Tuesday 4 December 2012

Could This Be The Way To Beat Traffic Jams?

the Super Sky Cycle,


it is a gyroscope called The Super Sky Cycle and is made by The Butterfly Aircraft LLC they have just been awarded a US Patent to build the vehicle on a large scale and sell it to the general public, the kit comes complete with the airframe parts, hardware, Rotax four stroke turbocharged air plane engine, digital instruments, front and rear disk brakes, handle bars, lights, mirrors, 7.5 gallon seat tank, two 5 gallon bullet tanks, folding rotor blades, 68” propeller, 30 hp MZ34 separate drive engine, the aerodynamic step, the Metro Launch System, the G-Force Magnum Landing Gear with DOT rated tires, rotor tachometer, rotor brake, and a electric brake lock, it can fly at 35mph, land in 20ft of space and has a top land speed of 65mph,


most of this I am guessing is based on the design of Wing Commander K H Wallis MBE, who alongside his RAF career, spent spare time on his autogyro invention and, in 1959, experienced his first tethered flight, with the cancellation of TSR2 and the Fairey Rotodyne, Ken was unhappy with the way things were going in aviation and also saw few prospects in the post-war RAF, so decided to retire in 1964 and turn all his attention to his design, Wallis Autogyros Limited was formed with his cousin Geoffrey and the rest - as they say - is history!


between 1968 and 2002 Ken set 17 World Records in two Classes of autogyro - 34 in all - and many are still held by him, including the speed record of 129 mph, Ken has appeared in several major feature films and countless television documentaries but his most famous was when doubling as James Bond in "You Only Live Twice", here he flew his own autogyro design - dubbed "Little Nellie" in the film - and dramatically dispatched all the enemy helicopters sent up to intercept him by employing a vast range of authentic weaponry,   

Ken's aircraft (he has 20, some above) have been adapted and employed for many different investigative roles, including aerial surveillance and photography, detecting coastal erosion and damaged underground pipelines, Police/Home Office duties such as searching for buried bodies,

but back to the Super Sky Cycle described by the manufacture as a flying motorcycle, all you need is $74,995.00, a pilot's license and you can be in the air, beat the traffic jams and still be home for tea and medals!

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