Author Topic: The flying bike. No, really, built just down the road from the Sopwith Camel factory.  (Read 2757 times)

Andre Jute

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The flying bike. No, really, built just down the road from the Sopwith Camel factory.

In California this might be a flying bike, in England, with almost three sunshine days in an everage year, it just has to be an eccentric joke.

http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20140926-flying-bike-seeks-sky-riders

« Last Edit: September 28, 2014, 07:37:54 am by Andre Jute »

triaesthete

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How well would it go on the road without the 'chute  ;D

Rockymountain

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I'm not sure that my wife would be too pleased if I came home with that.......I might just be able to explain away a new Thorn but not a flying bike :D

Andre Jute

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How well would it go on the road without the 'chute  ;D

That tricycle needs three wheels because the guys who designed it don't know anything about bicycles: check the width of the handlebars -- be a very unstable bike at anything over walking speed.

I'm not sure that my wife would be too pleased if I came home with that.......I might just be able to explain away a new Thorn but not a flying bike :D

 :o

Danneaux

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There's a bit more to this than meets the eye...

The completely assembled air unit has four wheels in total; the rear pair form a supported trailer for towing the power unit and seatback while cycling using the front half as a bicycle. In flight mode, the rear unit slightly elevates and suspends the bicycle's rear wheel so it then does become a tricycle in terms of ground contact points.

The handlebars fall within standard width and are capped by zenon strobes (I own one of these) inserted at the ends for air lighting, making overall width acceptable. The fork incorporates fold-down foot pegs so the unit can be steered on taxi, takeoff, and landing, needed because hands/arms are used to control the gliding canopy at those times. A rubber puck prevents damage to the folded frame halves when stored. The single-speed drivetrain is basic in the prototype, but the bike's design is sound for a small-wheeled Folder.

The bike itself folds for easy transport and storage and will ride much like a Dahon or other folder with 406mm wheel diameter (the smaller-diameter of the two nominal 20in standards). The trailer for the power unit and the fan also fold flat for transport in a hatchback car, along with the bike itself and the canopy stowed in a bag.

Given the evergreen topic of which tent to choose for touring, it is interesting to see the design team planning for eventual air- and bike-based touring with a tent that using completed structure as a frame: http://xploreair.com/blog/?offset=1372019931029 Forget the train...fly over hills and rough spots, then either park the power unit and day-tour or tow the lot on level ground. Come time to leave, you just pedal it to the nearest field or small airport, mate the power unit solidly, and off you go.

I'm a bit more familiar with this because I have followed its progress since before their Kickstarter campaign and a friend is a former airline pilot and now competitive paraglider who has also followed its development. More details here:
http://xploreair.com/blog/?offset=1372019931029
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/114063537/paravelo-the-worlds-first-flying-bicycle
http://xploreair.com/ada4fkbxfltowlsg4ts9vfyoado81d

All the best,

Dan.

Andre Jute

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Thanks for that, Dan. Do you reckon this one will actually reach the market?

Danneaux

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Hi Andre!

I think the cards are stacked against projects of this sort. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with this one, but historically hybrid-air/land vehicle projects have just not done well. There's been many projects over the years to mate aircraft with a means to travel on land and none have er, taken off.

Some, like the Ford Pinto/Cessna airframe mating ended after tragic crashes. Most died after the initial excitement played out. Too, the media tend to play up such efforts as the Next Big Thing or the fruit of crackpots, which is not always fair.

I think the core problem is most multi-tools are not "best of both" but instead involve compromises. A jack of all trades is sometimes master of none, and that -- or more importantly, the perception of it -- can be hard to overcome when funding production and making sales.

In this case, the ultralight nature of both air transport (paragliding 'chute and fan) and ground transport (a small-wheel Folder) make for the fewest compromises of any such mating I've seen. It also overcomes the hurdle (in most markets, anyway) of needing an instrument-rated pilot and many people can already ride a bike.

However, this aims squarely at a niche market and dual-use capability within that market is smaller yet. Even with angel funding (which did not come through), it would take a lot of sales to overcome production and setup costs. I could see this working better as a licensing option for homebuilders, but that's an even smaller Venn intersection. If they standardize on a third-party bicycle and it goes out of production, even that effort would flop.

I wish them the best.

Dan.

Andre Jute

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Thanks, Dan. Like I said, eccentric, to say the least. Of course, when the bicycle started, and for a long time afterwards, perhaps still, it was exceedingly eccentric transport.