So, was listening to this video on CNN about an inventor designing and developing a hover bike. From an engineering perspective it’s, of course, very do-able. You COULD make such a vehicle that a person could ride around on.
But…do you think anyone ever would (we won’t get into the costs just personal and public safety). I mean, it’s a way cool idea, and personally I’d love to try one out (in a nice, safe grass field with no one else around and some sort of governor for speed and height, and maybe lots of foam padding on, and… :p).
I’m going to have to go with a qualified no. Far too complicated for the inexperienced person to control. It would have to be primarilty computer controlled with the rider directing it from more familiar controls.
The typical driver doesn’t have to deal with drifting sideways or sliding through a turn. Sudden stops are a whole new thing when you don’t have rubber in contact with the road.
Then there are environmental hazards. At low altitude the craft will be kicking up debris and dust which will be a problem for everyone around you as well as yourself. Higher altitudes get you into limbs and power lines.
It’s a lovely fantasy, but strictly a fantasy for the forseeable future.
How do the brakes work? It’s feasible, similar concepts of hover cars have been designed in the past, and the Hiller Flying Platform was basically the same thing. The FAA may be a problem getting to actually use one of these things in the US in the near future.
First. if you could, someone would.
I’m retired Air Force and keep a toe in the avionic media - I’ve heard of a few ‘designs’ and ‘prototypes’, but no proven working models.
As soon as someone can make one, there will be a line for people to try it out.
I would assume they will be ‘flown’ the way some drones are; programmed. You tell it where you want to go and it does the rest. With predetermined rates of acceleration and max altitude, etc…
Braking will be done the same as with helicopters; adjust attitude and use some of the lifting force to counter-act the momentum.
I don’t know if it is still this way but over you own land and at or below 300 above ground, you can do what you want with what you want. They ( FAA ) are not interested.
many moons ago, old fart rancher bought a Piper Cub in a box. Built it, taught himself to fly it and did for over 20 years. Checked his critters with it. Never went over his property line, never took a passenger, never recovered it, you could stick your finger through the fabric most anyplace.
So you want to play in the air without hassle, no passengers, not over 300 feet, never over your property lines, don’t ever sell it to someone else.
You are good to go.
This may have changed as I have not checked in a long time.
GusNSpot: For God’s sake, don’t tell my b.i.l.! He’s got his heart set on a mini-dirigible, and has just barely enough land to work within the property lines.
I have always wanted to be the first on my block to own an aero-scooter, but it wouldn’t be much fun if you just programmed it and hopped on. I’d want to dart around the sky like a giant gnat and terrify old people and buzz my girlfriend’s house n stuff.
Unlike winged and rotored vehicles, these things can’t glide. There is a death zone between the ground, and enough altitude to deploy a ballistic parachute.
As HipGnosis said, it’d have to be a fly-by-wire sort of thing. I don’t know how the thing would handle in cross winds. What sort of controls would it have? Throttle, collective, and cyclic incorporated into handlebars with twist grips?
I guess from a legal sense, it’d be under the ultralight/experimental umbrella. Good luck getting insurance.
The controls will be directional - go; faster/slower, altitude; up/down, turn; left/right. The processor(s) will determine which and how much mechanical input to apply.
The classification seems to be the crux of their progress - small enough to be ultralight means impractical range. Decent range and/or safety equipment bumps them into highly more complicated rules and regulations.
This is why they’re never going to let you have one. The thought of a bunch of doofuses flying around living out their Star Wars fantasies is rather disconcerting.
Not sure how you’d power full-sized one. I don’t think battery technology is quite there yet. And I’d guess that an internal combustion engine would add a lot of extra weight and complexity. So getting the power density you need for something with no lifting surfaces except four small rotors is going to be difficult. At best, it’s going to be very range-limited, and you’re going to have to keep a damned sharp eye on the fuel gauges.