VOA常速英语2015--单人飞行器接近成为现实

One-Person Flying Vehicles Close to Reality 单人飞行器接近成为现实

Smart phones, essentially 1 pocket-sized computers, we already have. Flying drones with cameras are available to everybody. Robots and self-driving cars are just around the corner. Now, two groups of inventors say very soon we will be able to try flying platforms and flying bikes.

本质上是袖珍电脑的智能手机，人们已经有了。载有摄像机的无人机已经唾手可得了。机器人和自动驾驶汽车也已指日可待。如今，有两组发明家说，人类很快便能将尝试飞行平台和飞行自行车了。

Being able to fly around as simply as riding a bicycle has been a long-standing dream of many inventors. But the safety and stability of such vehicles was always a huge problem.

能象骑自行车一样地飞来飞去，一直是许多发明家长期的梦想。但这类飞行器的稳定性与安全性始终是一个巨大难题。

As relevant technologies, such as quadcopters and high-capacity batteries, have developed within the past decade, the dream of personal flying vehicles has moved closer to reality.

作为相关技术，如四轴飞行器和高容量电池等，在过去的十年间得到了发展，个人飞行器的梦想已接近现实。

The British firm Malloy Aeronautics2 has demonstrated a prototype of its hoverbike that it says will be a truly personal flying platform.

英国公司马洛依航空（Malloy Aeronautics）展示了盘旋自行车的原型，并说这将成为真正的个人飞行平台。

“It's inexpensive, it can carry a decent load, it can get in and out of very small spaces very quickly, and it can be moved across continents very quickly because it can be folded and packed,” said Malloy Aeronautics’ marketing3 sales director, Grant Stapleton.

他说:“它的价格不贵，而且可以携带相当可观的负载，它可以快速进入和离开非常狭小的空间；而且它还能够快速地跨越几大洲，因为可以折叠、打包。”

He said with safety as the primary concern, designers came up with an innovative4 idea of overlapping5 rotors, whose, so-called ‘adducted’ propellers6 are turning in enclosed spaces.

马洛伊航空的营销总监格兰特·斯台普顿说，安全是首要的关注；设计师想出了重叠转子的创新概念，这些“内收式”螺旋桨可以在封闭的空间里旋转。

“With adducted rotors you immediately not only protect people and property if you were to bump into them, but if you ever were to bump into somebody or property, it's going to bring the aircraft out of the air,” said Stapleton.

斯台普顿说:“有了内收式转子，如果撞到人和物，你不仅立刻可以保护人员与财产安全；而且如果你撞上某个人或者房屋，飞行器将会落地。”

The company is doing extensive testing with a one-third scale model, and also with a full scale tethered prototype.

马洛依航空公司正在对三分之一比例的模型进行测试，同时也正在测试一个栓系着的原尺寸原型。

Inventors say their Hoverbike will most likely be used first by the military, police and rescue squads7.

发明家们说，他们的“盘旋自行车”（Hoverbike）最有可能首先用于军队、警察和救援队。

Meanwhile, Martin Aircraft Company from New Zealand already is testing a full-scale prototype of its personal flying device called Jetpack that can fly for more than 30 minutes, up to 1,000 meters high, and reach speed of 74 kilometers per hour.

与此同时，新西兰的马丁飞机公司（Martin Aircraft Company）已经在测试原尺寸的个人飞行装置原型。这种叫做“喷气包”（Jetpack）的飞行器能够在一千米空中飞行超过30分钟，达到每小时 74 公里的速度。

Martin CEO, Peter Coker, said, “This is built around safety from the start. Reliability8 is the most important element of it. We have safety built into the actual structure itself. Very similar to a Formula One racing9 car.”

马丁飞机公司首席执行官彼得·考克说: “从一开始就是围绕着安全建造的。可靠性是其最重要的元素。我们把安全内置于实体结构本身。非常类似于一级方程式赛车。”

Jetpack runs on a four-cylinder 200-horsepower gasoline engine producing two powerful jet streams. Coker said it also has a built-in parachute.

喷气包使用四缸200马力汽油引擎运行。考克说，它还有一个内置的降落伞。

“It opens at very low altitude and actually saves both the aircraft and the pilot in an emergency," he said.

考克说:“它可以在非常低的海拔高度打开，在紧急情况下拯救飞机和飞行员。

Coker said Jetpack will be ready for the market by the end of 2016, with a price of about $200,000.

他说，“喷气包”飞机2016 年年底将能够上市，价格在20万美元左右。