Muscle-powered helo

[Gr.Viper 131]

I want one. Best workout rig ever.

[+streakeagle 871]

I love all of the human powered flying machines and adding a helicopter to the list of successes is fantastic!

Thanks for the link!

 

Leonardo Da Vinci is smiling.

I wonder what he would have accomplished if he had access to our materials and CAD software.

The closest modern equivalent in US aviation is Burt Rutan, but aerospace was just one facet of Da Vinci whereas that is all Burt Rutan ever focused on.

[MigBuster 2,884]

A few things they may not have considered.....

 

How do you steer it?

When you need a rest will it glide for about 30 mins while you put your feet up?

[Gr.Viper 131]

How do you steer it?

Steer? Indoors?

[MigBuster 2,884]

Ok well that raises another question

 

Whats the point of a helicopter that only flies indoors and cant go further than about 3 mtrs up and 2 mtrs sideways  

[+streakeagle 871]

It wasn't meant to be practical at all, but simply prove that a man could actually generate enough power to fly without the aid of any other power source. The key to flight is power-to-weight. The Wright-Brothers weren't recognized as first because they discovered aerodynamics. They were simply the first to realize that the recently developed internal combustion engine had the required power-to-weight to allow the air frame tech of that time to fly. Now, the modern lightweight materials permit dramatically much lighter airframes and hence a much lower power-to-weight requirement for propulsion. Despite lacking wind tunnel research and advanced materials, Da Vinci's ideas were very close to practical. It is great to see others validate his work on ornithopters, despite all the limitations  of man-powered flying machines. On worlds with lower gravity, this tech might even be practical some day.