France’s Franky Zapata is changing what short-term travel options look like with the invention of the Flyboard Air hoverboard.
The untethered vehicle can reach top speeds of over 50 km/h and recently broke the Guinness World Record — previously set by a Canadian — for the farthest distance travelled via hoverboard.
It hovered 50 metres above the Atlantic Ocean off of the French coast for just under seven minutes.
Zapata Racing, owned by its namesake, has been developing the product for years, with previous editions operating exclusively with water jets, making it only available for water use.
“This has really been a life’s work,” Zapata told the Telegraph. “Who has never dreamt of leaping out of the water and soaring through the air, free of all constraints?”
The unit, propelled by four turbo engines, called an “Independent Propulsion Unit,” can reach heights of over 3,000 metres.
The newest edition is not yet available for sale but can be rented in the U.S. and the U.K.
Previous water-oriented Flyboards retail between approximately $2,500 to over $15,000.
However, the former jet-ski champion and entrepreneur is cautious before turning over the vehicle to prospective users. “If you want to ride the Flyboard Air you have to spend 100 hours on a water Flyboard,” Zapata told the Telegraph.
While not every user will be a record holder for the number of backflips on a water jetpack in one minute — like Zapata — he encourages a sense of adventure during the products usage.
“Since 2016, we have fulfilled people’s dreams by giving them the opportunity to move through the air on a totally autonomous flying board,” he said. “This is the dream that is at the origin of the products we create.”
Ideally, he says it’s something that can be used to go buy bread in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment