The training engines are off people! There is now a real hoverboard that would get the Green Goblin giddy with maniacal delight and it’s called the Flyboard Air. Oh, and it can go up to 93 mph and fly 10,000 feet in the air.
No, you did not read those numbers wrong.
The Flyboard Air comes from the insanely inventive team at Zapata Racing, which is led by the—apparently—insanely brave Franky Zapata. If the Zapata company name doesn’t ring a bell, its original Flyboard probably will. The part-watercraft, part-aircraft (nicknamed “dolphin jetpack”) blew our collective minds when it appeared back in 2011 and showed riders springing out of the water and then flying and looping tens of meters into the air like marine mammals who forgot gravity is a thing.
But this Flyboard Air. This legitimately takes hoverboards to a whole new level.
Unlike the original Flyboard, the Flyboard Air doesn’t require a water source to propel itself, although it’s not 100% clear how it works, as no mechanical specifics have been provided by Zapata. Sources including Gizmodo and Gizmag speculate that it’s powered by a turbine engine fed by a backpack full of fuel. According to the heat (and crazy crazy stats) this beast is throwing off in the above video, that would make sense. Zapata also says that the board is capable of full autonomy for up to 10 minutes.
In the video, Zapata flies for about 3.55 minutes and reaches a top speed of 55 kph (about 34 mph), although the craft can supposedly go almost triple that. Zapata Racing also claims the Flyboard Air has a top altitude of 10,000 feet, which is just Joker-level insanity. For reference, lots of recreational skydivers jump from around 13,000 feet. Theoretically, you could ride this thing to its max altitude, and then skydive back to Earth no problem.
There is no word on when the Flyboard Air will be available for purchase, or even public use, although Zapata says it certainly won’t be on the market in 2016. For now, we’ll have to make do with our much less gravity- and death-defying Hendos.
What do you think about this Flyboard Air? Are you as excited and freaked out at the prospect of hoverboarding thousands of feet above Earth as we are? Let us know in the comments below!
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HT: Gizmodo
Images: Zapata Racing
