Admit it—at some point or another, you've wished that you had your own personal hovercraft. Don't worry, we've all been there. Well, a company called Aerofex wants to make a hovercraft that's way more than your standard leaf-blower-powered one, taking a queue from the swoop and speeder bikes from the Star Wars franchise, building their own sort of repulsorlift.
This hover bike may not be quite as fast as the ones from Star Wars, but if the company has its way, it could be on sale by the end of 2014, though unfortunately, not to just anyone.
The vehicle is based on concepts from the 60s that were scrapped because of stability issues. Two ducted rotors replace the wheels and it has knee-level control bars that react to the pilot's movements. The idea was to use the balance and movement of the driver to control the bike so that it would be easy for anyone to pilot without special training.
The only downside is that Aerofex's plans for the bike right now include aiding search-and-rescue missions, farming, and military transport. They haven't mentioned any intentions of making it available to the public yet, but I'm willing to bet that once people start seeing these things, everyone's going to want one.
Until then, all we can do is wish (and write them a lot of letters), but you can make your own hovercraft at home for now with plywood and a leaf blower, or a miniature version with Styrofoam and a computer fan, or a mini balloon-powered one.
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