THE HOVERBIKE

             A revolution in aviation:

• The Hoverbike is the result of years worth of R&D. We combined the simplicity of a motorbike and the freedom of a helicopter to create the world’s first flying motorcycle.When compared with a helicopter, the Hoverbike is cheaper, more rugged and easier to use – and represents a whole new way to fly.  The Hoverbike flies like a quadcopter, and can be flown unmanned or manned, while being a safe – low level aerial workhorse with low on-going maintenance.

             Goal:

• The Hoverbike has been designed from the very beginning to replace conventional helicopters such as the Robinson R22 in everyday one man operational areas like cattle mustering and survey, not just for the obvious fact that it is inefficient and dangerous to place complex conventional helicopters in such harsh working environments but also from a practical commercial position in which bringing to market a cheaper better product will not only take over the existing market but can open it up to far more new customers who before could not afford the upfront costs of a typical helicopter and the very expensive and often unlooked for mantainace costs.
• Our goal is to produce an extremely reliable helicopter, designed with rugged simplicity at its heart and true pilot safety built into the design and operation of the aircraft
• Nothing we are doing is new. We are not developing any component or system that has not been designed and thoroughly tested before. If we are doing anything new it is the combination of existing systems. We believe that the best step forward is just that – a single step forward. Nature and commercial history tells us this best.

Second Hoverbike Prototype

• Current Hoverbike:

• Our first Hoverbike prototype is a bi-copter. The vehicle is controlled by deflecting thrust from its two propellers using control vanes – these are a bit like rudders or ailerons on a plane.  After extensive testing involving the manned vehicle and scale models, we moved to a proven quadcopter design, because with current technology we could not design a bi-copter cheap enough for safe and competitive sales. The bi-copter is an elegant solution and vehicle – however the available technology is not ready yet for a practical vehicle with a bi-copter design.The most noticeable feature of the new Hoverbike and the 1/3rd scale drone is its unique patent pending offset and overlapping rotor blades, designed to reduce weight and planform area. Just like the manned vehicle, the ducting around the propellers is a safety feature, and the vehicle is lightweight and powerful, while folding to a compact size for transportation.
• We are in the final construction stages of the latest manned prototype of Hoverbike, and in a few months we will start flight testing. After the successful completion of test flights we will build a final engineering prototype for submission to aviation certification authorities. This all takes a lot of time and money and raising funds to achieve this is what this campaign is all about.  We have a proven track record over the years, and our dedication to the Hoverbike development will continue beyond this kickstarter campaign until we are ready for sale of the manned Hoverbike.

      

             Development:

• The hoverbike development has been broken up into 3 distinct phases: Design, Construction and Testing, with further program’s running in parallel such as marketing, business and aviation certification
• To be expected there is a certain amount of fluidity between these development phases, with an emphasis on early error and integration detection and correction, which has already lead to reduced development time and costs.
• The hoverbike to date has performed exactly as predicted, a testament to the basic design of the airframe. With the first prototype design and construction phases complete and testing begun.

• Testing:
• Flight testing of the Hoverbike involves 3 steps to achieve production ready flight. These are described as Development, Engineering and Production.
• The development phase includes the initial flight tests of the hoverbike which is includes in roughly this order; general airframe testing, tethered hovering, untethered hovering, translational lifting, spin tests, stall tests etc (some conducted unmanned).
• The engineering step is really just data validation, and is not used to expand the design envelope on the current model. An example of this is performance testing.
• The production step will confirm that the production hoverbike is preforming and is built to all characteristics of the design.

       
 FAQ

          How do you control the Hoverbike?

• The Hoverbike has a fly-by-wire system, so can be flown without need of pilot input
• To lift off into a hover, one needs to increase the thrust via a throttle grip with the right hand – exactly the same as the throttle on a motorbike
• To fly forward a combination involving an increase in thrust and a change in the thrust vector from pointing straight down will tilt the total thrust vector backward resulting in an acceleration forwards (twist left hand back to go backwards – forward to go forwards)
• To to make the bike roll (turn) left and right, all one needs to do is push the handle bars down on the side you wish to turn.
• To Yaw (nose left or right) you squeeze levers much like the brake levers on a bicycle.

         How safe is the Hoverbike?

• The hoverbike was designed with safety as the over-riding factor in all design. If you have ever flown and pre-flight checked a helicopter you will appreciate the simplicity of this design. With so many parts on a helicopter – and a large number of single parts that could alone cause catastrophic disaster if they should fail – and it is just a matter of time. The simplicity combined with a massive reduction in total parts (compared to a helicopter) and the hoverbike becomes safer and cheaper.
• Parachutes. With the hoverbike you have the choice to wear an emergency parachute and have two explosive parachutes attached to the airframe, with a helicopter you have no such choice. The hoverbike cannot autorotate – but this should not be viewed as a discredit to the design. After engine failure in a helicopter or plane, autorotation or gliding is by no means a guarantee you that you will survive, as air crash statistics show. The option of removing yourself from the vehicle and descending via parachute to the ground may well save your life
• The propeller blades will have on the next revision (and certainly the final product sold) a fine mesh over the entire ducting, which will stop any wandering hands or large debris from entering the duct.

         How stable is the Hoverbike?

• Great! With the limited ground testing done thus far the hoverbike has preformed exactly as predicted. In comparison to a helicopter the hover is less sensitive to input and inherently stable. Contrary to popular belief, having greater mass above the centre of pressure does not immediately mean an unstable craft as there are many factors to consider when designing an aircraft.  A good point of comparison is with fixed wing aircraft, which you can crudely put in three categories – wing above (mass hanging below), wing below (mass sitting above) and wing in the centre – all have their benefits and tradeoffs

         Why is it strapped to the ground during flight tests?

• Because we do not know 100% what might happen during testing the straps are there to cover the unknown. The hoverbike is stable and does not want to tip over, however if something unplanned happens during testing we don’t want to break our prototype!

         How high/fast has it flown?

• We’re still in the ground testing phase, which means we haven’t had the pleasure of flying around the countryside – yet!
• Helicopters and ducted fan designs have upper limits to their airspeed imposed in part due to the physical dynamics of the airflow over the forward edge of the duct or fan resulting in a increase in lift on the front causing the aircraft nose to rise and therefore slow the forward airspeed. The hoverbike is not immune from this effect, however the basic design is such that we expect it should reach around 150knts given necessary adjustment for in-flight stability. Given the thrust to weight ratio (remember its all about the thrust to weight with VTOL craft), the hover ceiling is greater than 10,000ft. In theory you could go higher, but you need oxygen to do so – also there is not much point, as the hoverbike is designed for safe low level aerial work.

        Why a two blade propeller?

• In short – cost, and efficiency (single blade is the most efficient prop). The next revision will have a five blade propeller to reduce prop noise and loading, while keeping current thrust and propeller diameter.

        How heavy can you be to fly?

• 130kg with 45mins flight time. The Hoverbike has plenty of thrust, so like everything it’s a trade-off – more weight means less fuel and stability.

       HOVERBIKE APPLICATIONS

• Aerial Cattle mustering
• Search and Rescue
• Aerial Survey
• Wildlife and Parks
• Film
• Power-line Inspection
• Military and Emergency Services

HOPE  WE WILL FLY ON ROADS SOON !!!!