Is Ohio the next destination for flying car company Terrafugia?

Ohio's license plates boast that the mid-western state is the "birthplace of aviation pioneers," including the Wright Brothers and John Glenn.

It could also soon be the new home of two would-be aviation pioneers: Carl and Anna Dietrich, who are trying to bring to market the first successful flying car (or, if you prefer, roadable aircraft), the Terrafugia Transition. The Dietrichs, both MIT alums, currently run Terrafugia out of some warehouse space in Woburn. The slick-looking Transition vehicle, which can either be flown or driven at highway speeds, made its first flight last March. (I initially wrote about Terrafugia in the Globe in 2008, and again here late last year.)

Carl Dietrich called yesterday to tell me that he was "very close" to signing a term sheet with a group of private investors in Ohio that would force Terrafugia to relocate there. Dietrich says the company is hoping to raise $4 million to build its next prototype vehicle, which it hopes to unveil at a major airshow this summer, and then go into production.