This Working Russian Hoverbike Uses Drone Technology to Fly
A Russian drone company has apparently whipped up a working quadcopter hoverbike. Safety not guaranteed.
Let's face it: anyone who's ever seen Return of the Jedi has spent at least a few seconds fantasizing about what it'd be like to fly around on a hoverbike. Companies and governments around the world have been trying to whip one up with varying degrees of success failure for decades; these days, though, the same technology that has enabled the explosive growth of drones is also giving compact, ridable flying machines a chance to shine at long last.
Given that, it shouldn't be surprising to hear that the Scorpion S-3, as this four-rotor hoverbike is called, comes from a drone manufacturer. The flying machine is being developed by Hoversurf, a company based in Russia that also has an outpost in San Francisco; the company is also purportedly developing a cargo drone capable of hauling almost three tons and a drone taxi service, but those seem pretty much like vaporware at this point.
The Hoversurf Scorpion is basically a quadcopter drone crossed with a motorcycle
That's not to say there are a lot of details on the Scorpion. The company's website makes no mention of the hoverbike's range, speed, expected price, or plans to compensate owners whose feet are sliced off by the whirling, uncovered rotors sitting a few inches away from the rider's legs. But Hoversurf has released a quick video showing the manned quadcopter—which apparently uses wooden rotors and a dual joystick control system—taking off, hovering, and buzzing around an empty warehouse. Which is all we need to rekindle those old fantasies about blasting through the forests of Endor.
