A couple of months ago, I wrote a skeptical yet awe-inspired article about a dude flying around the forest on a "speeder bike" wearing a Stormtrooper outfit. Turns out, I was totally wrong. It doesn't weigh 69.7 lb (31.6 kg) … it weighs 66 lb (30 kg).
The internet was divided pretty much right down the middle over the viral May 4th video: "It's fake. It's AI. It's CGI. It's on wires. Stormtroopers aren't real. It was shot from a grassy knoll." You can see the past article and my predictions here: Watch: Volonaut Airbike flies through the forest
Granted, it was indeed an unbelievable sight – seeing a daring pilot sitting astride a contraption with no visible means of propulsion like we've only ever seen in sci-fi movies or cartoons, topped off with the complete lack of raw audio, further fueling the disbelief. And no take-off or landing footage? Not to mention the secrecy behind any technical data. I don't blame the 50% of commenters who didn't believe what they were seeing. It visually broke every law of common sense.
Me? Like Fox Mulder says: "I want to believe."
Well, now there's new unseen footage (that was uploaded privately a month ago) to help you decide if it's real or not. New footage that confirms: IT'S LOUD.
And it does indeed take off and land. If you look closely, you can see the thrust vectoring in action through the heat waves as it lifts off and starts moving forward. It looks as though it's got quite a bit of punch.
The landing – with the very quick fuel cutoff and short hop of the front end – indicates the center of gravity might be a tad rear-biased towards the pilot – who appears to be around 150 lb (68 kg) at most, if my eyes don't deceive me. A ~50 lb (~23 kg) heavier rider might be able to do AirWheelies™ with ease.
It's "thrustprint" (a word I just made up to describe the main area where the airflow is hitting the ground) looks to be very tight and pin-pointed, and I only see what looks to be a single main thruster. I imagine at least one more jet engine controls directional stabilization, but that hasn't been disclosed as of yet.
"I cannot disclose the thrust yet," Tomasz Patan, inventor of Volonaut, told me. "It is substantial and enough for safe redundancy. Flight time is 10 minutes max, depending on rider mass."
According to the official press release, the Airbike can tote up to a 209-lb (95-kg) daredevil. Looks like I'm going to have to go on a diet. Also, according to the press release, the Airbike is going to go into a limited production run and reservations open up on August 1st ... for a cool 880,000 US smackeroos. Looks like a diet AND a career change are in order so I can get my hands on one.
The commercial version will be capped to a 63-mph (102-km/h) top speed for it to qualify as an ultralight aircraft in certain regions. That means you won't even need a pilot's license – just a crash course on Volonaut's training program, no pun intended.
Flight controls are handled by a redundant fly-by-wire system tied into a triple-redundant onboard flight computer that controls the stabilization systems. This gives the rider smooth hovering – steady enough for hands-free flight if you're brave enough – and even automatic takeoff and landing.
The Airbike has "multiple powerful jet engines" (no word on how many exactly) and can maintain flight even in the event of a partial systems failure.
That said, it's human nature to want to push something to the limits, and I can totally see someone wanting to be the first to pull a loop-de-loop on one. I wonder how that'd go ...
You've got options for fueling the flying machine (much like a turbine engine in a helicopter that could almost run on swamp water, bubblegum and a prayer): Jet-A, kerosene, diesel, or even biodiesel. And like a Daytona 200 pit stop, fueling can be done in about one minute, so you'll be good to fly again right away. All of which still points to my thoughts that it could be a pair or more of JetCat P400 Pro micro-turbine engines in it. Or at the very least, something very similar. With an $880K price tag, anything is possible – even in-house custom awesomeness.
"It was always my dream to create a personal flying machine so futuristic and iconic that it could be placed on a science fiction movie set," says Patan in the press release. "The challenge was to come up with real-world, reliable core technology that can be shrunk down and wrapped with a functional and bold design. The result is a first-of-its-kind vehicle with incredible performance, stunning looks that actually resembles a sports motorbike. And it is flying!"
It's becoming increasingly difficult to dispute whether the Volonaut Airbike is an AI gimmick or if it's the real deal.
There are a few cuts in the video – it's not one long, continuous flight video, which will likely lead to nay-sayers discussing "the elaborate cable-rigging that must have been painted out to accomplish the FX in the video," etc.
Skepticism will still be alive and well, sure, but it certainly looks to me like Volonaut has actually made an incredible, loud, quick, safe-ish(!?!) and beautifully engineered superbike of the skies that'll fly just low enough to stay under the radar ... but do speed limits still apply when you're ~10 feet (~3 m) above the road?
Source: Volonaut
