SoloTrek XFV

say good bye to cars, these suckers will whip you around town with style and grace at impressive speeds. mabye we can finaly put an end to these congested californian streets, no more giant empty parking lots either, you could park on the roofs. just think of the martial aplications, bullet proof armor, thermal specs, and an assault rifle would make for a hellavu deadly jet pack police trooper. that is until the practicality and cost issues are worked out.

A Silicon Valley aerospace company has announced that it has achieved an important milestone while testing its paradigm-shifting new product, SoloTrek XFV. The full-scale SoloTrek proof-of-concept prototype aircraft produced over 100 percent take-off power and thrust for the first time in its development program, thereby validating earlier predicted performance. "This sets the stage for tethered-hover testing to begin in the mid-to-late summer timeframe," said Michael Moshier, chief executive and chief technical officer.

SoloTrek is an open-air VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft that will transport a person in an upright and standing position for up to two hours. Using readily available fuel, SoloTrek is predicted to attain speeds in excess of 70 miles per hour and is designed to operate easily in and out of extremely confined areas.

High-power system testing is currently underway at Millennium Jet's Sunnyvale headquarters. "We instrumented the aircraft with strain gauges and secured it to the ground," said Moshier, "then we were able to bring the engine, drivetrain and ducted fans up to about 105 percent take-off power and thrust without exceeding 75 percent throttle. Achieving this critical milestone demonstrates that SoloTrek can generate sufficient take-off thrust while maintaining an adequate power reserve. It also proves the capability of the vehicle's gear boxes and drive shafts to perform well under high load without overheating or noticeable vibration."

www.21stcentury.co.uk...


[edit on 12-1-2005 by sturod84]

The only purpose of those things is to "WOW" the crowd at a football game.

Its foolish to think that cars will go the way of the dinosoars because of this. Would you want to fly one if its -10 degrees outside?

why not? its fun better wear some warm clothes, of course here on the west coast that does not apply

Isn't Cali being getting a lot of snow.

DARPA funding dried up for these guys... Control issues never got worked out... Some other company will come up with a similar design and market it, so no worries- we'll all just have to wait longer...