This bizarre Japanese flying bike wants to bring air travel to the streets

 

The company tested the flying motorbike in front of a live audience in Japan. You can watch footage of the trial below.

If you’re a fan of sci-fi futuristic movies such as Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars, you’re already familiar with hoverbikes, or simply flying bikes.

Well, seeing hoverbikes in movies presenting futuristic and semi-human societies is normal, I guess. But seeing them in real life can be mind-blowing, super weird, what-the-fuck — you name it.

Thus, I was very amazed when Japanese startup A.L.I. Innovations revealed its Xturismo hoverbike last November at a race track close to Tokyo.

Also, since a picture (or video for this situation) expresses 1,000 words, investigate yourself underneath:

So, how does it work?

Basically, the Xturismo is what happens when you place a motorcycle on top of a drone platform. And this makes it an VTOL, meaning a vertical take-off and landing aircraft. 

The hoverbike is also a hybrid, getting its power from a conventional engine and four electric motors. It’s capable of flying thanks to a set of propellers: two primary ones (where the wheels would have been) and four secondary propellers at each corner, which act as stabilizers.

The Xturismo qualifies as an ultralight aircraft, which means that you don’t need to be a certified pilot to fly it.