The Terrafugia Transition is first flying car that has been successfully tested at at the Plattsburgh International Airport in New York, in March 2009 by Terrafugia, Inc., a game-changing aircraft company.An historic milestone for aviation, the flight comes after six months of static, road and taxi testing.It's such an important milestones of aviation as the Wright brothers' maiden voyage at Kitty Hawk in 1903, it was most definitely a significant marker in the development of the flying car.

For its first flight, the Transition was flown by Phil Meteer, Colonel, USAFR (Retired) at Plattsburgh International Airport in Plattsburgh, NY. The chase aircraft was piloted by Giora Guth.

The Transition, developed by former Nasa engineers, is powered by the same 100bhp engine on the ground and in the air. Terrafugia claims it will be able to fly up to 500 miles on a single tank of petrol at a cruising speed of 115mph. Up to now, however, it has been tested only on roads at up to 90mph.

It (testing) has been very successful," Carl Dietrich, co-founder and CEO of Terrafugia, told the television network.

Carl Dietrich, who runs the Massachusetts-based Terrafugia, said: "This is the first really integrated design where the wings fold up automatically and all the parts are in one vehicle."

He said: " We have got a very good handling vehicle and our test pilot said that the flights were just remarkably unremarkable - it just flies like a really nice, little airplane."

Dietrich said he had already received 40 orders, despite an expected retail price of $200,000 or £132,000.

There are still one or two drawbacks. Getting insurance may be a little tricky and finding somewhere to take off may not be straightforward: the only place in the US in which it is legal to take off from a road is Alaska.

Dietrich is optimistic. He said: "In the long term we have the potential to make air travel practical for individuals at a price that would meet or beat driving, with huge time savings"

The Transition transforms between road use and flight by folding down its wings, which takes just 30 seconds. With its wings retracted, the Transition is compact enough to fit in a normal-sized garage, which means owners won't have to rent hangar space at their local airport.Since it is categorized as a Light Sport Aircraft by the FAA, a Sport Pilot license will be required to fly one.