The flying bike is here

[flatbutt]

[herr_oberst]

Interesting concept. Horrific video.

Overall impression from a jaded senior citizen? Not ready for prime time.

[Seahawk]

We designed concepts for Honda. I can't post pictures of the CAD.

This was six years ago.

We were about to sign a contract with Honda for a prototype, even the Japanese engineers visited us for initial design meetings, when the lawyers pulled the plug.

Their American legal rep said they couldn't get coverage for the vehicle based on existing laws, here or in Japan - the liability (think hitting wires, licensing riders, engine loss, bird strike/ingestion, etc.).

Our initial design is much cleaner than the OP.

[masraum]

Plenty of responsible folks on sport bikes I'm sure, but can you imagine the mayhem that could be caused by the irresponsible folks on flying bikes? I assume a lot of the more irresponsible folks are probably younger and poorer, so less likely to be able to afford a flying anything.

I would think these would require some sort of pilots training/licensing, but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure that regs and laws are ready for the avg Joe in the air.

The bikes in the OP kind of look sport bike-ish, but they don't look like they would actually be that fun or sporty to ride compared to a sport bike. They look heavy and awkward. That looks like the sort of compromise that doesn't do anything well.

[Gogar]

was the garage parking shot CGI?

I might be more impressed if the live 'flying' shots showed it fly more than 2 feet above that pad with 5 cables attached to it

[URY914]

Mid air collisions will be the norm. No way they would be allowed here.

[GH85Carrera]

I just have to wonder how long before I need a special addition to my car and home insurance to cover uninsured bikers falling out of the sky on my house or car, or even me.

Maybe that will work in the middle east in countries that are mostly sand.

[Seahawk]

The Honda design was pretty neat - out main area of engineering were in the ducted fans, power transfer to the ducted fans and all control laws.

We are doing work for some "flying car" companies because of our expertise in ducted fans.

There will be no exposed rotors in any future flying cars - far too dangerous. Even big quad rotors will be replaced.

Honda had done a great deal of work on height limitations, maneuver and speed restrictions, autopilots etc., but couldn't come to grips with the inherent dangers of the added dimension of flight.

I'll have to check and see if we are still under an NDA - if not, I'll post some of the sanitized work we did that is still ours.

The below is from our site survey from earlier this week. You can see the chemical sniffer sensor in the picture. On the other side is an EO/IR ball. We flew for a group of HAZMAT specialists today and it went great. It is our 8" ducted fan UAS. We always do a phisical site survey before demos...saves a lot of pain points

[masraum]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

Forget the bike and road part, in fact who needs roads anymore

They will disappear

Well, the big question is how long does the fuel last when in flying mode. It doesn't look like it would have much of a tank. I have to assume 4 jets eat fuel pretty quickly.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Gogar

I might be more impressed if the live 'flying' shots showed it fly more than 2 feet above that pad with 5 cables attached to it

Looks like the pilot weighs about 60 pounds in fly mode.

[flatbutt]

Jeez guys I have to think that this is little more than proof of concept or maybe beta testing.

[Bill Douglas]

Overly complex. Being a motorbike AND a flying machine. Introducing many points of failure.

Whereas a Jetson is minimal and does actually fly.