[56599]

Excellent innovative solution. Yes counter rotating rotor helicopters are nothing new. However, by keeping it simple with fixed pitch blade (no collective) and unique yaw contol using a electric motor to create differential rotor torque (no rudder via tail rotor pitch control needed) they have created a different and inovative way to contol a helicopter. Igor would be proud and I suspect intriqued. For all those that racists out there that say Japan Inc. is not creative this is certainly evidence to the contary. For us fixed winged pilots who have tried our hands at the more numerous flight controls of a helicopter this an interesting simplified alternative and could be used for larger applications. Excellent news tidbit MO.. thanks.

 

[56599]

GPTB members not allowed

The website says no pilots over 200lbs so no GPTB boys... Also it says a 155 lb pilot can go an hour on 5 gals of gas.

 

[56599]

No Auto-rotation

Well no collective means no auto-rotation. But you have all those motors connected to the roter so hopefully you could keep several going to keep the "wing" rotor going till you can glide safely down..

 

[56599]

Actually the creative Japanese engineers have made it so even the GPTB could fly it. i.e they have simplified the normal flight control system for helicopters kind of like how the cotrols for the Segway are simplied.. i.e if you didn't have computers the Segway would be impossilbe to control...

 

[56599]

Live to tell about it.

Yes I have lived through an auto-rotation. I was a heli-attack foreman when I fought forest fires....All I remember is feeling that my back had just compressed a couple of inches..Helicopter pilots swear they would rather be in chopper than a fixed aircraft after that I believed them..