The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Ultralight Flying Scooter

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Ultralight Flying ScooterYou, too, can “slip the surly bonds of earth” with this Honda Ruckus scooter and powered paraglider combination. The Ultralight Flying Scooter folks will sell you this add on kit for your 2006 Honda Ruckus giving it the ability to fly.

I actually came across this last year but the web site had no actual photos or video showing it in the air so I was a little reluctant to call it a flying scooter. Well, they have photos and video now proving it flies so here it is.

How practical is it? How well does it fly? Although it gets off the ground it might be a bit on the edge of practical. If you want a powered paraglider there have been kits available for some years. The web site says you shouldn’t drive the scooter down the road with the flight kit attached so what have you gained? If you have to transport the flight kit separately to some suitable takeoff and landing area you still need an extra vehicle so this isn’t exactly something Lara Croft would use to get away from the bad guys, firing up the engine, unfurling the canopy and flying off. I would also think a normal paraglider performs better without the weight of the scooter.

If you look at this for what it is, the culmination of someone’s desire to make a flying scooter and then going into his workshop to prove it can be done, it appears to be a success. If you’re looking for a practical flying scooter (isn’t everyone?), I’d wait.

Comments

  2. They did say this photo was of their prototype so I guess the Yamaha didn’t work out. They have a photo of a Honda Ruckus on their site which must have been a better choice for their final configuration.

  3. Unless I can deploy the flying gear at speed and just soar off the highway and go my own way, its not going to work for me yet. But dang, what a great concept!

    Though flying while sitting on a scooter might be a little frightening really.

    Would people still laugh at me if I was on a scooter but it was flying? Hmm, tough call.

  4. Okay, maybe I need to get my scooter across a fairly large canyon, in which case this might be a good idea, but-
    Instead, I think I’ll just opt for the helicopter ride to the other side and rent a scooter when I get there.

  5. …I forgot to mention, I had a similar idea a few years ago involving a compact SUV and a powered parachute.
    As it happened, at the time I had a small SUV and access to a source of surplus aircraft engines.
    Did the prelimimary calculations about the size of parachute (big, very very big) and amount of horsepower (bunches, a lot) needed to lift a even small SUV; when it gets down to it, only the military has enough money to pay for development of such a wacky idea, but they have friends with helicopters to haul stuff like SUVs over large canyons.