AK-47 Maker Develops a Hoverbike

Things we never thought we’d see in our lifetime are becoming more and more of a reality every day. To top it off, who would have thought that the namesake of the most famous battle rifle in history, would be developing flying car/bike/hover prototypes?Kalashnikov Concern, part of the defense manufacture Rostec, introduced a “flying car” as described by Kalashnikov. However, this looks more like something out of a sci-fi movie full of futuristic biker gangs than an actual mode of transportation. While the debate over what it’s officially called rages, one thing is certain, it works. Running on batteries, instead of traditional gasoline engines, this futuristic vehicle may put electric cars to shame in the near future.The design is relatively simple with the battery power source in the middle of the chassis under the pilot or rider and eight rotor sets (sixteen rotors in total) similar to what you can find on many drones or quad-copters. While the prototype is currently naked, the design team did show a concept graphic of what the final product would be, shell and all.

In the video, you can see that the hover-bike is surprisingly quiet and extremely agile. The only limiting factor as of now is that the batteries are limited in the time they can provide adequate power to the rig. We’re sure the last thing you want to be doing is cruising a good fifteen to twenty feet off the ground at some bodacious speeds, only to have your rotors come to a complete stop and you get to take the good old momentum ride of pain.According to Popular Mechanics, similar design concepts were tried by the United States in the 1950’s (way to be behind the ball Russia). However, the Russian private sector is leaping on this surge in new technology as well with the Russian company Hoversurf, showing off its own prototype. While the DOD has announced plans with a UK firm to design and build a similar craft for the U.S. Army, the American private sector seems non-existent in this realm. Come on America, let’s get in the game here!https://youtu.be/MIl6Cr8AMsEWe all know things are moving fast towards battery power and advanced technology that will leave yesterday in the dust. Let’s hope these personal hover-bikes end up better for all of us than they did for their advanced distant cousins on Endor. If you’re brave and have the life insurance, you may be able to purchase one of those unnamed hover bikes later this year, without even needing a pilot’s license.