AirScooter II , affordable personal transportation

<A HREF="http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/ne/p/2005/041505airscooter_pic1_486x3.jpg" target="_new"> AirScooter! </A>

It sports motorcycle-style handlebars that contain flight controls, but there are no pedals--so people without the use of their legs should be able to operate it, according to the Web site. Ceiling of 10,000 feet high!

The AirScooter II, a personal aircraft that can hover or fly at 55 knots, is the latest invention from Elwood "Woody" Norris.

Norris, who has developed high-end stereo speakers and an alarm that signals when a hip replacement might be in trouble, is one of the founders of AirScooter, a Henderson, Nev.-based company specializing in small, light-flying vehicles. Some of its other planned products include an unmanned helicopter-like flying vehicle and a diminutive "ready to fly" model that can be assembled in 15 minutes, the company says.

The AirScooter II, though, is designed for people. It weighs around 300 pounds and doesn't require a pilot's license, according to the company's Web site. The company is seeking regulatory approval but has said it expects to release the product this year.

The AirScooter II has two rotors that function in a similar fashion to helicopter rotors, but the vehicle is easier to fly, advocates say. It sports motorcycle-style handlebars that contain flight controls, but there are no pedals--so people without the use of their legs should be able to operate it, according to the Web site. The company also offers a movie of the device in flight (click here to download the video).

Pricing has not been set, but the company expects it will sell models for between $25,000 and $50,000.

On his Web site, Norris compares the device's design to the first modern helicopter, created by Igor Sikorsky.

"The original Sikorsky rotorcraft helicopter concept was based on a coaxial design much like the AirScooter," Norris wrote on the company's Web site. "What we've done is package the coaxial design in a modern lightweight craft that allows for intuitive control and incredible maneuverability."

Space exploration and aviation have become two of the leading obsessions and status symbols of high-tech billionaires and entrepreneurs. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, for instance, funded both SpaceShipOne and the construction of a new scientific telescope on the California coast.

PayPal founder Elon Musk, meanwhile, founded SpaceX, a private rocketry company.

Ed Iacobucci, an early investor in Citrix Systems, created Jetson Systems, which is meant to help jump-start a market for flying passengers between regional cities in planes that can carry four to six people. Tickets will cost more than seats on a regular airline, but passengers wanting to go from Austin, Texas, to Memphis won't have to route through Chicago.

People Express Founder Donald Burr has put together a similar company called Pogo Jet that aims to start carrying passengers in the relatively near future.

These airlines will rely on new types of aircraft coming from companies like Eclipse, founded by Microsoft alum Vern Raburn. Eclipse counts Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates among its investors.




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One of the main selling points of the AirScooter II is that it is classed as a "Part 103 ultralight", meeting the requirements for an ultralight vehicle according to US Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 103. This means that an FAA pilot's certificate is not required to pilot the AirScooter II. Also being an extremely light aircraft (as compared to non-recreational helicopters) is also a definite benefit to the craft's manoeuvrability and stability while hovering and during flight. According to AirScooter Corporation, "with practice a recreational pilot can quickly become confident with the controls and perform basic flight manoeuvres."

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Yeah, but I am sure it has a rotor brake so you can auto-rotate if power fails for emergency landings.

I would love to have one like this with the ability to land on land or in water.

If these are quality manufactured vehicles, and since they are ultra-lights, I suspect these as becoming quite popular in the soon coming years.

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Cool! Is that how autorotate works?

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My brother did a similar thing with a ultra light.... He flew a Colb UL & had a engine out... He was over corn fields in NE & knew if he plowed into the corn it would tear the plane apart... So he came in & set up for a normal landing over the corn & just before the corn started hitting the plane he gave it up elevator & stalled it.... Thus it set down into the corn, at almost no forward speed & was unhurt... Took them a long time to get it out of the corn though....

He got a article published about it a few years ago.....



Dazzle them with Brilliance, or Baffle them with BS!

I saw some short landings & takeoffs myself..... Glad I wasn't aboard......



Dazzle them with Brilliance, or Baffle them with BS!

Yes sir, that would a fun puppy to own.

I have flown both a four engine jet and a one engine 172 and 182 but that never gave me much of a thrill.

I would love to get into something acrobatic and do spins, loops, hammerheads, split s's etc. that would be a blast but hanging above the ground in a "normal" airplane isn't my cup of tea.

Now this AirScooter thing would be a real blast. Just think of being able to climb in it and fly from your driveway to rooftop parking at work, the mall, doctor's office or even the lake with your fishing pole in hand.

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<font color=red>!#&$</font color=red> ---<font color=blue><i><b>There's the facts</font color=blue> ....<font color=green> the twisted facts </font color=green>... the distorted facts</font color=blue>,...<font color=red>THEN THERE'S JOURNALISM!</font color=red></i></b>