British inventors build flying bicycle

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 -- christened the XploreAir 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 4,000 feet.

"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 so-creator John Foden.

British inventors build flying bicycle - CNN.com