Posted on 11/14/2018 7:39:58 AM PST by Red Badger
California firm's long-anticipated flying motorcycle will set you back $150,000.
This drone-like flying motorcycle can be yours for $150,000.Hoversurf Official via YouTube
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The era of the hoverbike is finally at hand, but you’ll have to be well-heeled to join in. A California company recently announced that it would begin deliveries of its long-anticipated flying motorcycle in the first half of 2019 for an estimated price of $150,000.
The Hoversurf S3 looks a bit like what you’d get if you crossed a motorcycle with a quadcopter. It has a seat for one rider and four horizontally mounted electric propellers controlled by a pair of joysticks.
The sub-250-pound craft is designed to skim over the landscape at the company-specified “safe altitude" of about 16 feet and at speeds of up to 60 miles an hour. Its lithium-manganese-nickel batteries allow airborne jaunts of up to 25 minutes, according to the manufacturer, San Jose-based Hoversurf.
No license is needed to fly the carbon-fiber craft, as its low weight and low speed exempt it from FAA regulations. But with those fast-spinning propellers so close, you might need an extra measure of self-confidence.
“I think it's a good idea assuming that it can be made safe, which is questionable in my mind,” said Richard Anderson, a professor of aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. “I assume if you ran into somebody it would chop them up.”
Hoversurf’s chief operating officer, Joseph Segura-Conn, said the vehicle has numerous safety features, including a computer-controlled system for stabilizing the craft and laser scanners for detecting and avoiding obstacles. To help ensure the safety of the rider and of anyone who might get in the way, the company plans to offer extensive training to customers — and future models will be carried aloft not by propellers but by enclosed fans.
“It looks frightening at the beginning, and you’re unsure,” said Segura-Conn, who is one of a handful of people who have flown one of the hoverbikes. “But as soon as you get up in the air, there’s no experience like it.” He said the first deliveries would be next May or June.
Hoversurf isn’t the only company developing hoverbikes or similar piloted drones.
The era of the hoverbike is finally at hand, but you’ll have to be well-heeled to join in. A California company recently announced that it would begin deliveries of its long-anticipated flying motorcycle in the first half of 2019 for an estimated price of $150,000.
The Hoversurf S3 looks a bit like what you’d get if you crossed a motorcycle with a quadcopter. It has a seat for one rider and four horizontally mounted electric propellers controlled by a pair of joysticks.
The sub-250-pound craft is designed to skim over the landscape at the company-specified “safe altitude" of about 16 feet and at speeds of up to 60 miles an hour. Its lithium-manganese-nickel batteries allow airborne jaunts of up to 25 minutes, according to the manufacturer, San Jose-based Hoversurf.
No license is needed to fly the carbon-fiber craft, as its low weight and low speed exempt it from FAA regulations. But with those fast-spinning propellers so close, you might need an extra measure of self-confidence.
“I think it's a good idea assuming that it can be made safe, which is questionable in my mind,” said Richard Anderson, a professor of aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. “I assume if you ran into somebody it would chop them up.”
Hoversurf’s chief operating officer, Joseph Segura-Conn, said the vehicle has numerous safety features, including a computer-controlled system for stabilizing the craft and laser scanners for detecting and avoiding obstacles. To help ensure the safety of the rider and of anyone who might get in the way, the company plans to offer extensive training to customers — and future models will be carried aloft not by propellers but by enclosed fans.
“It looks frightening at the beginning, and you’re unsure,” said Segura-Conn, who is one of a handful of people who have flown one of the hoverbikes. “But as soon as you get up in the air, there’s no experience like it.” He said the first deliveries would be next May or June.
Hoversurf isn’t the only company developing hoverbikes or similar piloted drones.
It slices! It dices!
Meh. I’ll wait for the speederbike from Return of the Jedi.
I want one!.................
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Don’t fall off, those blades can take a bite out of you quickly.
Way to many moving parts and solid objects awaiting contact for me, like the driver and the ERF.
At least they didn’t name it the Icarus.
I think they will be banned or restricted to recreational courses like a race track.
Vertical flight is hideously expensive. That’s why a helicopter costs several times more to buy (and operate and maintain) than an airplane with equivalent performance. It’s also why Burt Rutan won the Ansari X-Prize with a horizontal takeoff parasite launch system.
Only in America.
Is this a great country, or what?
I've been reading articles about flying cars and flying cycles for decades and they are still, if ever approved for urban/suburban use toys for the rich. Call me when one of them gets actual FAA approval and pricing for the masses...........about the same time we get working cold fusion no doubt.
How long did it take the Wild Bunch to ravage Hollister?
90 minutes give or take a commercial or two..............
“Power lines above 300 volts require a minimum of 15 feet...NFPA suggests a minimum height of 18 feet.”
Or hair cut appliance:
Cannot even clear power lines and trees. Maybe they’ll work flying over water, but that’s about it.
Oddjob approves!
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