Air_ray: Festo's Manta Ray-Inspired R/C Flyer

The "Air_ray" is a gorgeous, one-off helium-filled flying foil manta ray created by Festo.

Propulsion is achieved by a beating wing drive. The servo drive-controlled wing, which can move up and down, utilises the Fin Ray Effect® and is based on alternate pulling and pushing flanks connected via frames. When pressure is exerted on one flank, the geometrical structure curves automatically against the direction of the influencing force. A servo drive pulls the two flanks alternately in the longitudinal direction, thus moving the wing up and down.

The video of the Air_ray in motion is required viewing, especially if you can spot the cleaning lady in the background, whose heart must have skipped a beat when she looked up from her floor buffer to see a six-foot swimming dirigible inside the building's lobby.

There are no plans to recreate a for-purchase version that I can discern, which is a pity.

Product Page [Festo.com via Gizmodo]