World's first Star Wars-style hoverbike can hit 125mph and doesn't need propellers for it to fly
Volonaut says its Airbike is the first 'hoverbike' vehicle of its kind that does not use propellers to fly.
Videos of the incredible machine in action shows the device as it appears to effortlessly glide through the air. At one point, it hovers remarkably steady as the rider lifts a hand to wave at the camera.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Tomasz Patan (@volonaut)
Something in the air: Poland-based company Volonaut has developed a Star Wars-inspired speeder Airbike
The Airbike has a 'proprietary stabilization system' enhanced by a flight computer to provide automatic hover and ease of control for its rider.
Volonaut said: 'The current version of the vehicle is a result of many months of hard work, solved challenges, and multiple failures.
'It took the founder several iterations to get to a working and flightworthy design on which he attempted the first stable flight in May 2023 in Poland.'
No timeline for a production model or cost have yet been released.
Instagram users praised the design, and one comment said: 'The future is here! Best personal flying aircraft I've seen as far as design and flight.'
Another added: 'The generation that grew up on Star Wars was waiting for you, my friend. Please work a little faster. We're getting old but we want to go for a ride.'
Jet propulsion, which the vehicle uses, is a technology that drives vehicles forward using spurts of gas.
Creators Volonaut says the Airbike's a comfortable device, and the rider will 'become one' with the flying machine.
It's also said to be seven times lighter than a typical motorbike, thanks to the use of carbon fiber materials.
Commonly used throughout the Star Wars galaxy, speeder bikes are single-driver craft that move at very high speeds, over 300mph.
In the classic Star Wars film Return Of The Jedi (1983), heroes Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are chased by Stormtroopers on speeder bikes around the fictional forest moon of Endor.
Hover-based transportation heavily features across the Star Wars movies, including The Phantom Menace (1999) and The Force Awakens (2015).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Auto Express
21 minutes ago
- Auto Express
Très rapide! All new Renault models will come to market twice as quickly as before
Newly appointed Renault CEO François Provost has insisted that the accelerated development process of the forthcoming Twingo small electric car is 'the right pace to apply to all [Renault] products' – potentially reducing their time to market by more than 50 per cent. The new Twingo will be revealed next year, having gone from concept to production in just 21 months. Sub-brand Dacia will push things even further, slashing a car's development time to just 16 months. Provost said this new-found speed will ensure the 'acceleration of [the Renault Group's] transformation' over the next few years. New-car development times usually range from two to five years – with Chinese disruptors applying pressure on European manufacturers to quicken the period from initial concept to start of production. In his first media Q&A, Provost told Auto Express that his firm's ability to transform these times will be a 'key performance trigger' in the short to medium term, as it continues to invest in new models. If you can't wait, check out the latest Renault offers through the Auto Express Find a Car service. Advertisement - Article continues below The benefits are multi-faceted. The new boss said reducing development times is 'quicker, smarter and less expensive,' and brings 'innovation quicker to the customer' – suggesting Renault wants to keep its products competitive in a way it has struggled to in the past. This shift of mindset won't only apply to facelifted models, or those on an existing product architecture, with Provost insisting Renault has to apply this attitude 'to all projects,' with one of his main aims in the early days of his tenure being to implement this 'in France, in Europe, in [Renault's] ecosystem'. Elsewhere, however, Provost and his team have refused to turn former CEO Luca de Meo's well-defined strategy on its head, prioritising 'value over volume'. Jean-Dominique Senard, Renault's chairman of the board of directors, said the plan is to maintain 'strategic manoeuverability' and 'embody some kind of continuity, but with open eyes: understanding what needs to be changed and what needs to be maintained'. Buy a car with Auto Express. Our nationwide dealer network has some fantastic cars on offer right now with new, used and leasing deals to choose from...
Daily Mirror
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Harrison Ford, 83, reveals real reason why he will never retire
Indiana Jones and Star Wars actor Harrison Ford explains why he won't stop acting Hollywood legend Harrison Ford says he has no plans to retire — even suggesting he chose the acting profession for that very reason. 'No. That's one of the things I thought was attractive about the job of an actor, was that they need old people, too, to play old people's parts,' the Star Wars actor, 83, said in a new interview. Harrison is celebrating more success and another accolade ticked off and his new chat came a few months after he pulled out of the Oscars due to illness. After decades of making great work playing the likes of Han Solo in Star Wars and Indiana Jones, he finally got his first Emmy nomination this year, for the AppleTV+ show 'Shrinking,' where he plays Dr. Paul Rhoades, a therapist who has Parkinson's disease. He modestly told Variety magazine: 'I don't think there's anything competitive about creativity, and I don't understand the need to compare and contrast one person's work to another's. If you like it, you like it; if you don't like it, look at something else. I'm grateful, but I would have done what I did — and I'll do what I'm doing — regardless of whether it's deemed worthy of mention or not. Because it's what I do. It's what I love doing. I love telling stories. I love pretending to be somebody else.' He had been working with Michael J. Fox in Season 3 which just finished filming, and Harrison's character, Paul, has been diagnosed with Parkinson's. Ford says that it was "essential" to talk to Fox as Paul continues to deal with his disease. 'Michael's courage, his fortitude and his grace, more than anything else, is on full display. He's a very smart, very brave, noble, generous, passionate guy, and an example to all of us, whether we're facing Parkinson's or not. You cannot help but recognise how amazing it is to have such grace. So he gives me both a physical representation of the disease to inform myself with, but more than that, he allows me to believe that Paul could believe that he could be adequate to the challenge. The truth is that we can't be fucking around with this just to make a joke or anything. Parkinson's is not funny. And I want to get it right. It's necessary to be correct with what we do in respect of the challenge that Parkinson's represents, and that we don't use it for its entertainment value.' Ford has overcome his own difficulties which have affected his acting, crashing his plane on a golf course in 2015 in an accident which was described as near-fatal, in March 2015. Harrison said: 'Did it have an impact? I suppose it did. I've been through a couple of big accidents that took a while to heal from. This is not something dismissed lightly, but s**t happens; it was a mechanical issue that was judged to be beyond my control. If I'd been at fault, I would have taken another direction. But I don't think it informs my life on a day-to-day basis now that I've recovered sufficiently from the physical effects.' Harrison also spoke about how America has changed and seems less 'banal and safe' with Trump in charge. He said: 'The pendulum doth swing in both directions, and it's on a healthy swing to the right at the moment. And, as nature dictates, it will swing back. But currently the issue is not who we are, but that we're not who we used to be because we've been purposefully disaggregated into serviceable political units. And that has caused the middle to become frayed and tenuous, and the middle is where we belong. Not because it's banal and safe, but because it's fair. Compromise is fair and honest. 'In politics and in life, you don't always get what you want, but you get what you get and you don't get upset. They teach us that in kindergarten, but they also teach you to fight for what you think is right. Now, because we've been disaggregated in this way, we're having a hard time finding commonality. But if you look at the economy, you'll figure out where the commonality is — it's where it always was: Rich get richer, and poor get poorer. And that ain't exactly right.'
The Sun
22 minutes ago
- The Sun
Katie Price family panic about her weight loss as mum fears eating disorder and dad has bizarre theory about ‘thin' legs
KATIE Price has admitted her family are worried over her weight loss as her parents called her out about it. The mum-of-five, 47, was joined by her sister Sophie on the first episode of her new podcast, The Katie Price show. 3 3 As the podcast was wrapping up, the sister duo was joined by Sophie's dad and Katie stepdad Paul as talk soon turned to Katie's weight loss. On the episode, Katie, who recently showed off her newest surgery, asked her dad: 'What are you looking at?' to which he replied: 'Look how thin them legs are, terrible they are, my hand can go round them.' She replied: 'They're obsessed with my weight,' as Sophie chimed in: 'You are thin.' Katie was heard insisting: 'I am happy,' as her dad retorted: 'No it's not right, it's probably that vaping crap.' The reality star, who showed off a hilarious snap, continued: 'Mum said last night, you must be bulimic or something. I said… JJ do I throw my food up? No, I eat.' Sophie went on to reveal that their mum Amy called her to tell Katie she was worried about her weight loss. She revealed: 'Mum called me the other day and said I'm going to have a word with Kate because she's too thin. I think mum saw a picture on Instagram and she wasn't happy.' Katie responded: 'My legs do look thin, but I like it.' The I'm A Celebrity star's rapid weight loss has been a topic of discussion for a while now, with even her fans being worried about her. Earlier this week, the former glamour model posted a series of photos of recent family time she's spent with her parents, nieces and son Harvey, 23. Emotional Katie Price reveals Harvey was in tears on the phone after she dropped him off at new home "This week's family photo drop," Katie captioned the post on her official Facebook page. Katie also shared a photo posing with her two nieces where she was standing between them wearing a t-shirt and black leggings. "My beautiful nieces," she captioned the post, but many people were distracted by her very slim frame. "Katie, please gain some weight," commented one fan as another penned: 'Poor Katie.' A third worried follower asked: 'Is she okay?' She previously addressed her fans' worries with a video on Snapchat and said the concerns were 'driving her mad'. Katie admitted in the clip: "Yes I've lost weight. Yes that what I've wanted to do, I've wanted to lose weight. "Because the past three, four years ago when I broke my feet and I was in a wheelchair for 10 months because they said I'd never walk again, and obviously you put weight on being in a wheelchair. "And then I did all the IVF stuff, that also puts on weight. "So yeah I did put on weight and I hated it, I felt uncomfortable and it wasn't me." Continuing to address the backlash, she said: "Everyone is talking about it - it's driving me mad. "If you look at old old pictures of me in the Jordan days, I was always skinny. But today where i have lost weight, I feel, my butt looks like a deflated balloon." Katie Price's Surgery: A Timeline 1998 - Katie underwent her first breast augmentation taking her from a natural B cup to a C cup. She also had her first liposuction 1999 - Katie had two more boob jobs in the same year, one taking her from a C cup to a D cup, and then up to an F cup 2006 - Katie went under the knife to take her breasts up to a G cup 2007 - Katie had a rhinoplasty and veneers on her teeth 2008 - Katie stunned fans by reducing her breasts from an F cup to a C cup 2011 - Going back to an F cup, Katie also underwent body-contouring treatment and cheek and lip fillers 2014/5 - Following a nasty infection, Katie had her breast implants removed 2016 - Opting for bigger breasts yet again, Katie had another set of implants, along with implants, Botox and lip fillers 2017 - After a disastrous 'threading' facelift, Katie also had her veneers replaced. She also had her eighth boob job taking her to a GG cup 2018 - Katie went under the knife yet again for a facelift 2019 - After jetting to Turkey, Katie had a face, eye and eyelid lift, Brazilian bum lift and a tummy tuck 2020 - Katie has her 12th boob job in Belgium to correct botched surgery and a new set of veneers 2021 - In a complete body overhaul, she opts for eye and lip lifts, liposuction under her chin, fat injected into her bum and full body liposuction 2022 - Katie undergoes another brow and eye lift-and undergoes 'biggest ever' boob job in Belgium, her 16th in total 2023 - Opting for a second rhinoplasty, Katie also gets a lip lift at the same time as well as new lip filler throughout the year 2024 - Katie has her 17th boob job in Brussels after revealing she wanted to downsize. She performed at Dublin Pride just days later and surgeons warned the lack of recovery posed a risk of infection 3
