Video of the Day: Inventor tests prototype of record-setting flying propeller device

This past spring we watched as Canadian inventor Catalin Alexandru Duru set the record for the longest hoverboard flight in the world. On his homemade propeller-powered creation, Duru flew a distance of 905-feet while being 16-feet above a lake, remaining in the air for 1.5 minutes.

Now with his company, Omni Hoverboards, the 31-year-old Duru is working on a secret next-generation version of the device. The video below, by CBC News, a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, shows the hoverboard in action.

The Omni Hoverboard features eight propellers and a frame made from carbon fiber. The motors responsible for controlling the propellers are powered by 12 lithium polymer batteries, which generate 40 horsepower. 

Inventor Catalin Alexandru Duru flying across a lake on his hoverboard invention. Image source: ibtimes.co.uk.

Acceleration is achieved by gripping a joystick made from a pair of pliers, which allow the hoverboard to fly higher or lower, and speed it up or slow it down. Snowboard binding straps securely anchor the user to the hoverboard, and the board is steered when the user physically turns in the air to change its direction.

And good news for adventure-loving dare-devils — the Omni Hoverboard is expected to be released in 2017.