It may be the motorbike of the future - designed to make flying as easy as riding a bike. The Scorpion 3 is just a prototype but as this video shows, flight tests that began 18 months ago are now picking up speed - and altitude.
The quadcopter’s propellers - not yet protected so watch out for your legs - can lift the Scorpion 3 up to 350 m above ground, but for safety reasons the machine will be limited to a maximum height of 32 feet (10 m). Powered by batteries and fuel, this hybrid machine weighing 210 lbs. (95 kg) with no load, is capable of flying at 30 mph (50 km/h) for 27 minutes.
Yet the Russian company behind this innovative machine, Hoversurf, told us from its Moscow offices that it still needs $2 million to succeed. Its Scorpion platform was started up as a crowdfunding project.
The hoverbike could be marketed for extreme sports as early as later this year, according to its manufacturer, but this would appear to be far from certain. Its sale price is not yet known.
