The next big advance in flight?

[unixronin]

radarrider pointed out this article about a guy who may just have come up with a quieter, safer, more efficient replacement for the majority of helicopter applications.  This could be The Next Big Thing in aviation.

Comments

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Oh, sure, it's wide compared to a motorcycle wheel. But not compared to a helicopter's main rotor. :)

If you think about the motorcycle, though, you start out by countersteering opposite to the direction you want to turn. Once you're in the turn it's forward pressure on the inside grip that keeps you in the turn -- if you ease off the pressure, letting the wheel turn back in, the bike comes back up and you straighten out.

In the motorcycle case, though, there's traction forces at work too, in addition to the opposite direction of rotation. The two situations aren't precisely analogous -- that's why I can't quite get straight my head what the final effect of the resultant forces will be. And I don't have anything immediately at hand right now that I can use to test it.

Or maybe I do.... hmmm. I have a big-ass fan sitting on top of my monitor, blowing air through it to keep it cool enough to work properly. If I lift it free and turn it up to high, then twist it rapidly, it confirms my initial mental image that the resultant forces as you enter a turn will tend to bank the aircraft more into the turn. Since you'll probably be banking into the turn anyway, I believe there may also be a net resultant opposing the turn.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Not wide compared to a helicopter blade. True. Hrmmm.

But the mass of the unit might be heavier overall. And mass is part of what counts in a gyroscope.

You're right about the countersteering and the traction. So, again, I have no good idea what the effect will be.

I'd better just build something and test it before I go crazy.

-Ogre