The Yike Bike is a kiwi invention and one making world headlines. This is no mere parochialism; the Yike Bike has just made the front cover of time magazine’s Asia edition and has been voted one of this year’s top inventions in the world. The bike was designed and developed in Christchurch. It is environmentally friendly, incredibly portable, and gets along nicely at up to 25kmph. The Time magazine recognition is a coup for the Canterbury company with the first of these bikes expected to hit the market in the middle of next year. It is touted as the world’s… Read more

The chance to fly a Kiwi-invented jetpack will be available in New Zealand early next year. Almost a year to the day after it first got worldwide attention, the Martin Jetpack is back on show at the United States’ annual EAA air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and Christchurch’s Martin Aircraft Company is also announcing plans to allow the public to try out a “low, slow” version. Christchurch will be the location for the first business offering jetpack flights, and the company plans to expand with franchises around the world. People will be able to fly a jetpack about a metre… Read more

It’s neither a plane nor a boat, but the latest invention of Nelson’s very own Flying Dutchman has people fascinated. Hira resident Rudy Heeman, a mechanic who has spent the last 11 years building hovercraft in his spare time, has come up with a model that does more than skim the surface. Over the past year, Mr Heeman has built a “wing in ground effect vehicle” – a hovercraft able to fly because of a peculiar set of aerodynamic principles. He said the “hoverwing”, which is almost complete, has drawn Atawhai Drive residents out of their houses and motorists out of their cars to watch test… Read more