Airspeeder’s Drag Race in Australia

Airspeeder, the company famous for developing ‘flying race cars’ that are single-seater quadcopters inspired by Formula One vehicles, has released footage of two of its prototype aircraft in a remotely piloted drag race. The flight demonstrated the competitive capabilities of these lightweight aircraft, and gave the world a sampling what full-scale Airspeeder races will soon look like.

Airspeeder has been working on its vision for eVTOL races sine 2016, and since then the company has been edging ever closer to conducting the world’s first high-speed, piloted, eVTOL races. Last year, the company unveiled its MK3 Airspeeder racing aircraft, capable of flying at speeds over 90mph (which it did in this race). It uses a 96 kW electric powertrain that gives the MK3 a thrust to weight ratio above two, with the entire vehicle only weighing (220 lb) unmanned, and is controlled by a joystick.

The company Airspeeder, which aims to become the world’s first ‘flying car’ racing series, is built on the idea that “Nothing accelerates technological progress like sporting competition”. According to founders of the team, Airspeeder hopes to use the technology developed in its competitive race series to push forward performance and safety in the entire eVTOL industry, while at the same time using publicity of the races to encourage public acceptance of these new types of vehicles. Founders at Airspeeder believe deeply in the power of electric vertical flight to transform society, and hope that its aircraft and aerial motorsport will give the world a push in that direction.

Watch the unveiling video of the Airspeeder MK3 aircraft from last May below:

Why it’s important: In May of this year, Airspeeder claimed that it would begin remotely piloted, competitive races between teams starting in late 2021. This drag race completed that milestone, and according to the company, manned races will begin starting sometime in 2022. With this drag race event, Airspeeder has shown that it is able to stick to its timeline, and therefore it is becoming more and more likely that Airspeeder next year will become the very first flying race car series in the world.

Source // Airspeeder

Related:

• Airspeeder Initial Flying Car Races Set For Later This Year (May 2021)
• Airspeeder MK3: World’s First Electric Flying Racing Car (February 2021)
• A Trade Study in Endurance and Performance: Airspeeder’s Battery Configuration (December 2020)