Man Builds Hoverbike Capable of 173 MPH

A man from Australian has pushed the limits of personal transportation and technology after he built an operational hoverbike.  The entire vehicle is built of a foam core frame covered with Kevlar reinforced carbon fiber and is powered by two horizontal propellers; one in front and one in rear. Inventor, Chris Malloy, claims the hoverbike is capable of traveling more than 10,000 feet in the air and can possibly reach speeds of 150 knots (173 mph); although the hoverbike has only been operated while tied to the ground.

 “Because we do not know 100% what might happen during testing the straps are there to cover the unknown,” Malloy said on his website.  “The hoverbike is quite stable and does not want to tip over, however if something unplanned happens during testing we don't want to break our prototype.”

Malloy, who builds hyperspectral sensors for an engineering company in Australia, got the idea to build this craft when his helicopter instructor compared a Robinson R22 helicopter to a flying motorcycle.  While he was not completely convinced, Malloy decided to build his own version of a flying motorcycle; the result is the hoverbike.

Another impressive fact is that all of this is accomplished by an 1170cc flat twin motor fueled by regular unleaded gasoline.   The propellers themselves are made out of Tasmanian Oak with a strip of carbon fiber on the leading edge to increase durability.    To help keep the weight of the hoverbike down to 231 lb, it features a custom made carbon fiber drive-shaft.   The propellers rotate in opposite directions (just like the rotors on a Chinook helicopter) in order to cancel out the torque, this gives more stability to the machine without the addition of a tail rotor to counteract the torque.     

Control of the hoverbike is a easier than it may seem; it is all accomplishsed at the handlebars.  Motorcycle-like controls on the grips direct the forward and reverse movement; the right grip controls the thrust, while the left grip is responsible for the forward and reverse movement.  This is done by control vanes under the propellers that adjust the pitch of the nose, down for forward movement, up for reverse.  Turning the hoverbike left or right is only a matter of steering the handlebars in that direction; although they do have the ability to be rotated up or down slightly, which in turn adjusts the angle of the control vanes under the propellers.    

If he can produce at least 100 units a year, Malloy anticipates the price to be around $40,000; although the hoverbike is still currently in the start-up phase.  The price could possibly come down if he can produce 1,000 units a year, then Malloy believes he can then lower the price to compete with most performance motorcycles.