Hoverbike
Hoverbike is the concept of a lightweight, vertical take-off and landing aircraft that is based on a motorcycle.
Realization approaches
Various companies are working on the implementation of the hoverbike concept. These include the British company Malloy Aeronautics and the US company Aerofex.
The first flight attempts by the British company Malloy Aeronautics with the help of advanced drone technology are already showing initial success. The first prototype is equipped with a counter-rotating twin propeller drive and should reach a top speed of approx. 280 km / h at a maximum altitude of 3000 meters.
In August 2014, the company presented a second prototype. In contrast to its predecessor, it has four rotors and its construction is similar to a quadrocopter , the rotors of which are not square, but rather rectangular along an elongated platform. In the space between the two pairs of rotors, the seat is to be integrated, on which the pilot sits, similar to a motorcycle. However, the current prototype is only a 1: 3 scale model, which with its 2.2 kg and 1.15 m length can carry a payload of up to 4.7 kg. The drive is still electric, which is why batteries must be carried. With the help of successful crowdfunding campaigns, money is now to be collected in order to advance the development.
While Malloy Aeronautics has not yet announced an availability date, the American company Aero-X plans to launch its Hoverbike as early as 2017. In 2015 a cooperation with the US DoD was announced.
Similar developments
The construction of the Aero-X in particular largely corresponds to the “Air Jeeps” developed in the 1950s. These included the Piasecki VZ-8 , Curtiss-Wright VZ-7 , Chrysler VZ-6 and the current Urban Aeronautics AirMule (X-Hawk).
Current projects
Dubai
The authorities of the Arab Emirates plan to purchase hoverbikes for the emergency services. The Dubai police announced the project at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (Gitex). The flying police motorcycle is based on the Hoverbike Scorpion-3 (S-3) presented by the Russian company Hoversurf in early 2017.
Trivia
The original idea for such a vehicle comes from science fiction films. SciFi fans have known them especially since the rapid chases on the forest moon Endor in the movie Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi Knights . In the films, the hoverbike - sometimes referred to as a speeder bike - rises into the air and floats some distance from the earth thanks to a kind of repulsion technology that presumably works using an antigravity principle.
Web links
- Hoverbike test flight: "Star Wars" feelings in the desert Spiegel-online August 24, 2012
Individual evidence
- ↑ Malloy Aeronautics ( Memento from July 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Aerofex
- ^ Announcement of Aero-X
- ↑ US military develops Star Wars-inspired Hoverbike derstandard.at
- ↑ Malloy Aeronautics is developing its Hoverbike for the US Department of Defense gizmag.com, accessed June 25, 2015
- ↑ Piasecki VZ-8 (top left), Curtiss-Wright VZ-7 (bottom left) and Chrysler VZ-6
- ↑ Dubai's police officers are supposed to be on patrol In: Golem.de , on October 16, 2017, accessed on October 16, 2017.
- ↑ Star Wars: Speeder Bike
