Hoverbike Video: Real or Fake?

FAKE!

Like all flying machines, hovercrafts require a very high power and low weight engine. This thing lacks several components to even make it seem plausible. Even if it were though, I still find it hard to believe for the following reasons:

- There are no skirts under the hovercraft rotors, so air would be blowing a lot more dust very erratically than what is shown throughout the video
- Several times throughout the video you can see the rotor blade speeds, which, even when slowed down to 24fps would exhibit more motion blur than is shown. This suggests that the blades were turning rather slowly.
- At various intervals you can see what appear to be wheel tracks in the salt flats. While these "could" be from previous vehicles, it is more plausible that they are what is pushing this thing around.
- Finally, they never show the driver maneuvering/flying/driving the craft of its own free-will. Every video shot shows only "pieces" of the driver and craft, suggesting it was attached to something else.

I say it's bogus.
 
KurtFan said:
http://news.yahoo.com/hover-vehicle-recalls-star-wars-bike-171401941.html
It's real
Click to expand...

According to InnovationNewsDaily, Aerofex has no immediate plans to commercially launch a manned hover bike but instead sees the technology as a test platform for new unmanned drones.

Outlets including Fox and Yahoo! News have since picked up InnovationNewsDaily's story, and there appears to be no suggestion from any quarter at this stage that the authenticity of the videos is in question. You be the judge.

I.E. Still no proof it is real.
 
c0mad0r said:
FAKE!

Like all flying machines, hovercrafts require a very high power and low weight engine. This thing lacks several components to even make it seem plausible. Even if it were though, I still find it hard to believe for the following reasons:

- There are no skirts under the hovercraft rotors, so air would be blowing a lot more dust very erratically than what is shown throughout the video
- Several times throughout the video you can see the rotor blade speeds, which, even when slowed down to 24fps would exhibit more motion blur than is shown. This suggests that the blades were turning rather slowly.
- At various intervals you can see what appear to be wheel tracks in the salt flats. While these "could" be from previous vehicles, it is more plausible that they are what is pushing this thing around.
- Finally, they never show the driver maneuvering/flying/driving the craft of its own free-will. Every video shot shows only "pieces" of the driver and craft, suggesting it was attached to something else.

I say it's bogus.
Click to expand...

What about this video then?
 
c0mad0r said:
FAKE!


- Several times throughout the video you can see the rotor blade speeds, which, even when slowed down to 24fps would exhibit more motion blur than is shown. This suggests that the blades were turning rather slowly.
Click to expand...
As someone who shoots video all the time I can tell you that what you are witnessing is the effects of a very high shutter speed rather than a low fan speed. In bright sunlight and even at a f-stop of 22 you are letting way to much light into the lens. The only way to compensate for that,(after setting the ISO as you can) other than using a neutral density filter is to use a very high shutter speed, which often makes things like rotating wheels and fan blades look like they are turning slow or in some cases not at all. I've had to shoot video at a 1/4000 shutter speed do to shallow depth of field requirements and the wrong size ND filter. Each frame of video obviously exhibited zero motion blur when looked at individually.
 
I was going to say fake, simply because there is no 'exterior' angle, and the video could be easily accomplished by just having it attached, as c0mad0r says.

But the rotor speed can be explained by frame rate. Look at videos of prop planes' props in-flight. At the right RPM, it can look stationary due to matching the frame rate of the camera.

But seeing some of the other videos, and having followed this before (last I had heard it was too inherently unstable to allow untethered flight,) the other videos have me thinking it's likely real at this point.

Likely it takes a *VERY* well trained pilot/rider right now, but very plausible.
 
I think it's fake too.

The camera angles are too bizarre and and the clips are so short it seems very faked.
 
Looking at how unimpressive the flight is compared to other hovercraft type flights I don't see how you can claim it is fake. The video looks genuine to me.
 
Yantelope said:
I think it's fake too.

The camera angles are too bizarre and and the clips are so short it seems very faked.
Click to expand...

You can always tell who fails to check the other videos posted by the user and/or read the responses within this thread: there are plenty of other videos with different camera angles.
 
Yeah, hovering is ... hovering. Doesn't matter the power source lol.

Lot of star war kiddies seem to think the Land Speeder is a true "hover" car and that nothing else is. No, it just has a different power source.

This hover bike or whatever its called is the real deal. Problem is, those huge fans are very cost prohibitive so this machine is basically just a concept project that will never have mass appeal.

Still very cool.
 
For anyone who doubts its a fake just look at the related videos. There are more videos of the entire craft while in motion. It adds much more credibility to the videos. It isn't being towed or handled off camera.

They COULD still be faked but not for any of the reasons these armchair scientists here are stating.

Also, to reinforce what Bucket said

http://www.c00lstuff.com/643/Russian_helicopter_flies_without_turning_its_main_rotor/

The shutter speed of the camera is in perfect sync with the speed of the rotors making them appear as though they don't spin when they do. It is equally as easy to make something appear as though it is spinning slower than it really is.
 
There is an Australian dude working on a similar concept but it is not a true hover design but instead a rotorary wing design meaning it functions like a helicopter not a hover craft.

The vehicle is not "pushed" into the air by the downforce of the fans, instead the blades generate true lift and the vehicle can therefore actually fly. Now how effective these bike concepts are I can't say, but you should abandon the idea that these are a hover design because they are not, they function most similarly to the CH-47 Chinook helicopter which BTW, therotically can't fly but somehow does indeed fly very well.
 
c0mad0r said:
FAKE!

Like all flying machines, hovercrafts require a very high power and low weight engine. This thing lacks several components to even make it seem plausible. Even if it were though, I still find it hard to believe for the following reasons:

- There are no skirts under the hovercraft rotors, so air would be blowing a lot more dust very erratically than what is shown throughout the video
- Several times throughout the video you can see the rotor blade speeds, which, even when slowed down to 24fps would exhibit more motion blur than is shown. This suggests that the blades were turning rather slowly.
- At various intervals you can see what appear to be wheel tracks in the salt flats. While these "could" be from previous vehicles, it is more plausible that they are what is pushing this thing around.
- Finally, they never show the driver maneuvering/flying/driving the craft of its own free-will. Every video shot shows only "pieces" of the driver and craft, suggesting it was attached to something else.

I say it's bogus.
Click to expand...

Helicopters are fake then?
 
I would love this Austrailian dudes design to work out. I could pull off a one and a half hour commute in about 30 minutes and never see traffic at all. Take off from my back yard, fly straight to work and land directly in my parking spot 80+ miles away and use far less fuel as well.

I'd wana pack my lunch though cause the drive-thru would suck balls.
 
lcpiper said:
I would love this Austrailian dudes design to work out. I could pull off a one and a half hour commute in about 30 minutes and never see traffic at all. Take off from my back yard, fly straight to work and land directly in my parking spot 80+ miles away and use far less fuel as well.

I'd wana pack my lunch though cause the drive-thru would suck balls.
Click to expand...

If it works over water, then I could do the same. I live in Chesterton, Indiana and work downtown Chicago. Instead of going around Lake Michigan on 94 then 90, I could just ride it in straight line across Lake Michigan directly to Chicago.

It would suck if I ran out of gas though!
 
If i were to fake video something, I would fake something a lot cooler than this.

Doesn't do much, just a hovercraft basically. Looks real to me.
 
c0mad0r said:
FAKE!

Like all flying machines, hovercrafts require a very high power and low weight engine. This thing lacks several components to even make it seem plausible. Even if it were though, I still find it hard to believe for the following reasons:

- There are no skirts under the hovercraft rotors, so air would be blowing a lot more dust very erratically than what is shown throughout the video
- Several times throughout the video you can see the rotor blade speeds, which, even when slowed down to 24fps would exhibit more motion blur than is shown. This suggests that the blades were turning rather slowly.
- At various intervals you can see what appear to be wheel tracks in the salt flats. While these "could" be from previous vehicles, it is more plausible that they are what is pushing this thing around.
- Finally, they never show the driver maneuvering/flying/driving the craft of its own free-will. Every video shot shows only "pieces" of the driver and craft, suggesting it was attached to something else.

I say it's bogus.
Click to expand...

only thing i with you on is that its never shown on its own always with some part hidden

as to blade speed watch my video of my RC heli the main rotor rpm is set to ~1900rpm
most from the size it could be running around the same rpm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYJP51PPBH8

the rotors look very slow
 
melteye said:
You can always tell who fails to check the other videos posted by the user and/or read the responses within this thread: there are plenty of other videos with different camera angles.
Click to expand...
:rolleyes: I watched the other videos. All of them are from some strange low fixed point? Why can't we get a long sustained video of the startup and have it shot from a normal height?
 
Yantelope said:
:rolleyes: I watched the other videos. All of them are from some strange low fixed point? Why can't we get a long sustained video of the startup and have it shot from a normal height?
Click to expand...

Maybe they did make a longer video and was only willing to show a tiny fraction of it to protect their invention. Could be a video stunt to find investors to help them go further with their researches.
 
Well if it's not fake it looks like it'd be a great way to get themselves sued out of business. What happens if you fall off, other than being turned into a large red stain on the ground.
 
This is real, as of June 27, 2012, Marty McFly went back to the future and saw flying cars and hoverboards. Therefore this must be true.




BladeVenom said:
You can go over soft ground, maybe even water. Try that in your car.
Click to expand...

Not quite...

AAAADFjAb4QAAAAAADaARQ.png
 
Faking this would be like faking a video of you parking your car in the garage; what would be the point? Now if they had a video of swooping through the clouds and fighting Jabba's Pleasure Barge on this thing I'd judge it fake...an awesome fake.
 
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