Airspeeder (series)

Airspeeder is a next-generation motorsport series for electric flying vehicles. It was founded by Matt Pearson, and powered by performance eVTOL manufacturer Alauda[1][2] who planned to hold an Airspeeder World Championship featuring five teams and ten pilots which is now scheduled to begin in various remote locations across the globe with the first public race held in Coober Pedy, South Australia.[3] The teams will be provided racing electric quadcopters, known as ‘Speeders’ that can fly at speeds of up to 200km/h by Alauda.[4][5][6][7]

Airspeeder
CategoryAir Racing
RegionWorldwide
ClasseseVTOL
ManufacturersAlauda Racing
Official websiteairspeeder.com

Speeders

Models
  • MK1: The first model of the quadcopters Mark I was developed in 2017, it is a single pilot vehicle with four vertical propellers which was specifically designed for racing.[2]
  • MK 2: By November 2018, the company launched Mark II with 8 propellers, two on each corner of the aircraft. It is designed for low-altitude racing at an average height of four meters. A Mark II remote control two-meter (excluding propellers) ¾ sub-scale model test flyer was flown in June 2018.[8]
  • MK4: A manned electric racing quadcopter powered by an interchangeable 500kw battery and has been designed from the ground up by Alauda for racing and performance flying.[9] It is a closed single-seat cockpit craft and is a carbon fibre monocoque design. Unloaded, an MK4 Speeder weighs 120kg and can fly at speeds up to 200km/h.[10][11][12]

In June 2020, Matt Pearson announced at the United States Air Force’s eVTOL conference, Agility Prime a call to elite pilots from these fields and the UAV and esports worlds.[13][14][15]

Technology

According to the book "A History of Electric Airplanes and Drones" by Kevin Desmond, the "Speeders" have an aerospace aluminium frame and carbon fibre composite body.[16] The speeders are at an advanced stage of development, with manned test flights planned for in 2020 in the Australian desert.[17]

See Also
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References
  1. Desk, AIT News (12 July 2020). "Airspeeder: World's First Flying Electric Car Racing Series Grows Team". Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  2. Lieu, Johnny. "Behind the ambitious plan to build and race flying cars". Mashable. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  3. "Airspeeder flying cars will be the F1 of the skies". British GQ. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  4. Editorial, Reuters. "Flying 'race car' combines Formula One and drone racing | Reuters Video". reut.rs. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  5. CNN, Ben Morse, for. "Airspeeder: Motor racing series aims to be the Formula One of the skies". CNN. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  6. "Airspeeder Wants to Reinvent Racing With Single-Seat Flying Electric Cars". Jalopnik. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  7. "Duke of Richmond launches the innovative Airspeeder". 4 July 2019. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  8. July 2019, Cat Ellis 05. "Glitch sends flying race car soaring hundreds of feet at launch event". TechRadar. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  9. "These wild drones are the future of motorsport. Apparently". Top Gear. 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  10. "There's NASCAR, Formula 1, Indy Car, and Soon, Airspeeder MK4 Flying Electric Vehicle Racing". TechEBlog. 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  11. "Airspeeder: World's First Flying Electric Car Racing Series Makes Giant Leap Forward - automobilsport.com". www.automobilsport.com. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  12. "Alauda Airspeeder // eVTOL Aircraft Overview by TransportUP". TransportUP. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  13. Writer, Staff (2020-06-26). "Airspeeder Calls For "Elite Pilots" for Flying Racing Series". Auto Futures. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  14. Best, Shivali (2019-09-17). "US Air Force reveals plans to develop its own flying car this autumn". mirror. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  15. "A company that creates electric flying cars wants them to be the future of sports, and the first race could happen this year". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  16. Desmond, Kevin, 1950-. Electric airplanes and drones : a history. Boscarol, Ivo,. Jefferson, North Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4766-6961-8. OCLC 1016937270.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. "Flying cars set to take to the skies in outback South Australia". www.abc.net.au. 2020-06-21. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
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