The Hoverboard Flies Closer To Reality

Dave Knott writes: Fans of 1980s cinema were disappointed when the year 2015 arrived without a practical version Marty McFly's hoverboard. Now, a Montréal-based man has brought it closer to reality by setting a new record for longest "flight" by hoverboard. In a filmed test recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records, Catalin Alexandru Duru pilots his somewhat cumbersome looking rig for 250 meters — five times the previous record — at a height of five meters above Quebec's Lake Ouareau. Duru and his business partner "hope to have a new prototype finished by the end of the year and then have hoverboards available for purchase across the country. He wouldn't say how much the prototype cost to build, but said that the first generation of the machine will likely be 'quite expensive.'" "This thing is still quite dangerous," he added, explaining that the pilot uses only his or her feet to fly the contraption. The commercial version's software will limit it to flying below a height of about one-and-a-half meters above the ground.

Comments

above Quebec's Lake Ouareau = flawed approach =;-o

[D4C5CE]

If they had watched Back "2" The Future for a moment, they'd know the 2015 version isn't supposed to work on water yet. ;-}

Don't they know?

[Tablizer]

Those boards don't work on water, unless you got POWAH!

Ducted fans?

[MichaelSmith]

Looks like a drone with a guy standing on top. It must chew through LiPo batteries.

Re:Ducted fans?

[tmosley]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. There are things out there a LOT more like a BttF2 hoverboard, though they only work on metal surfaces: http://hendohover.com/

Williams WASP X-Jet

[OzPeter]

The Williams X-Jet did it better and did it 40 years ago.

45 min duration, speeds of up to 60 mph, and no flying in a straight line over water, but flying in and around trees over land!

Re:Williams WASP X-Jet

[Jerry Rivers]

The Williams X-Jet did it better and did it 40 years ago.

45 min duration, speeds of up to 60 mph, and no flying in a straight line over water, but flying in and around trees over land!

Might be a problem filling up with jet fuel at the local Shell.

Re:Williams WASP X-Jet

[jklovanc]

According to this here are two numbers that would cause the X-Jet to be useless.

Empty weight: 401 pounds (182 kg) (182 kg)
Loaded weight: 550 lb (250 kg)

That would mean that the aircraft could lift 149 lbs in people and fuel. Most people who would be allowed to fly it would be over that weight. If one is 110 lbs one could carry 39 pounds a fuel and maybe get the advertised range. Sorry but that is not a very big market.

Re: Williams WASP X-Jet

[oobayly]

In 40 years people have also got a lot heavier.

I believe you mean

[jpellino]

"GREAT SCOTT !"

Re:Great

[Anonymous Coward]

If everywhere you go is on water.

Serious question : why can't it work over land ?

'

I'm sure it'll work just fine over land... but when something goes wrong it's gonna hurt a lot more when you hit the ground. Over water is probably a better bet for testing your prototype without a lot of doctor's bills.

Guiness just examined the footage?

[AchilleTalon]

I find it a bit strange Guiness Records only examined the footage before granting the record. The guy is specialized in 3-D visual effects. I mean, anyone has seen the real thing flying? I am living in Montreal and we never heard about this before today. Don't you think if something like that happened at lake Ouareau in August 2014 it wouldn't have made the front page of our local newspapers?

Re:Umm.....

[Dereck1701]

There are at least two hoverbike projects in progress, they seem quite a bit more mature and practical than this thing but to each their own I suppose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://www.hover-bike.com/MA/
http://aerofex.com/

Best comment on the other website

[ArcadeMan]

"This will revolutionize the way people get hurt in traffic accidents."