会飞的自行车

Do you remember that scene in E.T. where the kids fly away on their BMXs？ After seeing it， did you too want to pedal your bike down the street， over your house and past the moon？

Well， now that fantasy can be reality with the invention of the Paravelo flying bicycle.

A pair of flight enthusiasts， John Foden， 37， and Yannick Read， 42， have devised a two-wheeled bike—named the Xplore Air Paravelo—that transforms into an aircraft. The British inventors say it is the world's first fully functional flying bicycle.

The machine can travel at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour on the road and 25 miles per hour in the air， reaching altitudes of up to 4000 feet.

The flying bicycle looks like a conventional bike connected to a lightweight trailer， which houses1） a giant fan2）， fuel for the contraption's3） engine and the flexible fold-away wing. Both the airframe and bike are made from aircraft grade aluminum.

The bike can be disconnected from its trailer for inner city use， then docks4） to form a "para-trike" for take-off. In order to fly， the bike and trailer are fastened together， the wing is unfurled5） and an electric starter fires the biofuel-powered 249cc motor. Tired Tour de France6） competitors might want to consider this option before taking on a particularly daunting7） hill climb.

The Paravelo also has a built-in tent， perfect for festival-goers. The inventors say this is a perfect addition because it enables the owner to detach the tent， set up camp， and then cycle off to explore the area.

The Paravelo needs a long stretch of open ground， clear of obstructions for take-off. Once airborne8） it can stay in the air for up to three hours. Once it's in the air， the flying bicycle's inventors say that it controls like a conventional fan-powered paraglider9）.

The fan can also be detached entirely from its housing and strapped directly onto your back. Worn like this， no license is required to fly it in many countries—including the U.S. and the UK—but the United States Powered Paragliding Association strenuously10） recommends proper training.

So unless you have done it before， jumping off the closest cliff in your new Paravelo is not recommended.

"The Wright brothers were former bicycle mechanics so there's a real connection between cycling and the birth of powered flight that is recaptured in the spirit of the Paravelo，" says co-creator John Foden.

The bicycle is small enough to be taken on public transport， and can be stowed11） in a garage or carried up stairs and stored at home.

Foden and Read hope that at $16，000 the Paravelo will appeal to inner-city flight hobbyists， and believe that it may also be useful as a "cost-effective aerial reconnaissance12） vehicle for forest rangers13） and border patrols".

你还记得电影《外星人E.T.》里孩子们骑着小轮车凌空飞驰的场景吗？看到这个之后，你是不是也想踩着你的脚踏车，骑上街头，飞越房屋，飞过月亮呢？

好了，现在会飞的自行车Paravelo这一发明可以使这个幻想成真了。

两个飞行爱好者——37岁的约翰·福登和42岁的扬妮克·里德——发明了一款能够变身为飞行器的双轮自行车，并为其取名为“Xplore Air Paravelo”。这两位英国发明者称，这是世界上第一辆真正具有飞行功能的自行车。

这款自行飞车在陆地上行驶时时速可达15英里（编注：约24公里），在空中时速可达25英里（编注：约40公里），飞行高度可达4000英尺（编注：约1220米）。

该自行飞车看起来像一辆传统的自行车连接着一辆轻质拖车，拖车里装有一个巨大的螺旋桨，还有这个奇妙装置的发动机所用的燃料和一个灵活的折叠机翼。机体和自行车均采用航空级铝合金制成。

人们可将自行车与其拖车分离供市内出行使用，之后又可将两者对接成“三轮伞车”以便起飞。为了能够飞行，自行车和拖车要固定在一起，机翼要展开，电启动器要发动0.249升排量的生物燃料动力内燃机。疲劳的环法自行车赛参赛选手在挑战令人胆怯的爬坡赛段之前，或许想考虑一下这款自行飞车。

Paravelo还配有一顶内置帐篷，这对于假日出行者来说无疑很完美。两位发明者认为这是个绝妙的附带品，因为车主可以把帐篷卸下来安营扎寨，然后骑车探索周边环境。

Paravelo需要一长段没有障碍物的开阔地带才能起飞。一旦飞起来，Paravelo最长可在空中待上三个小时。自行飞车的两位发明者说，Paravelo一旦飞到空中，操作起来就和传统的风机动力滑翔伞很像了。

自行飞车的螺旋桨也可以全部从防护外壳里取下来，直接绑到你背上。这样一武装，你无需任何执照就能畅飞多个国家，包括美国和英国。不过，美国动力滑翔伞协会强烈建议你进行适当的训练。

因此，除非你以前接受过这样的训练，否则建议你还是不要骑着新买的Paravelo从最近的悬崖一跃而下。

“莱特兄弟原本是自行车技师，因此可以说，骑自行车和动力飞行的发明之间确实存在联系。Paravelo的理念正是这种联系的再现。”自行飞车的联合发明者约翰·福登说。

这款自行飞车的体积够小，可以带到公共交通工具上，也可放进车库或搬上楼梯置于室内。

福登和里德希望这款标价1.6万美元的Paravelo自行飞车能赢得城市飞行爱好者的青睐。他们认为，这款自行飞车也可作为一种“高性价比的空中侦察工具，供护林员和边境巡逻人员使用”。

1. house [ha?s] vt. 容纳；作为……之用

2. fan [f?n] n. 螺旋桨

3. contraption [k?n?tr?p?n] n. 发明物，新发明，奇妙的机械装置

4. dock [d?k] vi. 对接

5. unfurl [??n?f??l] vt. 打开，展开

6. Tour de France： 环法自行车赛，知名的年度多阶段公路自行车运动赛事，主要在法国举办，但也经常出入周边国家（如英国、比利时、西班牙）。自从1903年开始以来，该赛事每年于夏季举行，每次赛期23天，平均赛程超过3500公里。完整赛程每年不一，但大都环绕法国一圈。

7. daunting [d??nt??] adj. 使人胆怯的，使人气馁的

8. airborne [?e?b??n] adj. 在飞行中的

9. paraglider [?p?r?ɡla?d?（r）] n. 滑翔伞，翼伞

10. strenuously [?strenju?sli] adv. 强烈地

11. stow [st??] vt. 储藏，收藏

12. reconnaissance [r??k?n?sns] n. 侦查

13. ranger [?re?nd??（r）] n. 国有森林护林员，国家公园管理员