Forget flying cars! Manager of Japanese baseball team enters stadium on a flying MOTORBIKE that costs a sky-high £500,000 and can travel at speeds of 60mph for up to 40 minutes
- Tsuyoshi Shinjo flew into his home stadium, the Sapporo Dome, Hokkaidō aboard the XTurismo vehicle
- The vertical take-off aircraft is the creation of A.L.I. Technologies, a drone company based in Tokyo
- It has six propellers and is driven by an internal combustion engine, and can reach speeds of up to 60mph
New footage shows the manager of a Japanese baseball team entering his home stadium on a bizarre £500,000 flying motorbike-drone hybrid.
Tsuyoshi Shinjo, the new manager of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, flew into the Sapporo Dome, Hokkaidō, Japan on Tuesday aboard the futuristic XTurismo.
The vehicle, described as a cross between a motorcycle, a drone and a vertical take-off aircraft, can travel at speeds of 60 miles per hour for up to 40 minutes.
XTurismo looks like a scaled-up drone, except for its motorbike-style seat designed to carry a single passenger.
Shinjo, a flamboyant 50-year-old who calls himself Big Boss, appeared for his team the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters’ first home game of the season.
With the spotlight on him, Shinjo was wheeled into the stadium along the ground, took off and soared high above the field before landing about a minute later.
He then whipped off his helmet and tossed his red jacket to the ground with wild abandon before striding off.
Tsuyoshi Shinjo, manager of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and former Major League Baseball (MLB) player in the US, enters the Sapporo Dome by flying through the air on XTurismo before the start of their game against the Seibu Lions, March 29, 2022
Tsuyoshi Shinjo, the newly appointed manager of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and former Major League Baseball (MLB) player in the US, speaking before the start of the game
XTURISMO STATS
Dimensions: 12.1 x 7.9 x 4.9 feet
Weight: 661 lbs
Max. payload: around 220 lbs
Max. cruising speed: 60 mph
Cruising duration: 40 minutes
Cost: around £500,000
Unfortunately, the epic stunt failed to bolster his team – the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters lost 4-0 to the Saitama Seibu Lions, leaving them still searching for a first win of the season.
‘If you don’t spend time thinking about how to win baseball games rather than getting ready for flashy performances, you’ll get dragged down into the quagmire,’ one Twitter user wrote after Tuesday’s game, a 4-0 loss.
‘Enough performances – get results,’ wrote another.
Shinjo is a former professional baseball outfielder himself, and has officially registered his name with baseball authorities as Big Boss.
Last weekend, he emerged from a box covered in flashing lights when he came out for his team’s opening game against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Shinjo, who had stints in Major League Baseball, was appointed Fighters manager ahead of the new season despite having no coaching experience.
He’s a good match for Xturismo, which is the creation of Tokyo-based drone start-up A.L.I. Technologies and is on sale for just under £500,000 ($682,000).
What has been billed as the world’s first four-seater flying taxi has been unveiled by a Slovakian engineering company – and it could be in use in just five years’ time.
AeroMobil’s AM NEXTn is the second model of its half supercar, half light aircraft vehicle, and is planned for launch in 2027.
It is capable of transforming between modes in less than three minutes.
The firm hopes its aerial ride-hailing service will save commuters ‘significant’ time when travelling distances of 100 to 500 miles between major cities.
Powered by an internal combustion engine, the Xturismo is kept aloft by two primary propellers, which are situated where the wheels would be on a conventional motorcycle.
Four auxiliary propellers placed at the corners of the vehicle, meanwhile, provide stabilisation.
According to A.L.I. Technologies, the Xturismo employs the same altitude control technology that the firm already uses in its unmanned drones, ensuring a smooth flight when aloft.
When resting on the ground, the hoverbike rests on two landing skids – similar to those that might be seen on a conventional helicopter.
Alongside being used as part of leisure activities, the bike has potential to help rescue people from accidents at sea.
XTurismo was unveiled last autumn during a test-flight on an empty racetrack in the foothills of Mount Fuji.
During the demonstration flight – which was witnessed by a crowd of guests and members of the press – Xturismo rose several feet above the ground and glided around above the racetrack for around a minute and a half.
One drawback of the design may be the reportedly deafening roar of the Xturismo’s engine and six rotor blades; some onlookers had to be issued with earplugs.
Powered by an internal combustion engine, the Xturismo is kept aloft by two primary propellers, which are situated where the wheels would be on a conventional motorcycle. It’s pictured during the unveiling in October 2021
The firm said it would produce a limited run of 200 of the bikes, each of which weighs in at 661lbs (300kg), for delivery in the first half of 2022.
‘We would like to propose a new lifestyle with this floating vehicle,’ A.L.I. Technologies CEO Daisuke Katano said at the unveiling event in October at the Fuji Speedway Racing Course, Nikkei Asia reported.
A.L.I. Technologies is backed by the Kyocera, a Kyoto-based ceramics and electronics manufacturer, as well as by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital.
During the demonstration flight in 2021 (pictured), Xturismo rise up several feet above the ground and glided around above the racetrack for around a minute and a half
One drawback of the design may turn out to be the reportedly deafening roar of the Xturismo’s engine and six rotor blades – with onlookers having been issued with earplugs
ZERO EMISSION ELECTRIC CRAFT ALLOWS ITS ‘SUPERMAN-LIKE’ PILOT TO WHIZZ THROUGH THE AIR AT 160MPH
A satellite dish-like aircraft that will allow its pilot to whizz through the skies at up to 160 miles per hour has completed its first untethered flight test.
The full-scale electric ZEVA Aero, created by Tacoma, Washington-based firm ZEVA, performed a series of unmanned flight tests in rural Pierce County on January 9, 2022.
It completed four flights, totalling more than four minutes of controlled hovering, simulated taxiing manoeuvres at slow speeds and limited vertical climb manoeuvres.
The vehicle is defined as a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, which can take off straight up into the air, reducing the need for runway space.
The company calls ZEVA Aero a ‘personal flying machine’ that can transition from an upright ‘hover mode’ to ‘forward flight mode’ where the passenger faces downwards as they zoom through the air in a ‘Superman-like trajectory’.
When in upright ‘hover mode’, the single passenger will be sat upright and able to see out of the window at the top.
But in forward flight mode, the aircraft will tilt towards a horizontal orientation, giving him or her unrestricted views of the ground below, like the Galactica ride at Alton Towers.
Read more: Satellite dish-like craft completes its first untethered flight test
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