Racing through the forest, dodging Imperial Stormtroopers through the trees. It’s an unforgettable scene. Now a kick-starter campaign wants to make such a hover bike a reality.
The rider is all-white. They both skim along a few feet above the ground. But that’s where the similarity between Malloy Aeronautics’ hovercycle and the Star Wars speeder bike ends.
One is fantasy. The other is a kick-starter campaign which wraps up its call for cash on August 31.
It’s already met its goal.
So far more than $82,000 has been raised. The stated goal was a mere $50,000.
Fans of the idea of racing above the undergrowth have been putting up an average of about $1000 each for the promise of just such a ride.
So far they’ve seen a one-third scale model of the unusual quadcopter design put through its paces.
Production of these is what the crowdsourced campaign will achieve.
The makers hope there will be enough cash generated from the sale of this drone to fund the building of a full-sized prototype.
The proof-of-concept machine, named Drone 3, is about 4 feet long and weighs about 5 lbs.
Sitting astride the sleek white overlapping arrangement of four ducted rotors is a white-plastic 3D printed “robot”. Most of its functionality resides in the Go-Pro camera embedded in its face which records its flight.
A payload bay under the “seat” can, however, carry a variety of equipment.
The remotely operated drone also collapses down into a backpack-sized case.
Apart from being cool, would a full-size version of the hover bike have any practical application?
Here the Australian origins of the now UK-based project is revealed: They say it is suited for “one man operational areas like cattle mustering”.
“When compared with a helicopter, the Hoverbike is cheaper, more rugged and easier to use — and represents a whole new way to fly,” the Kickstarter blurb decrees.
But they also can see no reason why the hover bike cannot flit through the sky alongside bigger, more traditional, modes of transport such as helicopters and light planes.
It’s not the only example of a hoverbike out there.
In 2012, a much bulkier version was demonstrated by Aerofex over a remote American desert. It’s now taking pre-orders for the $85,000 machine.