10 SWEET RIDES How do HOVERBIKES and HOVERBOARDS fly Check It Out Two awesome inventions promise science fiction fans the rides of their lives That's right real hoverbikes and hoverboards Don't expect to zip through forests as fast as a Star Wars speeder bike or to outdistance a bunch of bullies like in Back to the Future But these real hovercraft will offer a ride that's unlike any other in this world Climb on board to check out these sweet rides What makes hovercraft float How do the hoverbike and the hoverboard move Where can they go
wheel 11 Where's the steering
JUST THE FACTS HINDO How Do Hovercraft Float on Air Hovercraft glide along on a cushion of air They create the air cushion with powerful fans or propellers that push air down toward the ground creating the lift that makes the vehicle hover Hovercraft are specially designed to trap most of the air underneath them Depending on the strength of their engines they can float anywhere from a few inches centime ters to 10 feet 3 m off the ground To move hovercraft create more air currents to push them forward They can create an air cushion on any smooth surface Hovercraft are more common on waterways but the hoverbike glides over land or water The hoverboard needs a special surface to do its tricks Unlike some hoverboards which have wheels the HENDO BOARD actually hovers Bike Several inventors are working on hoverbikes One being developed the Aero X zips over flat ground hills and water It's about the size of a car but rides like a motorcycle only in the air Its riders guide it by moving its grips in the direction they want to go This hoverbike goes up to 45 miles an hour 72 km h and can hover up to 12 feet 3 7 m in the air but its inventors think riders will feel most comfortable at about half that height The craft is powered by two large fans or propellers lined up one in front of another It'll run 1 hour and 15 minutes on a tank of gasoline Versus Board The hoverboard model made by Hendo uses a different technology from most hovercraft The board has four small disc shaped magnets that are electrically charged The designers call these magnets hover engines because they create a strong magnetic field with the surface below The magnetic field lifts the board about an inch 2 5 cm off the ground Hoverboards need to float above a special surface that interacts with the magnets and so they require special hoverparks with ramps bowls and half pipes for tricks Riders provide a push to get the board moving THERE YET ARE WE Plenty of storytellers agreed that hovercraft would exist one day But it seems they couldn't agree on when that day would come Check out this timeline of fictional hovercraft and find out when writers predicted we'd be able to take our hoverbikes out for a spin Hint Real life is a little bit behind schedule A LONG TIME AGO In 1983's Star Wars Episode VI Return of the Jedi writer and director George Lucas imagined speeder bikes small agile hovercraft FUN FACT FRANCE EXPERIMENTED WITH A HIGH SPEED HOVERTRAIN THE AEROTRAIN BETWEEN 1965 AND 1977 BUT DECIDED INSTEAD TO DEVELOP THE HIGH SPEED ELECTRIC TGV TRAIN À VITESSE GRANDE
MORE HOVERBOARD It's a smooth ride on this board In 2014 a video showing professional skateboarder TONY HAWK and other celebrities riding a HUV hoverboard went viral on the Internet It turned out to be a prank The idea of riding on an air cushion isn't new British shipbuilder John Thornycroft got a patent for an AIR CUSHION SHIP in the 1870s but the right kind of engines to make it work weren't available at the time HOVERBIKE It's not a Star Wars speeder bike but it's got plenty of awesome ELECTRICALLY CHARGED MAGNETS FANS PROPELLERS 1726 When Jonathan Swift wrote his classic book Gulliver's Travels he dreamed up Laputa a floating island con trolled by magnetic levitation 2015 When Marty McFly time travels to 2015 in the 1989 comedy Back to the Future Part Il hoverboards are all the rage 2062 The Jetsons first aired in 1962 predicts a future where flying cars robot maids and hoverboards are commonplace FUN FACT BRITISH ENGINEER CHRISTOPHER COCKERELL WHO INVENTED THE HOVERCRAFT IN THE MID 1950s WAS KNIGHTED FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO ENGINEERING CALL HIM SIR CHRISTOPHER WANT TO KNOW
