Hoversurf’s Scorpion-3: It’s A Flying Bike That Actually Works (Video)

If your flying motorcycle dreams haven't quite been satisfied by BMW's recent partnership with Lego, then hopefully the incredible feats of engineering being performed by Hoversurf might give you what you need. The idea of a flying bike, or really a flying "anything" for the everyday customer, is nothing new. We've seen flying cars, we've seen hundreds of flying motorcycle drawings, and we've even seen a couple of impressive flying motorcycles ideas almost take off. Now, we've got something interesting to share…something that makes us think that flying motorcycles could soon become a reality. Naturally, we're using "soon" as an elastic term, here.

Judge Dredd it is not, and it's a long way from Return Of The Jedi style bushwhacking too – but Russian firm Hoversurf are on to something. What you can see in the video below, is the Scorpion-3. It's an electrically powered, single-seat quadcopter that is capable of lifting a human off of the ground and sustaining (albeit for a short time) flight. It's essentially a drone, that can be controlled either onboard by a human pilot, or remotely by a remote control system.

We've seen other prototypes in action, but this one seems like the most advanced system so far. Hoversurf have plans to develop the idea further, and in the near future the idea could be transporting human traffic around our cities, or delivering cargo at the very least. As you can see below, the idea is quite simple: it involves two key ingredients from a motorcycle, the saddle and frame arrangement, and four propellers. It seems simple, but for these things to be able to steer, all four propellers have to continually adjust their rotations to compensate for a wide range of variables.

The steering system relies on the speed of the spinning blades, and the technology is almost identical to modern drone technologies. However, in the interests of safety, Hoversurf's Scorpion-3 limits the pilot's speed and altitude… For the time being, Hoversurf are viewing the extreme sports segment as their most promising market, but as soon as the technology evolves and the whole process is fine tunes, other applications will definitely present themselves.

If you want to see some more flying motorcycle-esque technology, take a look at the Flike – it's a similar rig but it's not quite as advanced as Hoversurf's Scorpion-3. Or failing that, a simple internet search will produce a plethora of results. No matter what result turns up or piques your interest, one thing's for sure: people are putting a lot of effort into producing a flying motorcycle…and in the next twenty years or so, it's likely to be a reality. But is there really a demand? If an affordable model became available, would you want one? Or do you prefer your motorcycles wheels firmly planted to the ground? With the occasional one up in the air, or course…

Categories: Motorcycles

I've done a bit of work here and there in the industry – I've even ridden a few bikes for actual money but what it comes down to is this: I ride bikes, build bikes and occasionally crash 'em too. I like what I like but that certainly doesn't make my opinion any more valid than yours…

Source: Hoversurf's Scorpion-3: It's A Flying Bike That Actually Works (Video)