Employees at aviation and aerospace company Volonaut have been watching a few too many movies. For the general population, though, that’s a good thing.
While many young males were dreaming of light saber battles or flying through the wilderness on a speeder bike, Volonaut founder Tomasz Patan was thinking about how to build his own futuristic equipment.
On Wednesday, the company revealed it had created a real-world “Star Wars” method of transportation.
‘No special effects, no CGI, no AI, pure engineering.’
While the Death Star may have been too big of a project, Volonaut’s feat is still incredibly impressive, as the company revealed a real-life speeder bike, listed on their website as the Airbike, a “personal hoverbike of the future.”
“Excited to share this raw flight footage including take-off and landing, all with real sound. No special effects, no CGI, no AI, pure engineering,” Patan wrote on X.
The “fully functional real-world ‘speeder bike'” was shown lifting off about 10 feet into the air before carrying its pilot across a dusty, vacant field.
Despite weighing 209 pounds and having an insane max speed of 63 mph (102 km/h), prospective pilots will not require a license to fly one of the Airbikes.
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According to the company, the Airbike is in compliance with FAA ultralight rules, which, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association, has a few pointed requirements.
In order to be compliant, the vehicle must be manned by a single occupant, can only be for sport or recreation, and must weigh less than 254 pounds if powered.
Other restrictions exist regarding the fuel capacity (5 gallons) and speed (55 knots or 63.2929 mph), which the Airbike abides by.
“Airbike flying motorbike is a breakthrough in personal air mobility,” Volonaut wrote on its website. “The futuristic single occupant vehicle is a realization of a bold concept often portrayed in science-fiction movies.”
While, according to the company’s LinkedIn page, it seemingly has just one key figure, founder, and inventor — Patan — the inventor has been working for months bringing this project to light and dropped a “Star Wars” themed promo on May 4.
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Dressed in full costume, a Volonaut pilot flew an Airbike through the woods, recreating a famous scene from “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.”
The stunning visuals did not garner nearly as much fanfare as the July release, which has now been seen by more than 3.9 million viewers on X.
The Airbike’s flight time is unfortunately just 10 minutes, and it runs on a combination of diesel, biodiesel, Jet A-1 jet fuel, and kerosene. Its refuel time is listed at under one minute.
It should come as no surprise, though, that Patan is working on other futuristic vehicles. This includes an electric vertical take-off and landing machine, or eVTOL, which is a fancy term for a single-man mini-helicopter.
The eVTOL has more real-world application than the speeder bike, though, and is intended to assist first responders in mountain rescue operations.
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Return, Star wars, Vehicles, Space, Propulsion, Futuristic, Flying car, Tech
