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Flyboard inventor Franky Zapata has built an egg-shaped ‘airscooter’ that anyone can pilot


Franky Zapata, the French inventor-slash-daredevil who flew across the English Channel on a hoverboard, has launched an ‘airscooter’ to go alongside his jet-powered flyboard and flying deckchair.     Zapata, Franky’s company, unveiled the egg-shaped hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) prototype at the Viva Technology conference in Paris, France. The “personal flying machine” is supposedly compliant with the Federal Aviation Authority Regulations and can be flown without a pilot’s license in the US as an “ultralight aircraft”. Thanks to the fly-by-wire flight controller and plenty of safety sensors, piloting the airscooter should be as easy as flying a drone. Its market…

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