It looks like he is likely staying in ground effect. To be practicable, it needs to work out of ground effect. My biggest problem with this device and quad/hex copters in general is short flight time due to limitations in battery technology. Give me the power pack from a Star Trek phaser, then the sky is the limit.
It looks like he is likely staying in ground effect. To be practicable, it needs to work out of ground effect. My biggest problem with this device and quad/hex copters in general is short flight time due to limitations in battery technology. Give me the power pack from a Star Trek phaser, then the sky is the limit.
It appears he is staying in ground effect as a safety issue; from the "jumps" around 7 minutes into the video it's clear the thing has enough lift to climb. Thing is, you can climb smartly to 100 feet, and then drop smartly to your death if you misjudge the time response of your system, so taking it in increments is actually a very good idea. (A fate similar to this set back one of the Wright Flyer replicas and almost killed its builder, when it took off by accident during what was supposed to just be a runway test.)
Do you wear a helmet when you get on a plane or in a helicopter?
I would say that the odds are that he will eventually get tired of flying low, and when he does start experimenting with flying higher, the helmet will be of little use, if there is an electrical or mechanical failure.
I would say that the odds are that he will eventually get tired of flying low, and when he does start experimenting with flying higher, the helmet will be of little use, if there is an electrical or mechanical failure.
To paraphrase the legendary Dr. Harry Hurt (unfortunate name), tell me what kind of accident you intend to have and I can tell you what type of helmet you should wear. The wrong choice can be more harm than good.
Sitting in the middle of 76 Cuisinart blades set on "Liquefy" is a wee bit more concerning to me, personally, should the poo hit the proverbial fan.
Sitting in the middle of 76 Cuisinart blades set on "Liquefy" is a wee bit more concerning to me, personally, should the poo hit the proverbial fan.
LOL... Yea that does not seem to enticing either. I would rather take my chances with the props than to have a nasty fall. Either way, it does appear to be a dangerous flying contraption
Either way, it does appear to be a dangerous flying contraption
I see a lot of room for refinement.
Barring a collision with an obstacle, could this take advantage of vectoring. And maybe a unified body, curving the frame, there are some definite possibilitys.
There is 22 rotors per flap, x 4 = 88 Rotors. If each rotor ran off of one battery pack, and you are able to carry multiple banks of those on board. Long term flight, in my theory.
Plus there is a hobby jet engine, looks, sounds, and preforms something like the intention. To gimble one of these would be fun.
What he is doing now is POC, I have no doubt it has control of certain dynamics. But I think if if your going to take this up to any speed you would have to have fans pointed at 90° or 45°, to aid in breaking. Not to meantion acceleration.
There is exstended flight possibilitys, and will depend on power supply. Tweaking design and further testing will require the choice of a helmet also.
It looks like he is likely staying in ground effect. To be practicable, it needs to work out of ground effect. My biggest problem with this device and quad/hex copters in general is short flight time due to limitations in battery technology. Give me the power pack from a Star Trek phaser, then the sky is the limit.
John Abshier
Service ceiling = the maximum distance you are willing to fall.
Can you imagine if the wires broke? The part in the helmet would be the only "unprocessed" part.
Yeah the KFH actually seems pretty practical, for certain values of "practical." Flying it over water minimizes the ker-plop problem where sudden failure drops you *cough* feet onto the surface you're flying over, and the cuisinart situation seems to be pretty well thought out, with a minimal intersection between the blade rotational planes and severable body parts. They still seem to be flying it almost entirely within ground effect, sometimes with weird results as far as the vector thrust orientation versus actual motion of the craft. I do have to love the "introduction" video where everyone is celebrating with big water glasses full of wine as they celebrate their flying prowess :-)
I admire what this guy came up with this machine 'but' it is a big job to balance 76 propellers. You can tell that the motors are spinning at different speeds because you can see that the propellers are spinning at different multiples of the camera framerate.
I have been jealous of birds since I was a kid. I am a grandfather who has five drones. At fifteen I got 'caught' flying a kite. I have asked myself "Would I move to North or South Dakota to fly a paramotor?".
MikeDYur
Posts: 2,176
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John Abshier
This might interest you -
Do you wear a helmet when you get on a plane or in a helicopter?
I would say that the odds are that he will eventually get tired of flying low, and when he does start experimenting with flying higher, the helmet will be of little use, if there is an electrical or mechanical failure.
To paraphrase the legendary Dr. Harry Hurt (unfortunate name), tell me what kind of accident you intend to have and I can tell you what type of helmet you should wear. The wrong choice can be more harm than good.
Sitting in the middle of 76 Cuisinart blades set on "Liquefy" is a wee bit more concerning to me, personally, should the poo hit the proverbial fan.
LOL... Yea that does not seem to enticing either. I would rather take my chances with the props than to have a nasty fall. Either way, it does appear to be a dangerous flying contraption
I see a lot of room for refinement.
Barring a collision with an obstacle, could this take advantage of vectoring. And maybe a unified body, curving the frame, there are some definite possibilitys.
There is 22 rotors per flap, x 4 = 88 Rotors. If each rotor ran off of one battery pack, and you are able to carry multiple banks of those on board. Long term flight, in my theory.
Plus there is a hobby jet engine, looks, sounds, and preforms something like the intention. To gimble one of these would be fun.
What he is doing now is POC, I have no doubt it has control of certain dynamics. But I think if if your going to take this up to any speed you would have to have fans pointed at 90° or 45°, to aid in breaking. Not to meantion acceleration.
There is exstended flight possibilitys, and will depend on power supply. Tweaking design and further testing will require the choice of a helmet also.
Having bottom-mounted Cuisinart blades is a nice touch, also. Warning stickers have instilled a healthy respect for kinetic energy.
Can you imagine if the wires broke? The part in the helmet would be the only "unprocessed" part.
I have been jealous of birds since I was a kid. I am a grandfather who has five drones. At fifteen I got 'caught' flying a kite. I have asked myself "Would I move to North or South Dakota to fly a paramotor?".