Has Flown New Version Over A Quebec Lake

It has almost the same mystique of the elusive jetpack. Imagine stepping onto a platform and skimming across the ground or water borne by a what is essentially a multi-rotor aircraft.

That is the concept of the hoverboard, and Canadian inventor Catalin Alexandru Duru in May broke ... actually shattered ... the world record for a hoverboard flight on his prototype, flying up to 15 feet above a lake in Quebec, Canada over a distance of about 905 feet in a little more than 90 seconds.

Now, Duru and his company Omni Hoverboards is working on a second prototype, which he demonstrated for a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reporter. In a video released by the CBC, reporter Reg Sherren tours Duru's shop, showing the device that's acceleration is controlled by a pair of pliers hooked to the machine's sensors. It is powered by a bank of lithium-polymer batteries.

The video shows Duru lifting off and then taking a tumble into the water. But on a second flight, he skims over the water and lands safely back near the shore.

Duru is keeping details of the second-generation prototype mostly under wraps. But who knows. Maybe one day we'll all be skimming to work on a personal flying machine that can be stored in the closet and charged from a wall outlet. Put it on the "want" list.

(Image of initial prototype in flight from Omni Hoverboards YouTube video)

FMI: http://omnihoverboards.com, YouTube video