Burt Rutan's BiPod Roadable Aircraft

Images via AviationWeekJust as Terrafugia's roadable aircraft is receiving government approval for driving on the highway, Burt Rutan is experimenting with a twin-cockpit version of his own roadable aircraft: the BiPod.

The Model 367 BiPod is a two-seat, hybrid-electric roadable aircraft. Originally conceived as a rapid, low-cost electric testbed, the effort evolved into a flying car and was accelerated to allow Rutan, a long-time advocate of personal electric aircraft, to see the vehicle completed before his retirement.

The BiPod was brought from preliminary design to its first flight on 30 March 2011 in just four months. So far, the aircraft has made several short hops along the main runway at Mojave, California, each time propelled briefly into the air by building up speed using the battery-powered driving wheels. The electric-powered propellers are not yet installed. _AviationWeek

These views are images of what the roadable aircraft is likely to look like at a more advanced stage of development. You can see the engine placement most clearly in the image below.

The photographs are from an exclusive provided to Aviation Week magazine by Scaled Composites, Rutan's company.

Roadable aircraft are likely to be popular with multiple groups of people, from small business owners and salespersons who need to travel medium distances regularly for work, to ordinarily affluent persons who want a quicker and more trouble-free way to get to the beach or lake cabin, to longer-distance commuters, to the status seeker and early adopter who just wants another notch on his belt. And don't forget the survival advantages of being able to get out of a dying city when all the freeways and suface streets are gridlocked.

An EU attempt to clear up city streets and take commuting to the sky is called the myCopter. The US Defense Department's DARPA is also trying to get into the roadable flyer market, on a different level.

Once one roadable aircraft has succeeded, expect many more to try to push into the market. And how long before a Chinese flying car hits the virtual skies? Stay safe up there.

Revolutionary D-Dalus Rotor Craft Debuts for Royal Society

The revolutionary Austrian hovercraft design -- D-Dalus -- was recently exhibited at the Royal Aeronautical Society. The craft is still early in the development stage, but the claims flying around the future capabilities of the future craft are astronomical.

At the heart of D-DALUS is a revolutionary propulsion system containing a number of patented inventions, including a friction free bearing at the points of high G force, and a system that keeps propulsion in dynamic equilibrium, thereby allowing the guidance system to quickly restore stability in flight.

The propulsion consists of 4 sets of contra-rotating disks, each set driven at the same rpm by a conventional aero-engine. The disks are surrounded by blades whose angle of attack can be altered by off-setting the axis of the rotating disks. As each blade can be given a different angle of attack, the resulting main thrust can be in any required direction in 360° around any axis. This allows the craft to launch vertically, remain in a fixed position in the air, travel in any direction, rotate in any direction, and thrust upwards thereby ‘gluing down’ on landing. _D-Dalus Detail

Austrian research company IAT21 has presented a new type of aircraft at the Paris Air Show which has the potential to become aviation's first disruptive technology since the jet engine.

The D-Dalus (a play on Daedalus from Greek mythology) is neither fixed wing or rotor craft and uses four, mechanically-linked, contra-rotating cylindrical turbines, each running at the same 2200 rpm, for its propulsion.

The key to the D-Dalus' extreme maneuverability is the facility to alter the angle of the blades (using servos) to vector the forces, meaning that the thrust can be delivered in your choice of 360 degrees around any of the three axes. Hence D-Dalus can launch vertically, hover perfectly still and move in any direction, and that's just the start of the story. _Gizmag_via_NextBigFuture

This propulsion system may eventually scale from the microscopic to the size of large freight haulers. I suspect it will be pursued initially as a spy and surveillance platform, and as an insertion and extraction method for special ops teams. Also as remotely-operated stealthy substitutes for attack helicopters such as the Apache. Eventually, it may provide the platform for flying cars and flying boats, among other consumer and adventure toys.

The most obvious and immediate application for D-Dalus is as a little flying spy robot that can fly in doors and windows and snoop around indoors. Larger versions would be perfect for search and rescue missions, and the designers even think that in the long term, vehicles based on this technology might be what you use to commute to work. That's right — flying cars! _Dvice

I suspect that these toys will prove quite expensive to buy, operate, and maintain, but I would like to be proven wrong about that. At this point, they are at the prototype stage, and may not become reliable enough for even military use for quite some time.

Adapted from an article previously published at Al Fin, The Next Level

Halo Interceptor Multi-Functional Vehicle w/Attachments

The Halo Intersceptor is a concept vehicular hub, which begins as a sports car. With attachments, the Halo can be converted to a helicopter, a catamaran speedboat, or a jet aircraft. Conceivably a submarine attachment could be designed as easily as the cat speedboat or jet flyer.

Each attachment must be carefully maintained and stored until needed. Of course the attachments could be stored in different locations of maximum anticipated need. Attachments could even be shipped by boat or rail to the next location of use -- or you could have multiple attachments ready at several locations if you have the budget for it.
H/T Brian Wang

Al Fin operatives prefer a single vehicle which is self-modifiable without attachments, to serve multiple functions. But it is easy to imagine larger organisations such as the US military incorporating a HumVee hubbed multi-functional vehicle that can act as either helicopter or hovercraft, besides its basic land function.

Fast Helicopters and Flying HumVees

DangerRoom

DARPA aims to power its flying humvee with a diesel engine, giving it extra range.

According to a company statement, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne are going to model the Transformer engine on their EnduroCORE, a diesel engine that generates a “high power-to-weight ratio comparable to gas turbines.” It’ll need to. Darpa’s specifications for the flying Humvee require the Transformer to stay in the air carrying up to 1000 pounds for up to 250 miles without refueling. Diesel’s energy efficiency apparently satisfied Darpa’s suggestion that the Transformer be at least somewhat green. _DangerRoom

Meanwhile, Brian Wang brings us up to date on the speed duel between the EurocopterX3 and Sikorsky's X2 supercopter.

The X3 has so far only flown once, in a 35-minute flight that tested its hovering behaviour and Billig says it performed as designed. It won't be going for any high speed attempts until late 2011, but they are initially aiming to bust 400 km/h.

Sikorsky is already well on the way to achieving its speed aim of over 500 km/h. In a test flight in September, the X2 unofficially broke the previous record of 400 km/h, which was set by the Westland Lynx in 1986. The X2 achieved 463 km/h, but due to its propellers, it is unclear if the craft will be recognised in the same category by the FAI, the world's air sports federation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, that oversees aviation records. _BrianWang

EurocopterX3

Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft provide crucial functionality for both military and civilian applications. The race for more speed and maneuverability is likely to continue for some time.

Combining land travel with VTOL capability in the same vehicle makes sense for military and expedition-type enterprises. Land travel uses much less fuel, and allows you to take advantage of land-based fuel caches which may not be accessible directly by air. Being able to hop over rivers, canyons, and other obstacles expedites progress toward an objective.

The advantage of a craft that combines the ability to fly, to travel over the surface of water, and to travel over all terrain land surfaces should also be obvious to any would-be Galtist or survivalist.

Homemade High Voltage Coilgun: When Timeout Is Not Enough

Raising a bright and willful child is not always easy. For the times when a timeout does not convince the little tyke to conform to the plan, a shock from a high voltage coil will often do the trick. And if not? A rubber-tipped metallic projectile fired from this homemade coilgun will almost certainly induce compliance. Particularly if you emphasise that the rubber tip can always be removed. ;-)

Oh, about the unconventional child-rearing practises above? Just kidding. I have always been more of a Montessori custodian myself.

From Makezine via Popsci

Faster than a $20 Hooker and At Least Twice as Fun

The X2 is an experimental helicopter being developed by Sikorsky, an American company, at a test-flight centre in Florida. It recently flew at more than 430kph (267mph), according to a report in Spectrum, published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. _Economist

ImageSource

Sikorsky's X2 experimental prototype is being developed in order to bring speed to the commercial helicopter industry. The X2 has already flown faster than the official speed record for helicopters, but not officially.

To make an official attempt on the record, Sikorsky will need to have the flight monitored by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, which compiles airspeed records. But that is unlikely to happen until the X2 is going even faster. Later this year, Sikorsky hopes it will be zipping along at more than 460kph. The company, however, is interested in more than just breaking speed records. It plans to use the technology developed for the X2 in commercial helicopters.

...it uses two counter-rotating rotors that spin around the same axis, one positioned above the other. So in forward flight each rotor can produce an equal amount of lift on each side, thus providing balance. The idea has been around for some time, but it proved difficult to make it work properly.

What has changed are technological advances in aircraft engineering and control systems. Now, vibrations can be reduced using “active control”, which involves placing sensors around the helicopter to detect the onset of vibration and then using force generators on various parts of the frame to vibrate in such a way that they cancel out the original tremors. Advanced computer modelling has also made it possible to design more efficient rotors. A pusher propeller has been fitted at the rear of the X2 to provide extra oomph. According to the engineers, this propeller can also be used to slow the helicopter snappily. And computerised “fly-by-wire” controls allow the X2 to be flown relatively easily.

Sikorsky reckons that future helicopters built using the X2 technology would be extremely versatile machines. They would dash to and from a medical emergency a lot faster. They would also be very agile in flight, which would increase their capabilities in combat. Sikorsky has already produced a simulator so that potential customers can experience what these fast helicopters will be like to fly. Plenty of whirlybird pilots will be keen to get their hands on the real thing. _Economist

It may be some time before ducted fan technology is able to match the new capabilities of the X2. But I have a feeling that VTOL flying is going to become a lot more exciting.

H/T Bruce Hall