An Entirely New Class of Aircraft Arrives

fergus07 writes "Austrian research company IAT21 has presented a new type of aircraft at the Paris Air Show, which has the potential to become aviation's first disruptive technology since the jet engine. Neither fixed wing nor rotor craft, the D-Dalus uses four mechanically-linked, contra-rotating, cylindrical turbines for its propulsion, and by altering the angle of the blades, it can launch vertically, hover perfectly still, move in any direction, and thrust upwards and hence 'glue down' upon landing, which it can easily do on the deck of a ship, or even a moving vehicle. It's also almost silent, has the dynamic stability to enter buildings, handles rough weather with ease, flies very long distances very quickly and can lift very heavy loads. It accordingly holds immense promise as a platform for personal flight, for military usage, search and rescue, and much more."

Comments

Voith Schneider Propeller

[bre_dnd]

It looks like the Voith Schneider Propeller as used on tugboats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voith_Schneider_Propeller -- but spinning faster, displacing air instead of water, and rotated so it can generate up/downward thrust.

The wikipedia page also has an animation showing how it works.

Not a fake, but seriously overhyped

[Mostly a lurker]

Right now, the focus seems to be on the UAV market. If the technology is ever used for manned flight, this will not be for a long time. Whether the technology is truly a major advance for UAVs in constrained spaces (the current objective) we shall need to wait and see. From the company website:

The current status of D-DALUS D-DALUS is currently in prototype stage. Over recent weeks IAT21 have conducted extensive constrained flight tests in a specially prepared laboratory near Salzburg, including the transition from vertical to forward flight, and are now ready to move to an open test range for free flight tests. In trials to date D-DALUS has met the performance criteria placed upon it and appears to be scalable, becoming more efficient and less complex as it increases in size. It will therefore be ideally suited for applications that range from maritime search and rescue, through the carriage of freight, to operating alongside and within buildings during fires or, for example, nuclear accidents.

Re:Flettner rotor, not Voith Schneider Propeller?

[advocate_one]

completely and utterly different principle of operation. Magnus lift is the force that occurs when an airflow is passed around a rotating cylinder whilst the cylinder is moving... this new device is a rotating array of aerofoils and relies on the angle of attack being changed as the foils move around the axis... there is no motion through the air by the entire assembly required to generate lift... merely the rotation of the blade assembly around it's axis.

Re:lol

[Goldenhawk]

>How many aircraft have been swept off a deck of a carrier after landing? NONE! Gravity keeps them there.

Sorry to argue but the answer is not "NONE", it's PLENTY. Gravity's great, but have you ever really watched a ship move in heavy seas? 30+ degree rolls are not uncommon, and when big pitching motion is encountered, the deck can actually move out from underneath you at nearly 0g.

I work around a bunch of guys who test carrier-based rotorcraft for the US Navy, and I can tell you (from having watched more than a few of the horror-story videos from testing) that this is a very real risk.

Here's a prime example from real life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZSc5T-iUO4
Sorry, but gravity didn't really do much to help here.

More short clips of ugly sea conditions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4MbCu_YRM4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Mwd-3Kf-4 (0:33 and on)

Sticking a helo to the deck in rolling seas is NOT a trivial business, and downthrust or some mechanical hold-down is essential. It's not such a big deal for a carrier which doesn't move all that much, but every US Navy destroyer which hosts helos includes a winch-down system of some kind. Some are employed at great personal risk to the sailor who must run out under a hovering helo on a deck that's rolling over 10 deg back and forth every few seconds, hook up a cable (with a huge static shock risk), and run back out of harm's way while the cable literally pulls the helo down to the deck into the right position and holds it there. Some are lock-down systems that grab a probe sticking down from the bottom of the helo. You can see that probe and lock system here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wWF9hDgl7E

Re:Video

[yodleboy]

FYI: many planes these days from ultralights up to aircraft like the Cirrus SR22 which runs up to $500k have ballistic parachutes either standard or as an option. It's not a new concept to have a whole plane parachute and there are videos on youtube you can check out to see them working.
There's still a lot of debate over effectiveness. There aren't that many plane crashes, and even fewer crash that have ballistic parachutes, so data is limited. Also, a large number of general aviation accidents happen at low speed and low altitude, such as take off and landing. Unfortunately, this is exactly the place where ballistic parachutes are least effective. So, the jury is still out, but I'd personally rather have the chute, rather than not have it and be in a situation where it would have helped...

Re:Video

[adolf]

I didn't have to dig very hard -- at all -- to find this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50cpPAVoxJQ

4 Sheridan tanks airdropped by parachute from way, way more than 10 feet up.

Not a very heavy tank by the looks of things, but still . . .