Personal Helicopter Available For $30,000

gsfprez writes "The question was recently asked on /., "will personal flight ever be viable?". The answer is "if you have $30,000 today, yes". They are looking to work with Americans who will be willing to help them with testing a few final steps of their GEN H-4 Personal Helicopter, such as ballistic parachutes. $30,000 to beta test a helicopter I can park in the garage? Honey, pass me 5 credit cards!"

Comments

Re:$30,000 a little bit extreme?

[photon317]

Looking at their site, it seems that while the frame and rotors are pretty simplistic, there's a lot of novel and expensive design/engineering work in the enginer/transmission part that's in that little backpack on the back of the thing. They have a cutaway view of the transmission with a breif description. Once the R&D costs are gone and they begin mass manufacturing I bet they could get the price down to $10k or so.

Re:But you can already...

[Peter Trepan]

I think this do-it-yourself helicopter "kit" will provide amazing new opportunities for natural selection.

Can't follow instructions? Plummet, then, to your death!

Frauds?

[Hyped01]

Many people are pointing out links to possible technology like this, but honestly, I am very skeptical about them all.

Pictures (and ads selling the units) like the personal 1 man helicopter are nothing new and can be found in the back of Popular Mechanics for DECADES - yet you see no one owning one.

Moller SkyCar is a perfect example of something, that to me looks quite dubious... why? Let's see...

• The main page shows the "Freedom Motor" which is a gearbox (ie: small motor transmission - you can find them on small AC power generators) with an automotive starter coupled to it via a flywheel... sorry, though they have lotsa torque, nothing near the power/HP that is needed to fly - much less drive at any decent speed - a car.
• Going to the Freedom Motors site linked to the pic shows all sorts of "motors" - which look more like standard US car alternators or generators (arent they inversely named??). Now, while a generator may be able to be used as a motor, again, the unit would not have enough power to move a car much less fly it...
• Installed engine power: 645 hp (Moller claim) - while their engine site shows 120hp max, a drawing of inconspicuous identity, with the images of alternators and starters being claimed as combustion motors
• While Solotrek seems to have more believable claims - perhaps that is also what makes them so less believable... they're working with lots of government agencies on this project... neat! (Really??? or have those agencies just said "Well, if you get it to work, call us, we'll be interested then").
• Fortunately, to make me a believer, they have a bunch of pictures of "tethered" (from above... ie: suspended on a "rope", superman style) flight. So.... wil it actually work on it's own one day, or does it come with the crane, and crane operator to hoist you into the air? And all for a whopping 19 seconds! Wow! I can make it all the way... across my yard... in that time! My travel problems are over!

Weird, huh?

Perhaps one day, someone will come up with something that works, or something that looks more realistic or believable. The Wright brothers actually built something and flew it... no tethers, no pictures of alternators and engine starters claimed to be combustion engines... make it, cut the ropes, fly it and then talk to us.

- Rob

The opinions expressed herein are entirely my own. Anyone who agrees with them may also suffer from the same mental problems I do... whatever they are. ;-)