Posted on 11/06/2011 5:28:18 AM PST by Cringing Negativism Network
It might look like as space hopper surrounded by model helicopters, but the 16-rotor E-Volo is an entirely new kind of helicopter - which can hover motionless in the air without input from the pilot...
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2057423/Multicopter-1-man-flying-space-hopper-air-car-future.html#ixzz1cvmNCoK4
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Probably not real stable in a cross-wind, but that's darn innovative.
Very nice. Those guys are going to get rich.
Clever guys. I never would have considered that concept. I’m more like that guy back in the 70s who hooked up a bunch of helium balloons to his lawn chair. :-)
Be interesting to see what develops out of their idea.
An OSHA nightmare. Can you imagine how fast that would get outlawed here?
That said, freaking brilliant! True ‘can-do’ ingenuity with no government intervention required. Looks like a lot of fun with serious potential!
Always the one to ask a silly question. If you had to get off this thing fast it looks like you’d be sliced to ribbons!
One wrong move and that thing would turn into a giant Cuisinart. Can you imagine what a pile-up would look like? It is unique though.
Very impressive!
Great idea, and the future of travel will be in the air- BUT, it’s too bad technology is way ahead of biology. People can’t drive on the ground after -how many years- without crashing all over the landscape. Imagine incompetent, impaired people in the AIR too!
Scenario- marijuana is legalized and we have aircars! Stoned people above you daily! OY!
We have smart vehicles- now we need smart people!
You can’t stop in the air, either. When your car has a flat or runs out of gas or breaks the frammus valve, you coast to a stop beside the road. When the flying cuisinart backfires, you plummet hundreds of feet to your death.
since auto-rotation is out of the question, it will fall like a stone it the power goes out...
It’s like being surrounded by 16 running cuisinarts without any safety shrouds! Holy minced onions Batman!
Then I'm pretty sure you never considered sticking your hands in fans for fun, either.
Sure, what could possibly go wrong. He apparently didn’t listen to his mama when she told him not to stick his finger in the fan. Future headlines will be reading the crash didn’t kill him but the rotor blades did a Freddie Krueger on him.
Your mention of shrouds got me thinking.
How about using shrouds, and link them together? The linked shrouds would make up the framework for the motors.
Haven’t they heard of ducted fans? Moller Skycar is a much more elegant solution.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.