New Hover Vehicle Puts Us One Step Closer to Return Of The Jedi Speeder Bikes

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Check out this wild machine under development by US firm Aeroflex. It’s a bike-type vehicle that flies a short distance off the ground with what could be very interesting and intuitive control systems. According to Fox:

 

The aerial vehicle resembles a science fiction flying bike with two ducted rotors instead of wheels, but originates from a design abandoned in the 1960s because of stability and rollover problems. Aerofex, a California-based firm, fixed the stability issue by creating a mechanical system — controlled by two control bars at knee-level — that allows the vehicle to respond to a human pilot’s leaning movements and natural sense of balance.

“Think of it as lowering the threshold of flight, down to the domain of ATV’s (all-terrain vehicles),” said Mark De Roche, an aerospace engineer and founder of Aerofex.

For the moment, it appears that Aeroflex isn’t planning on rolling out a version for human use anytime soon. The platform will initially be used for unmanned drones before continuing on their manned aspirations.
The unmanned version should be flight testing by the end of 2013.
One day I will fly one of these and I can’t wait!

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