Inventors Unveil Xplore Air, a Flying Bicycle That Can Reach 4,000-Feet (Video)
Posted by: Tim Tibbetts on 06/18/2013 01:46 PM
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London based company XploreAir has designed a bike that transforms into an easy-to-operate aircraft which requires no licence to fly and capable of reaching altitudes of up to 4,000ft.
When cycling the bicycle tows a lightweight trailer carrying a powerful fan. In order to fly, the bike attaches to its trailer, a flexible wing is unfurled and an electric starter motor fires up the biofuel-powered fan.
Mr Foden said: "The inspiration for the project is that both Yannick and myself have always had a passion for cycling and aircraft of every type."
"Both of us have dreamt of flying and being pilots since we were kids," adds Mr Read.
"And one of the biggest barriers for flying is cost. It's expensive to train, it's expensive to maintain the aircraft. One of the beauties about the flying bicycle is that it is accessible. It is affordable."
The say they need £50,000 to finalise the design that could be brought off the shelf and have launched a kickstarter project to rise the money from investors.
To contribute to the project go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/114063537/paravelo-the-worlds-first-flying-bicycle?ref=live
Frankly, this seems to me where KickStarter can, or at least should, fail. They are currently at £4,710 of their £50,000 goal. No actually working version of the Paravelo is offered by investing, so for £5,000 you can count me out. For £4,500 you can fly yourself to Spain and learn to fly one and hang out for 5 days. One backer is in at the £4,500 price but the majority of backers so far are in the £5 and £10 range. Expected price is to be £10,000 so why drop £4,500 just to fly the stupid thing. Give your backers a discounted price on the first ones since £4,500 is almost half way and you would be funded in no time. For £5,000 you get a, wait for it, replica. Yay!
Bah, what do I know? Given that this is making the rounds in some large publications today they might get some traction this week.
When cycling the bicycle tows a lightweight trailer carrying a powerful fan. In order to fly, the bike attaches to its trailer, a flexible wing is unfurled and an electric starter motor fires up the biofuel-powered fan.
Mr Foden said: "The inspiration for the project is that both Yannick and myself have always had a passion for cycling and aircraft of every type."
"Both of us have dreamt of flying and being pilots since we were kids," adds Mr Read.
"And one of the biggest barriers for flying is cost. It's expensive to train, it's expensive to maintain the aircraft. One of the beauties about the flying bicycle is that it is accessible. It is affordable."
The say they need £50,000 to finalise the design that could be brought off the shelf and have launched a kickstarter project to rise the money from investors. To contribute to the project go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/114063537/paravelo-the-worlds-first-flying-bicycle?ref=live
Frankly, this seems to me where KickStarter can, or at least should, fail. They are currently at £4,710 of their £50,000 goal. No actually working version of the Paravelo is offered by investing, so for £5,000 you can count me out. For £4,500 you can fly yourself to Spain and learn to fly one and hang out for 5 days. One backer is in at the £4,500 price but the majority of backers so far are in the £5 and £10 range. Expected price is to be £10,000 so why drop £4,500 just to fly the stupid thing. Give your backers a discounted price on the first ones since £4,500 is almost half way and you would be funded in no time. For £5,000 you get a, wait for it, replica. Yay!
Bah, what do I know? Given that this is making the rounds in some large publications today they might get some traction this week.
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