdržljivosti i tehnike o kojima smo razgovarali na tlu. Ipak, ako je sve s testiranjem i konstrukcijom dva proizvodna prototipa na kojima trenutno radimo zadovoljavajuće, te prve isporuke za nekih sto ljudi, ljudi koji su rezervirali zrakoplov, bi trebale krenuti krajem sljedeće godine.
The Transition will cost in line with other small airplanes. And I'm certainly not out to replace your Chevy, but I do think that the Transition should be your next airplane. Here's why. While nearly all of the commercial air travel in the world goes through a relatively small number of large hub airports, there is a huge underutilized resource out there. There are thousands of local airstrips that don't see nearly as many aircraft operations a day as they could. On average, there's one within 20 to 30 miles of wherever you are in the United States. The Transition gives you a safer, more convenient and more fun way of using this resource.
Transition će koštati koliko i ostali mali zrakoplovi. I sigurno nisam ovdje kako bih zamijenila vaš Chevrolet, ali smatram da bi Transition trebao biti vaš sljedeći zrakoplov. Evo zašto. Dok gotovo sav komercijalni zračni promet u svijetu ide kroz relativno mali broj velikih središta zračnih luka, vani postoji veliki broj neiskorištenih resursa. Postoje tisuće lokalnih pista za polijetanje i slijetanje koje ne vide ni približno toliko letjelica dnevno koliko bi trebale. U prosjeku, postoji jedna unutar 30 – 40 kilometara gdje god se nalazili u SAD-u. Transition vam daje sigurniji, prikladniji i mnogo zabavniji način na koji možete koristiti ove resurse.
For those of you who aren't yet pilots, there's four main reasons why those of us who are don't fly as much as we'd like to: the weather, primarily, cost, long door-to-door travel time and mobility at your destination. Now, bad weather comes in, just land, fold up the wings, drive home. Doesn't matter if it rains a little, you have a windshield wiper. Instead of paying to keep your airplane in a hanger, park it in your garage. And the unleaded automotive fuel that we use is both cheaper and better for the environment than traditional avgas. Door-to-door travel time is reduced, because now, instead of lugging bags, finding a parking space, taking off your shoes or pulling your airplane out of the hanger, you're now just spending that time getting to where you want to go. And mobility to your destination is clearly solved. Just fold up the wings and keep going.
Za vas koji još niste piloti, postoje četiri glavna razloga zašto neki od vas ovdje ne lete onoliko koliko bi htjeli: vrijeme, primarno, cijena, dugo vrijeme putovanja od odredišta do odredišta i mobilnost na vašoj destinaciji. Sada, ako dolazi loše vrijeme, samo sletite, uvucite krila i vozite kući. Nije bitno pada li malo kiša, imate brisač za prednje staklo. Umjesto da platite da vam netko drži zrakoplov u hangaru, parkirajte ga u svojoj garaži. I bezolovno automobilsko gorivo koje koristimo je i jeftinije i bolje za okoliš od klasičnog avionskog benzina. Putovanje od odredišta do odredišta se smanjilo jer sada umjesto prtljage, pronalaženja parkirnog mjesta, skidanja cipela ili izvlačenja zrakoplova iz hangara, sada samo trošite vrijeme da dođete kuda želite. I mobilnost na vašoj destinaciji je očigledno riješena. Samo uvucite krila i nastavite dalje.
The Transition simultaneously expands our horizons while making the world a smaller, more accessible place. It also continues to be a fabulous adventure. I hope you'll each take a moment to think about how you could use something like this to give yourself more access to your own world, and to make your own travel more convenient and more fun.
Transition simultano širi naše vidike dok svijet pokušavamo napraviti manjim i dostupnijim mjestom. Također nastavlja biti fantastična avantura. Nadam se da će svatko od vas na trenutak pomisliti o tome kako bi mogao upotrijebiti nešto poput ovog kako bi sebi dao bolji pristup u vlastitom svijetu i kako bi svoja putovanja učinili prikladnijim i zabavnijim.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share it with you.
Hvala vam što ste mi dali priliku da to podijelim s vama.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)