First pilots named for Airspeeder series

by Chris Riley   It's sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but the Airspeeder race series is banging on the door of reality. Or...

by Chris Riley

  It's sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but the Airspeeder race series is banging on the door of reality. Organisers have named the first three pilots who compete in the first flying car race series planned for later this year. While they will initially control their vehicles by remote control from the pits, the plan is to put pilots in cockpits as early as the second series. The latest Airspeeder Mk4 is a full-sized, remotely-operated electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle (eVTOL). These next generation racing machines were put through their paces last year in secret locations in the deserts of South Australia. Electric flying car racing is the most exciting and progressive form of motorsport in the world, says Airspeer and Alauda founder Matt Pearson. "We have been proud to show the potential of our Speeders in test settings but now is the time to get down to the serious business of pure sporting competition," he said. "Our first intake selected from the thousands of applicants reflects the breadth of backgrounds electric flying car racers will come from.” Emily Duggan joins the series as Australia’s most successful female racing car driver. Zephatali Walsh joins from the Drone Champions League and Fabio Tischler has captured dynamic FPV content for the world’s leading brands including GoPro, Red Bull and Toyota. Competitors will be drawn from backgrounds as broad as elite motor racing and drone flying. More than 1500 people have applied to become history makers as the world’s first electric flying car racing pilots. This first intake of pilots will undergo a rigorous process of training and development. This will include the logging of over 2000+ collective hours in the Alauda Aeronautics 6-DoF VR simulator, which will mimic a MK4 circuit race within an XR environment. They will race blade-to-blade at speeds of up to 300 km/h in locations where racing has never taken place before. The pilots will soon take part in a series of ground-breaking races named the EXA Series. This series is the permanent development formula for the forthcoming Airspeeder crewed electric flying car series. [gallery size="full" ids="59107,59106,59105,59103,59104" orderby="rand"]   CHECKOUT: Sky the limit for Airspeeder CHECKOUT: Airspeeder race series gets off to a flyer