Prototype hoverbike is delightful, horribly unsafe

Maggie Koerth 2:12 pm Tue Jun 14, 2011

Sigh. It's the way of the world, isn't it? Invent something that has this much potential for fun and, chances are, it'll also be capable of chopping your hand off in 2 seconds flat.

It consists almost solely of a pair of massive propellers powered by an 1,170-cc engine good for 107 horsepower. The fuel tank contains enough juice to give it a range of 92 miles at a cruising speed of 92 mph. The pilot's right hand controls the thrust of the rotors, while the left adjusts the angle of the control vanes, pitching the nose down or up to move forward or backward. Turning the handlebars turns the machine.

There isn't much in the way of safety features with the prototype, but Malloy plans to add a pair of explosive parachutes, or require riders to wear a 'chute, and cover the props with a mesh to prevent limbs from being lopped off. Malloy also hopes to implement gyroscopic controls with on-board overrides to stop the craft from tipping over.

Via Brian Mossop

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