This wildly powerful hoverboard is the best we've seen yet

Flyboard Air
The new Flyboard in action.

There's all kinds of hoverboard technology in the pipeline at the moment but few have the 'wow' factor offered up by this new clip from Zapata Racing. Founder Franky Zapata is shown aboard a jet-powered Flyboard Air that's capable of getting as high as 10,000 feet.

Zapata's Flyboards usually make use of water jets to get you hovering a little way above the ocean, but it looks like this one uses a jet turbine engine, which would open up the possibility of travelling across land too. Apparently the contraption has a top speed of 93 mph and a maximum flight time of 10 minutes.

However, it could be a while before you can get one - you'll notice Zapata stays low and stays above water, so it's obviously not ready for widespread testing yet. On the official website it's described as a prototype device and there's a note that says it won't go on sale this year. When it does, we'll take two!

Admittedly "hoverboard" may not be the technically correct term here, but it's gradually become a catch-all phrase for everything from wheeled devices to skateboard-style planks that float on magnets. The only problem now is making it safe, because any lower than about 250 feet and a parachute isn't going to have time to help you if you run into trouble.

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Via Gizmag

David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.