Aircraft

Mayman Aerospace debuts flight-ready Speeder flying motorbike prototype

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Mayman Aerospace's Speeder AUV prototype
Mayman Aerospace
Mayman Aerospace's Speeder AUV prototype
Mayman Aerospace
Tim Draper (seated) and Mayman Aerospace CEO David Mayman at the debut of the Speeder prototype
Mayman Aerospace
The modular Speeder in cargo configuration
Mayman Aerospace
Defense is one of the potential customers for the Speeder
Mayman Aerospace
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After turning its main attention away from jetpacks and to its Speeder Air Utility Vehicle (AUV), JetPack Aviation has shown the fruits of its labors in the form of the flight-ready P2 Speeder prototype. At the Draper Venture Network CEO Summit in California, the Speeder made its debut under JetPack Aviation’s new Mayman Aerospace brand, which has been established to develop micro VTOL Speeders to suit a range of applications.

About the size of a motorbike, the P2 Speeder is the third full-scale prototype the company has produced on the path to a final aircraft. It is powered by eight jet engines that run on regular Zero Net Carbon or Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), with an eye-catching glossy angular carbon fiber body and ergonomic pilot position designed for aerodynamic performance to maximize flight efficiency.

Safety is also obviously a major focus, with a proprietary onboard computer system that instantly rebalances engine thrust in the event of engine trouble. Ease of use is also front of mind, with getting into the air intended to be as simple as jumping on and hitting the start button.

While the prototype on show was of the piloted variety, the Speeder features a modular design and can also be configured for autonomous or remotely-piloted flight. While it is being targeted at police, rescue and military applications as a small VTOL personal aircraft, autonomous or remotely piloted configurations would massively expand the potential applications for the aircraft.

Tim Draper (seated) and Mayman Aerospace CEO David Mayman at the debut of the Speeder prototype
Mayman Aerospace

Such applications include firefighting, where it could carry retardant in quick-load twin tanks and dump or spray the contents in rough terrain or onto tall targets as required, and emergency medevac, where patients could be strapped to a rapidly detachable litter for speedy transport to hospital. It could also serve as an industrial cargo transport, with the ability to fly in cargo mode for 400 miles (644 km) at over 500 mph (805 km/h) while carrying loads up to 1,000 lb (450 kg).

“We launched JetPack Aviation a decade ago, and the name has served development of our JetPack technology well, but as we look to the future, we needed a brand that clearly defines our professional, as opposed to consumer, Speeder product and markets,’ said Mayman. “Mayman Aerospace is pushing the outer limits of VTOL flight and will continue to innovate and incorporate new technologies including hydrogen powered turbine engines, electric fanjets and turbofan propulsion, complex ‘sense and avoid’ sensors for autonomous swarming, and potentially even supersonic flight.”

The company says it is working with the FAA to get the Speeder certified and is in advanced discussions with potential customers in national defense, critical cargo, woodland firefighting and disaster relief. Initial, remotely controlled flight tests of the latest prototype are scheduled to begin in Q3 of this year, with piloted tests slated for closer to the end of the year.

Source: Mayman Aerospace

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16 comments
anthony88
If the Wright Brothers had been faced with the sort of certification we see now, they would have had to have developed a plane about equivalent to a Tiger Moth before being allowed to attempt take off. If these things can fly, put them in the air. The market will decide whether it meets certification. Fly now - regulate later.
Arcticshade
Am afraid its going to go the way Franky's board went. When will they ever learn. Gas turbines is unreliable !

Make it electric ASAP !
Robt
@Arcticshade I’m afraid the laws of physics tell a different story. The weight and energy consumption of a battery powered version would likely have a range of a couple of miles, even assuming it could lift off at all
Chase
While it's certainly cool, I have little doubt that it is ear-crushingly loud.
stevendkaplan
And how exactly is the pilot kept in their seat? Is there a seatbelt or some sort of attachment point? It’s one thing to just sit on a motorcycle at ground level, it’s another thing to be sitting on a hover-bike 200 feet in the air!
Bodger
OK. Get back to me with the video when it is autonomously flying at 500mph over hundreds of miles. Have the documentation and witness statements ready for inspection, please.
ljaques
Sexy sporter, Mayman. Does it require triple ear protection? (plugs/muff/helmet) Show us flight trials!
No doubt you'll swap to electric fans once the batteries are available.
Seat belts? Just Say No, ya wuss. (=all= transportation can be dangerous or deadly)
Agreed: fly now, regulate later.
Towerman
@Robt safety comes first, make it Electric. The next generation Power system will be ready within 3 to 5 years. Best to make it future proof.
Expanded Viewpoint
I'm 100% sure that the engineers involved already looked at power to weight ratios and energy densities and other factors waaaay before settling on using a Carbon based fuel and microturbines. If they want to raise the limit though, and either extend the range or up the power factor, they would forget about chasing after the "green" crowd for approval of the unit with the SAF angle, and just run regular kerosene or jet fuel, but fortify it with nano-particulate Carbon, which is easily sourced from used Diesel engine crankcase oil. That stuff turns black for a reason, it's unburned fuel and broken down oil!! That extra Carbon increases the BTU of the fuel, so you can get more heat per pound of fuel. The USAF already proved that back in the 1970s, as I recall.
Their use of eight turbines to increase the load carrying capacity as well as the safety factor earns them a tip of the hat from me!!
From where does the electricity come from to charge up batteries? Most of it comes from burning Carbon!! So, if they went with motors instead of engines, they would still be coal powered!!
guzmanchinky
Well, it definitely pushes the engineering forward! Not sure I'd volunteer yet, though...