Hoverbike Almost Ready

[Garage Dog 65]

Interesting project nearing completion. BMW Motor driven hoverbike being built in Australia for $40,000.

http://hover-bike.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVIyl...yer_detailpage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Y0okX_vmL3w


Control System Development:
Posted by Chris Malloy on October 8, 2011

Hi guys.
The current testing has been going well. I have new gearboxes, driveshafts, exhaust and control systems, and all are in and functioning as intended. The new gearboxes needed a slight modification as there was a little bit too much play on the pinion shaft. The driveline is now running very smooth and much quieter now with the new exhaust (no longer my own custom one, but taken from a R1 bike)
Have made a couple preliminary test flights this last week. These have been to test the functionality of the new control system.
The first flight I found a large amount of yaw to the left (never noticed this with the tethers). Had to stop the test to figure out what the cause was as the Hoverbike should be torque neutral. Found it to be the chassis twisting from the engine torque causing about 1.5 – 2 degrees twist in the airframe. Not immediately noticeable but found it and fixed by pre-setting the props to be aligned in the same plane once at operation rpm.
The next flight I got to check out the new control system for the yaw, roll and pitch, now that she does not turn to the left on lift off. I had excellent control on height with the ability to control height within a couple of inches. The pitch and yaw was good being not too sensitive nor slow to react. The roll however was good but my new control input needs to be modified as every time I corrected for the roll I inadvertently made changes to the yaw – what a pain! This is because as you push down on the handle bars to correct for roll you can turn the bars slightly in the process without noticing thereby adjusting the yaw which means now you have to correct both etc etc.
What I will have to do now is modify (again) the controls so that the yaw is separate from the roll, this way when I make small changes to the roll I do not affect the yaw.
I guess I tried to make the controls too simple!
Just a little bit longer now… Seems every time I am just about to show to the world the hoverbike in a stable free hover, I need to make just one more small but time consuming adjustment.

Chris Malloy

[214Chevy]

Maaan, that thing is awesome. Did I read correctly...that thing flies above @ 10,000 ft? I don't see the USA making it legal here. But, I like it. I think it's awesome.

[Sieg]

Very interesting Chris. Is the statement 173 mph? As a manned craft it should be one big adrenaline pump. Does the $40K include a personal parachute? As an unmanned craft it could have a multitude of applications considering the amount of lift it generates.

[MarkM66]

Awesome! Fu@k traffic.

[djorgensen3]

I wonder if they would take my busa as a trade in....hmmm?