You ever watch Return of the Jedi, see Luke zip through the forest on a speeder bike, and think, "Yeah, I'd like to do that. Preferably without crashing into a tree"? Well, dreams do come true—at least if you're cool with a tiny bit of jet power and a whole lot of carbon fiber.
In honor of Star Wars Day, meet the Volonaut Airbike—a legit, real-life hoverbike from a startup in Poland that wants to make your speeder fantasies a gravity-defying reality. Designed by Tomasz Patan (who also built the Jetson One, aka the "flying go-kart that only costs 128,000$"), this futuristic flying machine hovers, cruises, and allegedly hits up to 124 mph. That's right. You can cosplay as a stormtrooper and actually chase down rebel scum at highway speeds.
The video footage (Below) looks straight out of a sci-fi film, but Patan swears it's the real deal—no AI trickery, just an FPV drone, a brave pilot, and an open desert. It even has auto-stabilization and a 360-degree unobstructed view so you can really live that "zooming through Endor" fantasy. No word yet on when you can buy one or how much it'll cost, but let's be honest: if you have to ask, you're probably not Force-sensitive enough to pilot it anyway.
Lightweight, 3D-printed, and allegedly jet-powered (but shhh, details are secret for now), the Airbike is giving big "Star Wars meets Elon Musk with fewer lawsuits" energy. It may not be as slick looking as the Ralph McQuarrie designed ones, but it did actually take flight. And that puts it one speeder-length ahead of the competition.
So happy Star Wars Day. Buy yourself a speeder. Or at least go watch someone else ride one and pretend it's you.