The First folding Personal Flyer bicycle

From Icarus in  greek mythology to the Wright brothers, humans have always been interested in flight.  This desire has allowed us to travel the world and reach the stars in some fantasy to reality inventions. Two british inventors  have again challenged our concept of flight with their latest invention: a personal flying bicycle.   John Foden and Yannick Read created the vessel called The XploreAir Paravelo  which is a hybrid bike/ and parasail that required no license to fly and can reach speeds of  15 mph on ground and 25 mph in the air. The aircraft  also soars at an impressive 4000 feet in altitude, approximately ¾ a mile above ground.   Designed to be able to travel between home and the office or to take outdooring, it folds neatly to be able to store the Paravelo anywhere you could store a  regular adult bicycle.

So how does it work?

The design is a bicycle that tows a lightweight trailer carrying a powerful fan, with a parasail attached . In order to fly an electric starter motor fires up the biofuel-powered fan.  “Once airborne, the paravelo flies at speeds of 25 mph for up to three hours at a time. It can take-off from any open ground clear of obstructions – a football pitch-sized area is ideal.” states the creators on their website.

If you are like me and you’re at the shut up and take my money point,  you are probably wondering how much its going to cost. Roughly for the cost of a small family car according to the inventor you to will be able to fly  your own personal aircraft.  For more info visit their production website  at xploreair.com

Addition:  Since I first started working on this article I have had the pleasure of sitting down to discuss the bike with John Foden. He informs me even though the kickstarter expired he is working with some private investors and we are looking at a release date around summer 2015.