Get On Board Luke Skywalker: Flying Motorcycles are Here

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The American military has ordered a new flying motorcycle, or Hoverbike, just like the ones seen in “Star Wars: return of the Jedi.” The bikes are being developed by the British firm Malloy Aeronautics.

The company was founded in 2011 by Chris Malloy, a New Zealander then based in Australia.

You remember the scene, don’t you. Early in the third installment of the original Star Wars trilogy Luke Skywalker is forced to chase a few Imperial storm-troopers through the forest on Endor to keep them from reporting on his team’s presence there. Apparently the Empire’s soldiers did not have radios. It was one of the most exciting sequences in the films. The Hoverbikes chased through the tress, going up and down, trying to avoid crashing into branches.
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Grant Stapleton, the co-director of the company with Malloy, told The Guardian that, “at the moment, it’s radio controlled, it’s flown as an unmanned vehicle. We haven’t put someone on it yet and won’t do for a little bit, while we’re working on its flight performance, things like that.”

“It can get into places that a regular helicopter wouldn’t, and costs a lot less to use. And it’s considerably safer, with these ducted fans. If you bump into something, it’s not going to cause an accident or cause any damage, ” he added.

The company states that in addition to military uses, the Hoverbike would be ideal for ski and mountain rescue, airborne logistics, time-sensitive personnel insertion/extraction during major disasters, aerial surveys and for use with wildlife and in parks. It can be folded and palletized to a third of its size, then quickly and easily transported by land, sea or air when required.

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