Flying bicycle takes to the air
June 12, 2013 - 12:49 pm
PRAGUE — Is it a bike? Is it a plane?
Three Czech companies have teamed up to make a prototype of an electric bicycle that successfully took off Wednesday inside an exhibition hall in Prague and landed safely after a remote-controlled, five-minute flight.
Looking like a heavy mountain bike, it weighs 95 kilograms (209 pounds). It has two battery-power propellers in the front, two in the back and one each on the sides.
A dummy rode in the saddle.
Milan Duchek, technical director of Duratec, a bicycle frames maker, says more powerful batteries will be needed before a human takes a two-wheeled flight.