1969912 0 #1 September 24, 2011 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/21/china-gentleman-builds-homemade-flying-contraption-powered-by-eight-motorcycle-engines.html Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dQr_CKR7Vw&feature=player_embedded Found through http://hackaday.com/ "Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ." -NickDG Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonstark 8 #2 September 24, 2011 That thing looks like trying to fly a blender from the inside! jon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
humanflite 0 #3 September 25, 2011 QuoteThat thing looks like trying to fly a blender from the inside! jon bingo!! apart from the fact it doesnt fly, I think its very amusing! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nt8us 0 #4 September 25, 2011 kinda reminds me of steve snyders contraption from the early 60's Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sacex250 0 #5 September 25, 2011 How about this one? Tilt-Rotor on the CheapIt's all been said before, no sense repeating it here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #6 September 25, 2011 QuoteThat thing looks like trying to fly a blender from the inside! Yeah, he needs to at least put some mesh screen across the top so that if he falls out of his little flying box in the middle he won't be sliced and diced to death. Yikes! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theplummeter 14 #7 September 25, 2011 I wouldn't want to be at the same level as a wooden prop if it separated either. It seems to me like a much better balance option would be to lift the ring up and mount the control box underneath. I also think a single powerplant (maybe a turbine) that turned all of the props either via belts or shafts would even out the power distribution, but I'm guessing a Chinese backyard experiment budget wouldn't cover one. Kudos to him though. He has obviously amassed some technical knowledge and combined it with imagination. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
david3 0 #8 September 25, 2011 Quote Kudos to him though. He has obviously amassed some technical knowledge and combined it with imagination. +1 If he gets killed, he will get killed living not sitting on his couch. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CloudyHead 0 #9 September 25, 2011 hope he uses ear plugs Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Divinfool 0 #10 September 25, 2011 Early nomination for the Darwin awards!Fear is the thief of dreams..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davelepka 4 #11 September 25, 2011 What's the point of the fabric surrounds for the cockpit and some of the engines? It's not like they're going to 'protect' anyone from anything. One of them is already burning up from the exhaust running through it. Did anyone else notice that the 'craft' was built in an closed courtyard next to a pool table? Was he really thinking he could fly it up out of there on the first try? Most aricraft I have seen have been built and tested on an airfield, or at least in an open space. The way that thing was pitching around when he was tyring to 'fly' it, that guy is going to get knocked out of the cockpit and, well, we all know what happens next. Can you wash blood out of the felt on a pool table? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
virgin-burner 1 #12 September 25, 2011 it's still pretty cool! “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lurch 0 #13 September 25, 2011 THAT, is the kind of thing -I- would build, although I'd have thought it through a bit more thoroughly since if I'm going to take the trouble to make a gadget I want it to actually WORK. Having spent much of my life whipping up one gadget or another I can say with authority that 3/4 of the fun is in the building of the gadget itself. Guarantee that guy is having the time of his life with that toy, and to his neighbors, he's a god. A noisy god, but a god nevertheless. -BLive and learn... or die, and teach by example. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 14 #14 September 25, 2011 I admire his ingenuity and building talents. Like many early experimenters in aviation, it appears he gave little consideration to controlling his flying machine. And the frame appears to be larger (thus heavier) than it needs to be. But still, A+ for trying it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,379 #15 September 25, 2011 >I also think a single powerplant (maybe a turbine) that turned all of the props either >via belts or shafts would even out the power distribution . . . Single point of failure. With the right control system his craft could land after losing an engine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bio-Missile 0 #16 September 25, 2011 Quote What's the point of the fabric surrounds for the cockpit and some of the engines? It's not like they're going to 'protect' anyone from anything. One of them is already burning up from the exhaust running through it. Did anyone else notice that the 'craft' was built in an closed courtyard next to a pool table? Was he really thinking he could fly it up out of there on the first try? Most aricraft I have seen have been built and tested on an airfield, or at least in an open space. The way that thing was pitching around when he was tyring to 'fly' it, that guy is going to get knocked out of the cockpit and, well, we all know what happens next. Can you wash blood out of the felt on a pool table? It's so easy to judge others from High on your hill, when you have the opportunities and education that a 1st world upbringing gives. Mad props to the guy, at least he's built it, not sitting in his armchair criticizing others for trying. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davelepka 4 #17 September 25, 2011 QuoteIt's so easy to judge others from High on your hill, when you have the opportunities and education that a 1st world upbringing gives. Excuse me for getting in the way of your bleeding heart. I'm sure the huddled masses of the world are thankful for people like you. It doesn't take any education at all to realize that if you're sitting above a collection of spinning propellers, falling down would be a very bad thing. Last time I checked, even in 3rd world countries everyone falls down, not up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 3 #18 September 25, 2011 QuoteMad props to the guy, at least he's built it, not sitting in his armchair criticizing others for trying. Unfortunately, that's not how the real world works. We generally don't reward complete and utterly miserable failures no matter how much blood, sweat and tears goes into the effort. (Otherwise, I'd be a bazillionaire.) And we especially don't reward failures likely to kill people. While his basic premise is sound (enough horsepower makes anything flyable), his lack of knowledge in the area of control is showing rather badly. Watching the YouTube video of him attempting to pop this thing above ground effect is simply painful to watch. With each and every successive crash to the ground I expect to see a catastrophic failure that's going to not just kill him, but all his helpers as well. This guy needs to be mocked until he can prove to us he knows what he's doing and hopefully before he kills somebody.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bio-Missile 0 #19 September 26, 2011 Quote This guy needs to be mocked until he can prove to us he knows what he's doing and hopefully before he kills somebody. Seriously, It comments like this that simply amaze me,The amount of people on web forums that can type vast quantities of text and yet display very little in the way of intellect or rational thought is staggering, this site seems to be over supplied. I'll go back to lurking Less chance of provoking stupidity I think. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BobMoore 0 #20 September 26, 2011 This might have been his inspiration. http://www.mikrokopter.de/ucwiki/en/MikroKopter"For you see, an airplane is an airplane. A landing area is a landing area. But a dropzone... a dropzone is the people." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davelepka 4 #21 September 26, 2011 QuoteThe amount of people on web forums that can type vast quantities of text and yet display very little in the way of intellect or rational thought is staggering, this site seems to be over supplied Really? I hate to burst your humanitarian bubble, but you realize the reason the video ever made it anywhere on the web, let alone to this site, is because it's a goof. Nobody is watching it and swelling up with pride because of the guy's triumph over adversity to build a revolutionary flying machine. Nobody. As previously stated, the design is an enlargement of a very popular RC aircraft that's being sold by the millions all over the web. It's nothing new and he didn't think of it. Beyond that, the underprivledged third-world builder somehwo got access to 8 motorcycle engines, 8 wooden props, 8 electronic tachs, what looks like a couple hundred feet of sqaure tube and a welder. It would be one thing if they guy built it all out of bamboo and cocconut shells like on Gilligans Island, but it's clear that while the guy is not an aeronautical genius, he's obviously got no shortage of fabrication skills or acees to raw materials. For you to overlook that, and then comment on others lack of rational thought is, well, irrational. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
obelixtim 100 #22 September 26, 2011 If he manages to get that thing 10 feet off the ground, and then has an engine failure, he's mince..... Obviously quite skilled at fabrication though.My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,379 #23 September 26, 2011 >If he manages to get that thing 10 feet off the ground, and then has an engine failure, he's mince..... That's the advantage of 8 engines. Design it to maintain altitude with 4 and you can handle a single failure. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
obelixtim 100 #24 September 26, 2011 Quote>If he manages to get that thing 10 feet off the ground, and then has an engine failure, he's mince..... That's the advantage of 8 engines. Design it to maintain altitude with 4 and you can handle a single failure. As long as he's got his weight and balance properly figured out, which seems part of his current problem.... As long as he is ready for it and has a contingency plan that he instantly enacts....He could easily shut down another one by mistake, if he tries to rectify the situation in a sudden panic. If it tilts and hits the ground on any decent angle and has a prop strike on the ground, that thing is going to destroy itself pretty quickly, with multiple bits of wooden shrapnel flying everywhere. Whatever, its not something I'd like to be anywhere near, that thing will fly to bits pretty quick. He's definitely on hamburger road though......My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,379 #25 September 26, 2011 >As long as he is ready for it and has a contingency plan that he instantly enacts....He >could easily shut down another one by mistake, if he tries to rectify the situation in a >sudden panic. Even with purely mechanical controls (as long as they're integrated) he shouldn't need to do anything unusual. The most straightforward way to implement the control system is to copy a helicopter. Forward stick increases power to the 6 o'clock engine, reduces power to the 12 o'clock engine, and increases and decreases power to the 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 and 10:30 engines proportionally. (Doesn't affect the 3 or 9 o'clock engines.) Side stick does the same thing, but rotated 90 degrees. For yaw you control the relative thrust of the counterrotating engines. Pedal left increases power to all the clockwise engines, pedal right increases power to all the counterclockwise engines. In a scheme like that one you do exactly what comes naturally to counter an engine failure. Nose dropping? Pull back. Left side dropping? Roll right. Sudden yaw left? Right rudder. (Of course with computerized controls it's even easier than that.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
