Recently there’s been renewed talk of a flying car being designed and built by a bunch of wizards from MIT. Interesting concept, if it ever flies, but here’s a guy who has taken the idea if a multipurpose vehicle and built a flying motorcycle instead. He received a patent for this fly-drive vehicle and it does fly and drive as the video shows.
A lot like the PALV we mentioned way back in December of 2004, the flying motorcycle is actually a gyroplane for the flying portion, but when it lands and the top rotor is folded, the same engine that drives the pusher propeller in the air, drives the rear wheels instead. A clutch disengages so the rear prop no longer spins.
Since it has three wheels it is licensed as a motorcycle and from the looks of it, you can actually drive down the road with it. The ultralight flying scooter we covered a little while ago seems to be more of a goofy garage workshop stunt, this has a fully functional gyroplane for the flying half of the equation, I just don’t know how practical the motorcycle half is going to be.
This is obviously designed to be used more for the flying part than the driving part, the rear drive looks a little light duty, but if you live toward the outskirts of town and can drive a short distance to a clear area for takeoff, this just might have potential. No more traffic jams on the way to work!
It will cost $25,000 and fit through a standard 7 foot garage door. Kinda neat, I like it.
Built by The Butterfly LLC
Thanks for the tip Eric!
adam says
this is better
adam says
http://www.wolffaerocycle.com/
this