Airspeeder, which bills itself as the first racing series for electric take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, flew its first pre-season test race in the desert of South Australia.
Two of the company’s Alauda Aeronautics Mk3 Speeder aircraft were remotely flown in a drag race down a 300 meter strip. Two teams flew the aircraft piloted by Alauda engineers.
Airspeeder is creating a racing league for advanced aviation technology as a new sports competition based on future technology and clean-air vehicles. The multicopters are developed at Airspeeder’s Adelaide, South Australia, hub by engineers who have previously worked in the fields of motorsports, automotive, aviation and drone racing.
The initial racing series will be an unmanned season with pilots remotely navigating eVTOLs on electronically generated racetracks in the sky. Future series will involve manned flight racing with similar visuals in the sky for viewers to see the tracks and keep updated on progress.
The flying cars use lidar and radar technologies to create virtual forcefields around the quadcopter format flying car. Hairpin turning is accomplished using a multicopter layout, the company said. Stability is designed into the aircraft via electronic speed control (ESC) systems that allow pilots to exploit the electric powertrains.
The video shows the first unmanned race with two similar eVTOLs flying next to each other with a visually generated racetrack appearing to view the field of play.