Ever since the movie “Back to the Future Part II” in 1989, when Marty McFly rode a hoverboard, just about every kid or science geek dreamed of setting a hoverboard record. Now, a man in Canada has done it by hovering over Lake Quareua. He has proved to the entire world that a real-life hoverboard is possible and could someday become available for would-be hovercraft riders.
Canadian Engineer Makes Real Hoverboard
Catalin Alexandru Duru, 30, is a Canadian engineer from Montreal, and he has built a real-life prototype of a hoverboard that can carry a person several feet into the air and allow them to hover and fly several feet up and travel around. It makes a sound like a bunch of bees buzzing as he made the travel to hover over Lake Quareua in Quebec. He travelled more than 50 meters, so he set a new hoverboard record, as well as making it into the Guinness Book of World Records. He was able to travel a distance of 905 feet while riding on the hoverboard, which was much further than the required 50 feet to set the hoverboard record.
Hoverboard Record Shows Stable Hoverboard Is Possible
It took Duru a full year to build his prototype hovercraft. Then it had to be tested before he could try to break the hoverboard record. Duro’s prototype hoverboard has four propellers that work to keep him in the air. He flies it over water for now in case the engines fail, so he would fall into water, which is safer than falling onto a hard surface.
Duru said that he wanted to be able to show that it is possible to create a stable hoverboard on which a person could stand and direct it by using their feet, just like in the “Back to the Future Part II” movie. He says that another reason he tests the hoverboard by flying it over water is that if he uses other surfaces, it gets too high and can become dangerous.
In Partnership with All Terrain Hoverboards
Duru is in a business partnership with All Terrain Hoverboards and hopes to create a hoverboard that he can sell to the public. Part of the funding used to create his prototype hoverboard and be able to set his hoverboard record came from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
