Startup claims world's first flying motorcycle, could go on sale next year for $60,000

[OortCloud]

Imagine the noise these things must make - what a ridiculous world we live in now.

 

[DrSuess]

The last thing we need is a bunch mentally unstable people flying above us, it is already hard enough dealing with them on public roadways.

 

[mbk34]

The last thing we need is a bunch mentally unstable people flying above us, it is already hard enough dealing with them on public roadways.

Would they be any more mentally unstable than the rest of us?
Do you also prefer self driving cars on the roads?

 

[toooooot]

Would they be any more mentally unstable than the rest of us?
Do you also prefer self driving cars on the roads?

I could swear this is why these all will get a chip and unified software that will fly these vehicles where they need to go without giving "pilots" freedom to roam free. I cannot be the only person who is almost certain this is how it will be if these small drone like flyers become popular!

 

[Win7user]

Most people in this country can't drive worth a S**T, now you want to give these fools a flying bicycle. O the carnage...

 

[ChrisH1]

Just like an ordinary motorcycle, only much more dangerous.

 

[Underdog]

So why are you guys so anti- horse carriages?

 

[DrSuess]

Would they be any more mentally unstable than the rest of us?
Do you also prefer self driving cars on the roads?

Fine with self driving cars, they are active in my neighborhood daily. What I don't want is people flying over and crashing into my home or business either intentionally or due to mechanical or software fault.

 

[mbk34]

Fine with self driving cars, they are active in my neighborhood daily. What I don't want is people flying over and crashing into my home or business either intentionally or due to mechanical or software fault.

I can only speak for the UK but aircraft aren't allowed to fly over built up areas unless they have more than one engine (to cope with engine failure). It's slightly different for helicopters but, here in London, they must fly above the river unless landing or taking off from somewhere. I suspect it's different again for military aircraft.

Just curious but do you worry much about planes crashing into your house? Meteorites? Space debris?

 

[DrSuess]

I can only speak for the UK but aircraft aren't allowed to fly over built up areas unless they have more than one engine (to cope with engine failure). It's slightly different for helicopters but, here in London, they must fly above the river unless landing or taking off from somewhere. I suspect it's different again for military aircraft.

Well that is not the case in the rest of the world, most places single engine privately owned aircraft can enter controlled airspace over a built up area, in my area its VFR and below 10,000ft. So if flying motorcycles take off that means there will be significantly more opportunity for issues as there are already multiple commercial and private airports in the area..

Just curious but do you worry much about planes crashing into your house? Meteorites? Space debris?

That would be st*pid wouldn't it, so I would hope that question was rhetorical.

 

[mbk34]

I would hope that question was rhetorical.

For the average person, I'd say the chances of having a plane fall on their house wouldn't be much different to being hit by a meteorite or space debris. If you're surrounded by airfields then obviously it's a more valid concern. I actually live within 20 miles of 2 of the busiest airports in the world but I can't say crashing planes have been much of a worry but obviously YMMV.

Though, thinking about it, my house was once destroyed by a German V2 in WWII but that wasn't an accident.

 

[DrSuess]

For the average person, I'd say the chances of having a plane fall on their house wouldn't be much different to being hit by a meteorite or space debris. If you're surrounded by airfields then obviously it's a more valid concern. I actually live within 20 miles of 2 of the busiest airports in the world but I can't say crashing planes have been much of a worry but obviously YMMV.

Though, thinking about it, my house was once destroyed by a German V2 in WWII but that wasn't an accident.

I live 2 miles away from a site where a Cessna pilot was sight seeing with his family and wasn't paying attention and collided with passenger jet 160+ passengers/crew both planes went down and took out 3 blocks of a neighborhood killing 5 people on the ground (would have been more but it was the weekend).

I work a mile from another private airport, several years ago I witnessed a plane go down and actually crash into a burn a home to the ground pilot died and no fatalities (people were at work). And just last year at the same airport a plane had issues while landing and crashed through the gate at the end of the runway across the road and into a neighboring business. I'm one person and I have seen multiple aircraft incidents by chance, putting more things in the air in a congested corridor wouldn't be good air traffic control is already taxed in this region.

I live near the 5 or 6th busiest in addition to that there are 5 other multi runway airports that take international and domestic flights, almost all local cities have at least 1 private airport.

 

[mbk34]

It sounds like you have a very valid concern then. My apologies for taking a light hearted approach.

 

[DrSuess]

It sounds like you have a very valid concern then. My apologies for taking a light hearted approach.

No problem, the tech just needs to advance and mature as self driving tech is still maturing. Laws need to advance as well to define who is consider as qualified to operate these types of vehicles. And the tie in with air traffic control systems and other aviation infrastructure would need to advance as well.

I'm not saying it is a bad idea, I'm just saying a lot of work needs to be done if this is to be used safely and at scale.

 

[captaincranky]

So how close to my house/yard are drivers allowed to drive this thing? And what are my available recourse actions when they get too close?

And the really bad news, unless it's near "controlled airspace" (Airport, military base), the FAA doesn't have that much control under 500' I used to fly RC (fixed wing). Joining the "AMA" (American Modelers Association), gave you $1,000,000 of insurance, (supposedly) And the only real problem was neighbors b!tching about the noise.

However, you can't fly a plane below 500' either. The best way to not get your pilot's license yanked, is to stay over about 2K'.

"Curiously", the term "startup" always seems to be associated with these "futuristic projects". The quickest way to gain funding, is to pitch these projects to older folks, (I would think), who've suffered "acute overdose" from watching too many reruns of "The Jetsons ".

Well, these "entrepreneurs" can and do, live off hopes and dreams for awhile. but one day the dreams "up and fly away", Autonomously too, I might add.

 

[captaincranky]

If everyone thought like this, we'd still be stuck with horse carriages. Thankfully, progress doesn’t wait for hesitation. You can hope all you want, but you can’t stop progress.

You tell 'em. Eye on the prize. Nobody's gonna stand in the way of progress. This kid's certain that's gonna be his one day.

You should cut them a check for 20 or 30K, You know, just to keep the ball rollin'. Once upon a time I would have said, "put your money where your mouth is", but I've been trying to make "progress", by dialing back my rhetoric a bit. How am I doin?

 

[captaincranky]

There's already rules in place for "experimental aircraft" etc. I have a paramotor which is like a paraglider combined with a camp chair and with a motorbike engine and propellor on the back. It's about as safe as it sounds. The rules here in the UK state you have to keep 500 feet away from people and structures and not fly over built up areas. I didn't go near designated air lanes because I flew at 30mph and planes tend to fly at 200mph+.

Here's what's "considered controlled airspace", around a major airport here in |"the colonies"

Class C airspace is usually a control zone (CZ) for a large airport. These areas usually have a 10-nautical-mile (19 km) radius and a height of up to 12,500 ft above aerodrome elevation (AAE).

You probably already know this but a "nautical mile", is 1.2 "statute miles". I know that an inch equals 25.4 mm. But that's as far as I've gotten with the whole metric thingy.

 

[captaincranky]

There's already rules in place for "experimental aircraft" etc. I have a paramotor which is like a paraglider combined with a camp chair and with a motorbike engine and propellor on the back. It's about as safe as it sounds. The rules here in the UK state you have to keep 500 feet away from people and structures and not fly over built up areas. I didn't go near designated air lanes because I flew at 30mph and planes tend to fly at 200mph+.

Didn't mean to quote you twice on the same post, but I remembered a few relevant details about "experimental aircraft" and how they relate to other types here in the US.

"Experimental aircraft", are oftentimes, but not always, home built kit planes. However, you do need to have your pilot's license before you're even permitted to "take them for a spin", and them only after a rigorous inspection of the plane itself by the FAA.

There is a "license free" category, (No common sense required). However, in the US, total wight of the ship must not exceed (IIRC), 255 pounds.

However, in Canada, the total weight is doubled to 500 Lbs. I suppose they have more open spaces to "set one down forcefully", than we here in the states.

 

[MassRattler]

I would buy one in a heart beat. Been riding for a long time. Being able to fly would be awesome. Just please dont make it a moped which would be stupid. 55 min but would be happier with 70 speed limit. Motorcycles have always been fun. Whoever think they are dangerous can stay in their tanks.

 

[toooooot]

I am very interested I these devices and their possible expansion.
I feel like one of them can explode like DJI once did.
I think that the one that conquers the world will have two essential features.
First, it will be extremely reliable. It will never fail, even though it will come at the expense of replacing moving parts every X years.
And second, it will have amazing software paired with next gen sensors.
It will be pretty much automated because we have people die driving cars,
*****s flying these things would be much worse.
Making it automated would allow a much better prepared auto pilot to control the device.
Eventually, they would become extremely popular in areas away from city centers.
Consider this possibility. You live 80 miles away from the city, in a luxury mansion surrounded by the forest. Early in the morning, you get inside this thing and fly toward the city. Land in the parking lot designed for these flyers and uber to your office. Then in the evening, avoiding most traffic, fly back home.
I think the only obstacle is safety and lack of the system consisting of both hardware and software

 

[captaincranky]

You live 80 miles away from the city, in a luxury mansion surrounded by the forest.

As so many of us do, right?

I figure that right up front, they're lying about the duration. 40 minutes, really? Well, by the time you got the saddlebags, the expansive fairing, a dozen more lights, and a 500 watt sound system complete with subwoofer installed, I'd give it 20 minutes tops. Then too, the ape hangers would drastically alter the drag profile, knocking off another 5 minutes or so.

But the biggest hurdle of all, would be the fact that since it's electric, straight pipes would do no good whatsoever. Wouldn't its inability to make an ungodly amount of noise take most of the fun out of it?

You could, I suppose, still rely on it's ability to annoy the crap out of people by blowing around plastic bags, dog sh!t, and half eaten McDonald's, when coming in for a landing.

 

[toooooot]

As so many of us do, right?

I figure that right up front, they're lying about the duration. 40 minutes, really? Well, by the time you got the saddlebags, the expansive fairing, a dozen more lights, and a 500 watt sound system complete with subwoofer installed, I'd give it 20 minutes tops. Then too, the ape hangers would drastically alter the drag profile, knocking off another 5 minutes or so.

But the biggest hurdle of all, would be the fact that since it's electric, straight pipes would do no good whatsoever. Wouldn't its inability to make an ungodly amount of noise take most of the fun out of it?

You could, I suppose, still rely on it's ability to annoy the crap out of people by blowing around plastic bags, dog sh!t, and half eaten McDonald's, when coming in for a landing.

Noise is something they will have to work on. At least these are not helicopters.

 

[mbk34]

I honestly can't picture th

Consider this possibility. You live 80 miles away from the city, in a luxury mansion surrounded by the forest. Early in the morning, you get inside this thing and fly toward the city. Land in the parking lot designed for these flyers and uber to your office. Then in the evening, avoiding most traffic, fly back home.

I suspect the number of rich folk who have this requirement and are crazy enough to try it out is fairly small. I used to fly hang gliders, paragliders and paramotors so I'm in the crazy group but I'm still very aware of the risks. We had 4 people die in one year in our small paramotor group.

When you consider the alternatives: a helicopter ride to the city, a chauffer driven ride in the back of a Rolls Royce, remote working, or perhaps a city apartment you can share with your secretary then the idea of risking your life every time you commute isn't so appealing.

 

[toooooot]

I honestly can't picture th

I suspect the number of rich folk who have this requirement and are crazy enough to try it out is fairly small. I used to fly hang gliders, paragliders and paramotors so I'm in the crazy group but I'm still very aware of the risks. We had 4 people die in one year in our small paramotor group.

When you consider the alternatives: a helicopter ride to the city, a chauffer driven ride in the back of a Rolls Royce, remote working, or perhaps a city apartment you can share with your secretary then the idea of risking your life every time you commute isn't so appealing.

This is why these things need to be on the next level in safety. Next gen, so safe that no airliner can offer it.
It would take more than one genius and hundreds of millions in research.

Then they can begin to become very popular.

 

[captaincranky]

Noise is something they will have to work on. At least these are not helicopters.

True. But isn't, "lacking the ability to easily behead yourself", a bullet point most advertisers would shy away from? Same goes for, "it's sturdy enough to take down an airliner, and there's no fuel to cause an explosion".

"Fly comfortably without the need to wear a parachute. Its conservatively low flight levels insure that there's not enough time for one to open", is definitely another no go. Or, "it's almost safe enough to toss your teenagers the keys for a Saturday night adventure".

Of course there's always that old standby, ">you owe it to yourself**< to be the first kid on your block to own one of our fantastic aero-cycles".

**See what I did there? You have to tap into the consumer's overwhelming feelings of self entitlement. It works every time.

(Don't mind me, I'm just bitter because I don't have a luxurious mansion 80 miles outside of da hood. God knows I'm entitled to one.)