If you’ve ever thought it would be a great thing if someone invented an off-road buggy that could fly then you can crack open the champagne, because someone has. The off-road buggy is called the Skyrunner and it is basically an off-road buggy equipped with a para-sail and two propulsion systems; the engine can drive the wheels, or it can be switched over to drive a propeller for flight.
Perhaps the best way to get a “feel” for what the Skyrunner offers is to watch their short video and see this flying buggy in action.
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=7Rd0ewJ_2Ck” /]
On the ground the Skyrunner functions like any other off-road buggy, its Rotax powerplant driving the wheels. To switch to flight mode the first thing to do is find a safe place which will provide the 600 foot take-off distance, and to ensure weather conditions are suitable. The Skyrunner is built to be easy to fly, but common sense and some training are necessary. Once a suitable take-off place has been found then the para-sail is attached and positioned behind the buggy. Once that is set up the propeller can be started and it will both fill the para-sail and propel the Skyrunner forwards to achieve take-off speed.
Once in the air the Skyrunner has a cruising speed of 40mph and a stall speed of 31mph. Because the Skyrunner uses a para-sail as its wing the vehicle is essentially attached to a parachute which in the event of an engine failure should provide a controlled descent so you can “look for the softest place to crash”. I think that God intended us to fly because He endowed us with the intelligence to not only figure out how to fly, but also to do it safely. Our job is simply to use the intelligence He gave us!
If you are interested in the Skyrunner you will find their website will full details if you click here.
This looks like a lot more than just a fun vehicle, it looks to be something that has a lot of potential uses, but it looks like enormous fun as well.
(We first saw the Skyrunner on Silodrome).
(All pictures courtesy Skyrunner).
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
