Home Built Hoverbike

Posted by on June 15th, 2011

Hold on tight!

Chris Malloy has built a hoverbike from motor cycle parts that can fly 173 mph at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Bonus – you don’t even need a pilot’s license because it is classified as an ultralight! It lacks many safety features now, but he plans on adding parachutes and perhaps a covering for the giant fans.

An Australian chap named Chris Malloy has built a hoverbike from motorbike parts, and he claims it can fly at 173 mph at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

Those are theoretical figures for the time being because the contraption hasn’t flown too far yet. Malloy bases those outlandish specs on the 231-pound device’s thrust-to-weight ratio. 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.

[Wired]

One Response to “Home Built Hoverbike”

  1. David Lee Kersey Says:

    The main problem with all ducted fan type craft is the fact that if you have engine problems you’re toast. Most planes have some glide and  helicopters have autorotation. With this you lose power and you’re a rock.