In this era of aviation technology, airplanes are considered one of the safest and heavily monitored means of transport for the public. But when the Wright brothers first began to test their powered flights in 1903, the situation was quite different as such experiments were dangerous and life-threatening.
But they weren’t the last ones to try either. Even today, some mad scientists with a little backyard engineering and the unbelievable willingness to risk their health and lives continue to push the boundaries of multi-rotor levitation. These enthusiasts are taking the ultimate gamble: either they make the right calculations and this thing would work or else it will stop and fall down in mid-air and they might get injured or worse, die.
A Swedish engineer who is also a do-it-yourself enthusiast, tested his self-made flying carpet multi-rotor just recently. Imagine eight heavy duty propellers powered by petrol, a tube lattice frame, a wired R/C controller and a simple, boxy seat. Makes a nice flying chair, eh? What could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot. This man displays extraordinary courage in trying to self-test his flight.
This flying chair uses power from petrol in combustion engines. Pros; combustion engines can carry more fuel and refuel quickly as compared to the common electric engine. Cons; mechanically complex, high temperature coupled with flammable liquid and most importantly, gas engines are not suitable to provide stability to a flying object. Additionally, the response of combustion engines to throttle inputs is relatively slow, which matters a lot when you have a controller constantly trying to adjust speeds to keep the flying object stable in the air.
The maker of this manned multi-copter has gone through several trials and tests on his flying platform. About 5 months ago, one such test backfired horribly. The engine failed and the copter sped into trees, wrecking itself eventually. Fortunately, the flying chair was not manned and was being controlled remotely.
But even a dismembered flying platform could not stop him and he rebuilt the craft and tested it a few weeks back. He posted the new videos on YouTube that show him seated in his flying chair and levitating up to about 15 feet.
“It’s a really nice flight feeling,” he tells the camera, “you can really feel that you’re up in a thin medium.”
It looks like a flying chair or a flying carpet and makes a lot of commotion, so he is testing his craft in the middle of some remote forest- alone. In case things go south, there would be no one to help him out.
A shout-out to this wonderful enthusiast, may his propellers and big end bearings remain intact and may he succeed in what he set out to do.
