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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!"
Credit cards with limits as high as 6 grand? wow, that kinda makes my $200 limit seem less important... :(
They want people...to test parachutes...in a helicopter.
Let me think about that one.
From the faq:
Q : Does it fly?
A : Yes, This particular prototype has been flown continuously since 1999.
I pity the poor SOB who's been stuck flying that thing for 3 "continuous" years.
$30,000 seems a little bit extreme for something that is composed of a harness, a few aluminum poles, and a motor with 2 rotors... even to rebate the R&D costs. With such a hefty price, this product will (it kills me) fly.
Yawn.
There counter says:
/. effect...
Today 116 yesterday 013
I cant wait to see that at the end of the day after the
--"The revolution will be simulcast..."--
So the FAQ dated 03/00/2001 (???) says the thing is expected to be delivered by 2000 - I hope the web site writer is not associated with engineering.
It's also not comforting that I am supposed to have a "zip-cord" just to get the info pack.
~~~~~~~
"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
...commit suicide for a heck of a lot less than $30k.
Seriously, I haven't heard the best things about aviation products so far. A helicopter is a particularly finicky piece of engineering.
Personally I'd like the propeller beanie Calvin always dreamed of.
Q : When can I purchase a GEN H-4?
A : Good Question!
Sales of PROTOTYPE models are expected to begin summer of 2000. When the GEN H-4 becomes available it will be clearly posted on this web site.
Well, since news of the GEN H-4 becoming available is not clearly posted on the web site and it's a couple year later, this may not be worth passing the credit cards for after all.
cut-rate aviation products
Since I'm successively posting anyway, an experienced helicopter pilot I used to work years ago with said that a typical helicopter might give you six seconds to react to a power failure -- and the (inexpensive) Robinson only two. Piston-driven helicopter generallys are more probe to engine failure -- an internal combustion engine has a heck of a lot of parts, and power loss though not a death sentence is highly undesirable. Many of the bigger helicopters you see actually have twin jet turbines. Yet even with a working engine, a failure in the mechanical system driving the rotors is lethal.
Don't get me wrong, I think helicopters are way cool. But not foolproof.
The other major problem with personal aviation transportation is that there are few fender-benders in the sky. Also, the weather can nail you; it's too easy to convince yourself that sure, I can stay under those clouds over those hills... I'm not even sure I'd feel safe on the ground with every Dick and Jane buzzing around.
You trust someone else more than yourself with your own life?! You are probably pro union.
Joe
Joe Batt Solid Design
Check it out Andreas Project.
Now, that's a hobby!
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"I know I'm not a big fan of engrish, but this is just scary. Would you give these guys $30 000?:
22-Mar-02
Can you see someone controls GEN H-4??
Of cource, it is a radio controlled model. As you know, we can't several tests of GEN H-4 by manned in Japan. Because of Japanese reguration isn't suitable to develop new airplane. Therefore we developed the radio controlled model. The porpose pf this model is not only tests but also an aerial film and such.
"As you know, we can't several tests of GEN H-4 by manned in Japan." WHOAH!!!! Slow down there big boy.
HURD - Hurd's Under Research & Development
His what is what? I'm not trying to mock someone for communication skills in a second language. (My japanese is horrid, for example) but my earnest fear is that some critical safety information would be lost in the translation. ("Oh, so sorry. I meant to say DON'T press that button while in flight!")
--
They're not what you think, or what I thought. It is a forcefully (ballistic) deployed parachute attached to the helicopter. See here in relation to the GEN H-4.
I don't have a house. Alaska was happy enough to give me a card with limit of $10K.
:) And two first class upgrades.
Why would one need that much? Well, I have $600 in credit card bills per month (and put the car insurance on it as wel). And then a plane ticket can cost around $1200 for an over-seas trip. That leaves little room if the limit was around $2000 which was some of my earlier cards.
Did I mention that Alaska gives me miles for my spending and that I have enough for a round trip to Europe after only a year and a half?
"Would you rather have a playstation addicted dork wearing a star wars t-shirt?"
Okay, so if you're quite a bit less fat than I am you can fly this thing at 55mph (top speed) for an hour. Let's be slightly conservative and call it a 25 mile range for a round trip for a skinny person. In rain or high winds forget it. So what are its practical uses?
1. Getting to that remote fishing hole the lazy way.
2. Getting home from the bar with no chance of being pulled over.
3. Getting that aerial shot of your neighbor's wife sunbathing.
4. ????
5. Profit???
Well maybe getting home from the bar + fun factor = worth it.
Operator, give me the number for 911!
The SoloTrek will likely be available commercially at some point: http://www.solotrek.com/
The Moller Air Car is less likely: http://www.moller.com/skycar/
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
From the FAQ:
Q : How much weight can it carry?
A : Currently with 40 horse power the max. pilot weight is about 190 lbs.
Larger engines are in the works.
"Honey, get off the treadmill, I have 50lbs to lose!"
Oh, wait, been there, done that, got a (X-large) T-shirt...
Aw, hell, I'll just wait for the bigger engine.
Maybe I could use that GM 3.8L engine from the car... 200hp should do the trick.
Have EVDO, will travel.
If you hop over to the Japanese section, you will see it feels much more up to date, and there is even a photo gallery.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
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. ;-)
WebMaster:
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Check out Rotorway (http://www.rotorway.com/) which offers the Exec 162F as a kit helicopter. These things are supposedly a little bit more "twitchy" and not as forgiving as a bigger helicopter (less time to react and less angular momentum stored in the blades in the case of a power failure) but for $65k you get a well-tested and engineered system backed by a "real" company and not someone running an operation out of their garage. The system this article references seems to be the ultralight of the rotorcraft world and not the Cessna 162 or GlassAir...
Maybe the Canadian Air Force could replace their antiquated fleet of Sea Kings with these choppers.
How ya like dat?
2056@ 16:38PM? is that all that /.'s got in it?
Q : How much weight can it carry?
/. audience won't be able to ride. Get it... large.
A : Currently with 40 horse power the max. pilot weight is about 190 lbs.
Unfortunatly, a large portion of the
Ha ha ha ha.
*ducks and runs*
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
This thing should have flown long ago. Maybe with lousy fuel economy, range, and operating cost, but it should have flown. Lots of small thrust-type air vehicles were built in the 1950s and 1960s, and many ended up at the Hiller Aviation Museum in Redwood City, CA. They have a Hiller Flying Platform, which flew quite successfully. They also have a Rotorcycle, which is a one-person portable helicopter from 1957.
Ultralight helicopters have been available for a few years now. Ones slightly heavier than the ultralight category are better machines, though.
I was pretty excited about this thing until I made it to this FAQ entry:
Q : Can it auto-rotate? (descend safely in the case of engine failure)
A : No.
As cool as being able to fly around would be, I value my life. They say the provide a balistic parchute in case of engine failure. They don't seem to mention how you would survive going through the blades though. Do they detach, or do you just hope you're insanely lucky?
Life is too short to proofread.