What goes 173 mph at 10,000 feet that you ride like a motorcycle? It's either a Star Wars speeder bike, which doesn't exist, or this hoverbike invented by some Australian dude, which actually does. And you don't even need a pilot's license to fly it.
Chris Malloy's prototype hoverbike has so far not done anything but hover while tied to the ground, but that is in no way stopping its designer from making all kinds of wildly optimistic projections about its performance and availability. Expect this thing to be able to travel at upwards of 170 mph, and you can take it to 10,000 feet (or even higher, with oxygen), although you'll probably have more fun whipping around trees down low, just make sure and look out for hooligans wielding light sabers.
Since it's classified as an ultralight, you won't technically need a pilot's license, although a parachute will likely be a good idea. And for better or worse, the hoverbike is shaping up to be affordable to the point where people who really shouldn't be riding around on one of these will probably be able to: a production run of 100 a year will peg them at $40,000 each, and if 1,000 are ordered, that cost could drop to something comparable to a performance motorcycle. Yeah, having everybody commuting to work on these things would probably be a fiasco, but who cares. It's a hoverbike, man! PHOTOS
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