Posted on 04/30/2025 7:04:30 PM PDT by Red Badger
The Volonaut Airbike
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+VIDEO Just coming out of ‘stealth’ mode is the Volonaut Airbike, a flying machine madder than the maddest box of frogs but somehow hugely appealing.
The Volonaut is the creation of Polish inventor and entrepreneur Tomasz Patan, who is the man behind the equally left-field Jetson One.
VIDEO AT LINK:
Thrilled to share a sample of what I have been working on in "stealth" mode.
Stay tuned for the official launch video soon.@Volonaut #airbike pic.twitter.com/Ie5KKAehCT— Tomasz Patan (@TomaszPatan) April 26, 2025
Tomasz calls the Volonaut a ‘superbike for the skies’. It’s powered by jet propulsion and is designed to carry one person with speeds up to 200km/h or 124mph.
“The Airbike has a proprietary stabilisation system enhanced by a flight computer which provides automatic hover and ease of control for its rider,” said Tomasz.
“The unique riding position with unobstructed 360 degree view helps the rider to quickly become one with the flying machine and provides the sensation of complete freedom.
Official Launch Video:
“Thanks to Airbike’s extremely compact size and no spinning propellers it can travel through most confined areas with ease.”
Not many specs have been released so far apart from the Airbike is 7 times lighter than a typical motorcycle thanks to use of advanced carbon fibre materials, 3d printing and minimalistic approach.
Must. Have. One!
I WANT ONE!!!!
That’s the way I wanna die and not sedated in some forgotten rat infested nursing home.
Me too.
If it looses power, it will come down like a streamlined crowbar.
Looks very cool, but in this new era of Ai videos, I’m not convinced it’s real. If it is real, then I suspect the flight time is probably 10 minutes.🤣
“no spinnign propellers”
Any mention in there about jet blast and noise level?
Your neighbors might object as they did to your Ducati with factory race exhaust.
“I see room to improve this with retractable landing gear in an aerodynamic way.”
It would be hard to tell for sure without testing hands on, but it might actually need that extra lower drag for an optimum stability balance.
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Smells like vaporware...
No specs. No cost. No details at all.
Somebody on X said it was An AI fake..................
Looks like it’s supposed to be a vectored thrust turbine engine... but there’s no topside air intake, no idea where it’s store enough fuel to run for more than 2-3 minutes, etc...
What’s the old saying, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
"Somebody" is right. Nice AI rendering, but no way is it real.
Objection #1: Way too small for the power it would have to produce.
Objection #2: Some of the video was "shot" from a vantage point a few yards in front of the machine, while it's flying, requiring another flying machine. The subject is always dead center and stable while the background moves. Sorry, no, that's not possible.
AI. Nice AI, but definitely AI.
Agree with #1, though. No room for fuel.
Oh, d-uh, yep you're right, that would be how it is done.
I don't get where the "jet engine" is. Under the seat? If so, where's the air intake? Blowing enough air down and out to do lift and movement requires having a ton of air being sucked in. On the sides? Can't be the front or back, it would create horizontal acceleration.
Nah, I don't think so. And your comment about fuel is likewise on the mark.
So... “plausible” in that regard...
Other than the size of the airbike eliciting engineering related questions... It's the lighting on the terrain and trees that makes it seem like AI generation to me. It doesn’t look natural.
A drone could easily capture the entire flight.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Vertical flight is hideously inefficient and expensive. That thing has ZERO lift-generating surfaces on it, so it’s all thrust. Look at the trees beneath it swaying in the breeze of its downwash. Which means not only is it incredibly inefficient, there’s no back-up — except a parachute — if the engine poops the bed.
In such a small package, I can’t imagine it’s controlled by anything except a gimballing exhaust nozzle. Which means it’s also using computer-aided stability. You’re balanced by a computer on top of a column of thrust. Which makes the computer a single point of failure.
The good new is, ejecting would be like — dare I say it — falling off a log.
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