Brandon Whitmore Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 http://dvice.com/archives/2008/02/tiny_personal_h.php
Steven Hockstein Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 It is just a matter of time until a drunken fool forgets to bend down and is decapitated with a "Personal Helicopter" only to be nominated for a Darwin Award!
MMustola Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 I would love one of those things! I'm going to start building it right away.
caryseidner Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 When I was in the Roofing Biz I used to have to set up a 40' ladder, by myself, about 25 times a week. It sucked and I repeatedly requested a jet pack. Of course I never got one. I'm not sure if it is the recording, my speakers or the actual sound of the engine,but that thang don't sound too good to me. And it looks like it could only replace a my 4' step ladder. I'll stick with my Telesteps & LG for now, but I got my fingers crossed!
hausdok Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 Hi, Actually, I suspect that it can fly quite high. The US Army had a personal helicopter back in the 50's. The plan was that a fellow could fly up high enough to peek over trees and hilltops and be able to guide forward artillery without exposing friendly forces to hostile fire. If you ever get a chance to visit the Army Transportation Museum at Ft. Eustis, Virginia you'll be able to see that helipack plus an early 50's flying platform that was the predecessor to hovercraft. It was round and the "pilot" stood in a metal cage at the very center on top and controlled it's ascent/descent with the throttle and leaned in the direction he wanted the thing to go. If memory serves, both the Japanese and the Germans had mini-gyrocopters that they used to tow behind submarines travelling on the surface so that the pilot/observer could spot aircraft over the horizon and they could reel him in, stow it and dive in time to set up an ambush. Last year there was a company in Asia that had built one of those personal helicopters. Again, my memory is deficient but I think it was priced at about $30K. The YouTube videos of it showed a young lady flying it but they never went more than about 10ft. off the ground or more than about 100 yards in any direction. The higher off the ground you go, the thinner the air. When you get to a certain height with that thing, you'd need to be pretty good at flying it 'cuz you're blades would lose too much lift and the thinner air would make your engine run crappier. Can you imagine the pilot losing lift and then trying to switch from powered mode to autorotational mode in mid flight while he's dropping like a wounded sparrow? Pretty hairy prospect! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike
Tom Raymond Posted February 5, 2009 Report Posted February 5, 2009 Just what we need is to look like Inspector Gadget.
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