Polish company Volonaut has unveiled the Airbike, a real-life flying vehicle inspired by Star Wars speeder bikes. It can reportedly soar through the air at 124 mph using jet propulsion... with no propellers, making it a world-first in hoverbike design. The Airbike features advanced stabilization, a flight computer, and a carbon fiber body that makes it seven times lighter than a typical motorbike.

Although full technical specs haven’t been released, footage shows the Airbike hovering and gliding smoothly through the air, even allowing the rider to wave mid-flight. Developed in secret and flight-tested in May 2023, the Airbike is being praised as a potential game-changer in personal aviation.

Pricing and availability details for the Airbike are expected to be announced soon.

I can imagine a motorcycle club trading in their Harleys for Airbikes... leather jackets flapping at 124 mph, beards in lift-off mode, Sons of Anarchy meets Return of the Jedi. 

Watch the Airbike hover and fly like it’s straight out of Star Wars.



https://youtu.be/Q74qlF48qX0?si=UQsQ3rD4nyP56uup




Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/...s-fly.html

Quote:Take, for instance, the Volonaut Airbike. Volonaut claims this is a fully-functional jet-powered flying motorcycle capable of speeds in excess of 120 miles per hour. Is that true? Who knows! Will this ever see broad adoption? Great question! There are a million things working against Volonaut here, from people's general sense of self-preservation to the maintenance intervals on jet engines, but the company has one thing right: It's a lot easier to lift a motorcycle than a car.

https://www.jalopnik.com/1854210/volonau...e-concept/

I can't find any safety rating for this vehicle. It's suspiciously absent.

It could use minimal protection, like a crash cage.

If it malfunctions and crashes, that's it...it's most likely a write off.

It uses jet fuel? What could go wrong?

Going 120 mph, I can see the bug and bird strikes now galore.

I think we need to foster invention with anti-gravity capabilities for the masses and not using fossil fuels.

I am of the camp of safe, fun and cheap transportation for all.

Check out Japan's hovercraft (drone tech.) at $680,000. It needs inventors to scale it down to affordable levels for everyone. We are getting there, slowly.

I am sorry I can not give you flags, stars, or even a few points as a thank you for posting this story.  All those things must enrage the participation ribbon folks thus a simple thanks will have to do ??

thank you ..

Back to basics.

(05-16-2025, 01:26 AM)quintessentone Wrote: It could use minimal protection, like a crash cage.

Lot of weight restrictions. Wear your armor if you want some. Crashing into dirt ain't as bad as the paved roads. Those tress could be a bugger if the handling is crap. Looks like fun, getting too old these days, don't bounce like I use to. Had to say no if I got a chance.

(05-16-2025, 08:08 AM)Kwaka Wrote: Lot of weight restrictions. Wear your armor if you want some. Crashing into dirt ain't as bad as the paved roads. Those tress could be a bugger if the handling is crap. Looks like fun, getting too old these days, don't bounce like I use to. Had to say no if I got a chance.

There are certain types of plastics that are just as strong as steel and are lightweight, so that may be an option. Or, a special suit that has sensor attachments to the vehicle so when a crash happens and the connection is broken, built-in air bags would deploy (?). There have to be ways to protect the rider, but one thing for sure with that jet fuel vehicle, the further you are flung from it the better.

If there was a way to prevent the bounce of a crash, because I don't bounce any more either, I'm in with the Japanese drone cycle, that is, if I win a big lotto.

(05-16-2025, 01:26 AM)quintessentone Wrote: https://www.jalopnik.com/1854210/volonau...e-concept/

I can't find any safety rating for this vehicle. It's suspiciously absent.

It could use minimal protection, like a crash cage.

If it malfunctions and crashes, that's it...it's most likely a write off.

It uses jet fuel? What could go wrong?

Going 120 mph, I can see the bug and bird strikes now galore.

I think we need to foster invention with anti-gravity capabilities for the masses and not using fossil fuels.

I am of the camp of safe, fun and cheap transportation for all.

Check out Japan's hovercraft (drone tech.) at $680,000. It needs inventors to scale it down to affordable levels for everyone. We are getting there, slowly.

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i90LSqLq7Q0]

Safety rating: KYAG

(05-16-2025, 09:38 AM)pianopraze Wrote: Safety rating: KYAG

Ha ha "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye". No, we want a flying motorcycle and want to live. "We want to live."

(05-16-2025, 01:26 AM)quintessentone Wrote: I think we need to foster invention with anti-gravity capabilities for the masses and not using fossil fuels.

I am of the camp of safe, fun and cheap transportation for all.

I agree, we’re almost there... right now we're basically living in the Anakin Skywalker era of tech, like the early chapters of a Star Wars origin story. You’ve got YouTubers flying bathtubs, hobbyists reverse-engineering black budget aircraft, and open-source aerospace projects coming out of garages. 

I’d bet money that Airbike started as a YouTube garage project... those Polish people love making YouTube DIY videos.

Give someone a 3D printer, a Raspberry Pi, an Arduino, some AI tools, and a soldering iron... and suddenly they’re basically Anakin Skywalker in a garage. At this point, building your own C-3PO out of scrap isn't sci-fi... it’s a weekend project. The garage is the new Tatooine workshop.

Microcontrollers are so cheap and easy to use now. If you can imagine it, you can probably build it... no engineering degree required... cause you know... AI can code it for you.

Before you know it, quantum teleportation, time travel and anti-gravity capabilities will be here... those are the last sci-fi trophies, and you just know someone in a hidden lab (or a desert hangar) has already got a prototype with a “Do Not Touch” sticker on it. The government probably already has those on lock... they’re just hoping we stay distracted building jet-powered leaf blowers.

(05-16-2025, 09:42 AM)imitator Wrote: I agree, we’re almost there... right now we're basically living in the Anakin Skywalker era of tech, like the early chapters of a Star Wars origin story. You’ve got YouTubers flying bathtubs, hobbyists reverse-engineering black budget aircraft, and open-source aerospace projects coming out of garages. 

I’d bet money that Airbike started as a YouTube garage project... those Polish people love making YouTube DIY videos.

Give someone a 3D printer, a Raspberry Pi, an Arduino, some AI tools, and a soldering iron... and suddenly they’re basically Anakin Skywalker in a garage. At this point, building your own C-3PO out of scrap isn't sci-fi... it’s a weekend project. The garage is the new Tatooine workshop.

Microcontrollers are so cheap and easy to use now. If you can imagine it, you can probably build it... no engineering degree required... cause you know... AI can code it for you.

Before you know it, quantum teleportation, time travel and anti-gravity capabilities will be here... those are the last sci-fi trophies, and you just know someone in a hidden lab (or a desert hangar) has already got a prototype with a “Do Not Touch” sticker on it. The government probably already has those on lock... they’re just hoping we stay distracted building jet-powered leaf blowers.

Instead of building 'built for speed' flying vehicles with jet fuel or expensive chips and batteries, why not an outer hydrogen filled layer balloon, solar powered, with inner layer with seating and steering via wind power and if it should fail, it will lightly and slowly fall to the ground then land upright on landing pads?

It won't be a thrill ride, that's for sure, but there are those that don't want a thrill ride.

We can spy on and borrow Chinese balloon tech.