London:
Scientists have developed the prototype of a 95kg remotely-controlled bike that can hover a few metres above ground for a full five minutes.
Carrying a dummy rider, the electric prototype successfully took off, flew around and landed inside an exhibition hall in Prague in the Czech Republic.
The bike is powered by two battery-run propellers on the front, two on the back and one on each side.
However, the machine is not quite ready to hit the road. The batteries only allow for a few minutes of flight before needing to be re-charged, BBC News reported.
"Because the capacity of batteries doubles about every 10 years, we can expect that in the future the capacity would be enough for the bike to used for sports, tourism or similar things," said the technical director of Duratec Bicycles, Milan Duchek.
To create the bike, Duratec worked together with two other Czech firms, Technodat and Evektor.
In August 2009, an IT teacher John Carver from Oxfordshire constructed what he called the "Flyke" - a flying tricycle - and flew it across the UK, from Lands End to John o'Groats, for charity.
Registered with the Civil Aviation Authority, Carver's machine is powered by a two-stroke twin propeller motor with a paraglider canopy and is equipped with a parachute, always open when the bike is in the air.
The bike has to be refuelled about every two hours, is able to carry up to 25.4kg of luggage, and can reach a flying speed of about 32km/h.
