UK Plumber Builds Homemade Hoverbike

Can someone with no engineering qualifications and no experience with flying make something that actually leaves the ground?

Plumber and Youtuber (yes, that’s a real job) Colin Furze answered that question with a spectacular affirmation in the form of his homemade hoverbike.

Check it out:

Designing a Homemade Hoverbike

Furze used two Parajet Zenith paramotors as the basis for his creation. Conventionally used for powered paragliding, each Zenith can output 48-85 kg (105-187 lbs) of static thrust depending on the size of engine.

Don't try this at home.

Furze tested his paramotors by mounting one face-down to a jig frame and then adding plastic containers filled with water to test its lift capacity. He found that a single motor was enough to lift 53 kg and so calculated that two would be sufficient to lift his 80 kg of weight along with the bike’s frame.

Between his making-of videos, Furze realized that having both propellers turning the same direction would give the bike some unwanted gyroscopic spin and so elected to have the rear propeller facing upward. An immediate consequence of this design decision was the need to make an S-shaped frame for the bike.

Furze checks the position of his handlebars.

As a result, the CNC-machined paramotor frame for the rear propeller had to be repositioned to protect Furze from the spinning blades.

The final product was, as Furze described it, a machine with “No wheels, no steering, no brakes; it’s got two accelerators and it doesn’t even have a seat!”

You can see the full project, from start to finish, on Furze’s website.