Chris Hawker, the creator of the Powersquid, and some of his buddies at Trident Design have created a new flying drone, the Carbon Flyer. The Flyer is an ultralight airplane that flies under its own power and controlled via Bluetooth. A tiny camera streams the flight to your phone.
“We built this because after years of focusing on practical items like the PowerSquid, we wanted to make something FUN! A toy to please our inner children, using all of the coolest technology we could cram into it. We also wanted to create a lead product for a new company focusing on remotely operated aircraft where we see a huge opportunity for future growth,” said Hawker.
The team already raised $68,575 on Indiegogo and they have 39 days left in crowdfunding. Early-bird units cost $89.
The body of the bird is made of carbon fiber, and Toby Rich, creator of the first phone-controlled RC plane, built the Bluetooth controller.
The most important part of the design is that the drones won’t break when they crash land. Carbon fiber and nantotube epoxy will hold them together and the propellers are well out of the way so they won’t snap.
Like the Ohio-based Wright Brothers, the Ohio-based Hawker was inspired while playing with a flying toy.
“I had the original idea to do a carbon fiber free flight plane while walking in a park one day, and then Abraham and I brainstormed about it on a drive, which led to the idea of making it powered. Bret then added in the Bluetooth control-idea, as well as the expertise to pull it off. We decided to crowdfund it after getting our first images together and realizing how cool it looks and that it would really appeal to the crowdfunding community,” said Hawker.