I'd fly in that in a heartbeat.
It is a short range vertical takeoff and landing transport vehicle,
electric powered, with the possibility of a range extender in the
form of a small turbine/alternator or some small piston engine
alternator to charge the batteries.
Yes a helicopter with the same footprint may be more
*aerodynamically* efficient (although by my calculation the single
rotor helo equivalent disc area gives a total blade span of 8.5
meters which seems about right for a small two seat helo and there's
no tail rotor on the Volo) but what about the helo
engine/transmission efficiency? The electric motors in the Volo will
likely be around 95% efficient (you can run the range extender on the
ground to charge the batteries),
the control system is all solid state electronic, the prop blades are
simple FIXED pitch 2 bladers and there is no engine
failure/autorotation problem, the biggest problem with all vertical
flight vehicles.
I know a few people who fly and maintain helicopters for a living.
I'm sure if they read "But for larger scale a helicopter is not that
complicated - not as complicated as that many props, and more
efficient" they will roll around the floor laughing. Helicopters are
simply horrible mechanical devices with numerous failure modes, many
of them single point ones which will kill you.
Now the Volo guys are doing a great job proving their concept for
short range flight (it will also be quieter on takeoff and landing
than a normal helicopter - important in urban settings and the lack
of engine failure case means it will operate in urban settings -
increasingly this is not possible with single engined helicopters,
even turbine ones) but I think the concept has huge merit for a
vertical takeoff and landing fixed wing aircraft. There are quite a
few concepts and projects for this kind of thing of various sizes
from single seat to large cargo carriers. The numerous props can have
more than one motor driving each prop resulting in fewer props.
Mike
At 08:33 PM 18/05/2015, you wrote:
I just don't get em. On a small scale multi copters make sense,
since they are simpler. But for larger scale a helicopter is not
that complicated - not as complicated as that many props, and more
efficient. And just as easy to make automatic (or not) as a multi copter.
Scooter
On 18 May 2015, at 7:54 pm, Derek Ruddock
<<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]> wrote:
"You wouldn't get me up in one of those things"
<http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/fileadmin/volo-komplett-3.jpg>http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/fileadmin/volo-komplett-3.jpg
real product!
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