After watching the video in the OP I decided to do a little research to see how real this thing is. It appears like it might exist, sort of, but there's a lot of BS surrounding it too. I quickly discovered another item during my search. This was the Gravity Jet Suit. This particular device really does fly and it has been proven in beta. There's a number of videos about it on YT. They even had some races with them in Dubai as a promotional gimmick. With 5-7 turbine engines on them, and $500k for the whole package, I don't expect to see them at Walmart anytime soon.
There was one thing I noticed in all of the videos I could find. Probably 99% of the videos go out of their way to mask the sound in some way, usually drama music. Then I started looking specifically into how much noise one of these things makes. I don't have exact numbers, but they are clearly extraordinarily loud, deafening up close.
The Volonaut Airbike people have been very careful to not allow any video with any sound at all other than music. This tells me, even if it does work, it's probably even louder still. And because the user is generally in front or below the turbine intakes (the loudest part of a turbine, contrary to many people's beliefs), the operator must be exposed to the highest sound pressures of all, likely well beyond 140 dB. (that's LOUD!)
While a nifty idea, I doubt these things will get any serious traction, despite their clear utility for a number of military and public safety applications, simply because they are WAY too loud. There are claims developers are working on electric ones, but just the fans alone generate noise, regardless of how they are powered. And then there's the challenges of being able to carry adequate battery reserves for longer than a couple minutes of flight.
"I GOT HERE ON MY AIRBIKE."
"Really? What's an 'Airbike'?? And why are you screaming?"
"WHAT????"
"What's an Airbike?"
"WHAT'S THAT YOU SAY?? YOU'LL NEED TO SPEAK UP; I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
There was one thing I noticed in all of the videos I could find. Probably 99% of the videos go out of their way to mask the sound in some way, usually drama music. Then I started looking specifically into how much noise one of these things makes. I don't have exact numbers, but they are clearly extraordinarily loud, deafening up close.
The Volonaut Airbike people have been very careful to not allow any video with any sound at all other than music. This tells me, even if it does work, it's probably even louder still. And because the user is generally in front or below the turbine intakes (the loudest part of a turbine, contrary to many people's beliefs), the operator must be exposed to the highest sound pressures of all, likely well beyond 140 dB. (that's LOUD!)
While a nifty idea, I doubt these things will get any serious traction, despite their clear utility for a number of military and public safety applications, simply because they are WAY too loud. There are claims developers are working on electric ones, but just the fans alone generate noise, regardless of how they are powered. And then there's the challenges of being able to carry adequate battery reserves for longer than a couple minutes of flight.
"I GOT HERE ON MY AIRBIKE."
"Really? What's an 'Airbike'?? And why are you screaming?"
"WHAT????"
"What's an Airbike?"
"WHAT'S THAT YOU SAY?? YOU'LL NEED TO SPEAK UP; I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"