This is a unique off-road flying buggy that was marketed at the Eurosatory defense and security show in the north of Paris.
Developed by the French company Vaylon, Pegase is the world’s first off-road flying buggy. With a top in flight speed of 50 mph (85 km/h), the buggy can remain for up to three hours in the air. The rear mounted pusher-propeller and paraglider style wing give it the flexibility of operating as a buggy on the ground and an ultra-light aircraft in the air.
As one of the buggy pilots, Bruno Vezzoli explains, " Pegase is piloted with paraglider controls. Pull to the right, it goes right, pull the left one, it goes left, and with the joystick the power is increased or reduced".
Ideal for rapid ground intervention missions, the development of the Pegase prototype has interested the French army. Originally designed for military use, the flying buggy will also be mass-produced for the civilian market.
As Jérémy Foiche, co-founder of Vaylon explains, "One can imagine many applications, for example, in countries where road infrastructure is lacking and a 100 km journey has to be completed in a 4x4, the vehicle could also be used for border surveillance or national parks monitoring".
The Pegase buggy has the look of a small city car. Its 400 cm3 engine, that of a Peugeot scooter, uses unleaded super grade petrol. Its price, has not yet been determined, but should be in the high-end ultra-light price bracket. The US military and a number of African countries are interested in the Pegase, and first vehicles could be delivered in early 2017.
