This Water Copter Looks Very Cool And Very Dangerous

So this is the Kitty Hawk Flyer. It's a prototype of a jet-ski-helicopter-thing created by Kitty Hawk, a company backed by Google cofounder Larry Page. So what can you do with it? Sadly, we're still very far off from commuting to work in our hovering cars. Kitty Hawk says that this version is designed only to fly about 15 feet above the surface of water. But it still looks pretty damn cool. Here's a video of a person in a nice boat getting totally one-upped by her friend on a flying jet ski. youtube.com The New York Times writes that the Flyer's eight propellers make it as loud as a speedboat and that the vehicle weighs about 220 pounds. Named after the site where Orville and Wilbur Wright tested their first airplanes, Kitty Hawk says on its website its mission is "to make the dream of personal flight a reality." Kitty Hawk also says the flyer is completely electric and legal to fly in "uncongested areas under the Ultralight category of FAA regulations." You won't need a pilot's license to fly one, according to the company, though the guy flying machine in the video is an aerospace engineer, according to the Times. It's unclear what protects people from a potential crash. What happens when you run out of battery and hit the surface of the water? What happens if you fly over land (you know someone will)? Kitty Hawk declined to comment. The flyer goes on sale later this year. The company hasn't announced the exact date of its commercial release. If you're ready to spend your life's savings on a Flyer, keep in mind that the retail version may not look anything like what you saw in the video. Kitty Hawk writes in its FAQ, "The go-to-market Flyer will have a different design than the prototype Flyer that appears in our April 2017 photos and videos." In the meantime, you can become a three-year Kitty Hawk Member for $100, which will get you $2,000 off the retail price whenever you can buy a Flyer, and access to "our flight simulator, flight demonstrations, and events where a select few will get the chance to ride the Flyer," Kitty Hawk writes on its website. via BuzzFeed - Tech http://ift.tt/2pfaKPh If new feed item from http://www.buzzfeed.com/tech.xml, then send me an email at gocukx.faster@blogger.com