The document discusses how the cartoon The Jetsons, which featured George Jetson commuting to work in a flying vehicle, inspired current efforts to develop real flying cars. It describes several companies working on prototypes that could be available to the public by 2021, including the Terrafuga TF-X which would be able to vertically take off and land and reach speeds over 200 mph, as well as competitors like the GF7 and PAL-V models. While flying cars were not achieved by 2000 as depicted in The Jetsons, the document suggests that within a few years we may start to see neighbors commuting by air as shown in the cartoon.

1. I remember one of the first cartoons I ever watched with my dad,
and this was because there was flying vehicles.

2. This show was called the Jetsons.

3. The Jetsons would come on about an hour after my dad got off
work, and so when he arrived home we could watch it together.

4. This activity was one of the few bonding experiences I have with
my dad.

5. As a treat for those of you who don’t know the show “The Jetsons”
I would like to discuss how this is impacting drivers today.

6. Of course, the most futuristic element of the show was how
George Jetson got to work.

7. George got to work each day by driving his own personal flying
vehicle.

8. A contraption with a large glass windshield and roof that allowed
viewers to see George and the whole family as they flew from one
location to another.

9. Well now it is 2015, and the idea of a flying personal vehicle is still
not a reality, but perhaps that reality is closer than most of us
think.

10. A company called Terrafuga believes that it can have a flying car
model available to the public for sale perhaps as early as 2021.

11. They are calling it the TF-X and it will be a four seat flying car that
can take off and land vertically, with the ability to reach speeds of
over 200 MPH.

12. It is powered by two 600 horsepower engines, which are connected
to folding propellers that extend off of each side of the vehicle.

13. The Terrafuga company also has some competition.

14. A competitors model called the GF7 uses an electric motor to
propel the vehicle when it is on the ground and a 3,500-pound
thrust jet engine to allow it to reach speeds of up to 550 mph and a
maximum height of 38,000 feet.

15. There is also the PAL-V, which has a three wheel design combined
with a more conventional helicopter function and is able to reach
speeds in excess of 100 mph when airborne.

16. And finally, there is the Slovakian Aeromobile 2. 5, a flying vehicle
that has already made successful test flights and which can also
reach speeds above 100 mph in flight.

17. As depicted in the Jetsons, a flying car was not able to become a
reality by the year 2000, but we may soon be looking up in the sky
and seeing our neighbors winging their way to work just like
George did.