What a great time to be alive. Not long after Yves “Jetman” Rossy set his own record with an amazing jet pack flight over Dubai, a Canadian inventor has perfected the hoverboard enough to set a world record by flying over a lake in Quebec.
That’s right — all your Back to the Future dreams have come true. And in fact, that’s what inspired Catalin Alexandru Duru’s hoverboard, which he flew last August to destroy the previous record. The video of his amazing hoverboard flight was just uploaded recently.
According to Guinness World Records , Duru traveled a record 905 feet and 2 inches over Lake Ouareau, or the size of two football fields. He soared into the air a remarkable 16 feet, but apparently the hoverboard can reach “scary heights,” which, of course, Catalin wants to explore.
His record annihilated the last one, which stood at 164 feet. He beat that record five times over.
“Stable flight can be achieved with a machine one can stand on and control with their feet, just like in the movie Back to the Future Part II . In our case, the machine is propeller-based. The prototype can be used anywhere, but is usually tested over water because of how dangerously high it can fly (which is ironic considering that the movie joked that it can’t).”
In the video of his record flight, the inventor looks quite casual as he takes to the air and soars above the lake, the hoverboard propellers kicking up a cloud of mist. His eventual landing is quite sudden, but graceful.
Duru built the hoverboard over a period of 12 months. According to Popular Science , it’s controlled by balance and gets its lift from propellers . The site theorizes that the hoverboard probably has “counter-rotating blades” to ensure the board and Duru stay in the air, “as if he strapped a quadcopter to each foot.”
Since his historic record flight, it’s possible Catalin has worked on his hoverboard design even more, an “ambitious” invention that seems to be outstripping any other efforts – like the Hendo Hover . That hoverboard project is trying to inspire investment on Kickstarter , Digital Trends added.
Does this mean we’ll soon be able to jet off to work on a hoverboard? This world record may bring us one step closer, especially if Duru is perfecting his design. Of course, if that doesn’t work, we may still have a jetpack to use as back up.
[Photo Courtesy YouTube Screengrab]
