Thanks for the comment! Prop failure during gear-up landings is not a huge problem, at least not bigger than with regular prop aircraft. First, the fuselage and props are made out of carbon fiber, which makes the fuse almost impenetrable, and the blades have less inertia. Second, landing gear on the 7-seater is set to deploy in case of failure. Third, the VC now features ballistic parachutes, for extra safety (you can turn the props off if you wish, once the chute is open.
The strength of this plane is, that it offers near-VTOL performance in its most basic configuration. No puffers means less weight and less cost. The full-scale Verticopter is conceptualized as a STOVL, with the ability to upgrade to VTOL depending on the practicality of the proposed solutions. For the consumer, this will ultimately mean, higher purchase and maintenance cost, more weight, and more complexity. Otherwise, yes; the features discussed in this video are planned for implementation.
This is an amazing aircraft... I could see the benefits of maybe adding turbo props or collective pitch blades that can switch to zero or negative collective... That would allow engine speed and power to be maintained at a steady or high output while still allowing decent so when power is quickly needed it is there without having the delay of engines coming back up to speed & power levels... This is an ingenious design, I can see flying cars of the future being like this...
Looks like you have an answer for everything! I can't wait for these to hit market. 2M$ is a small price to pay for the functionality of a helicopter and the speed of an aircraft. The central prop design seems far superior to tilt-rotors. Congratulations for finding such an innovative solution to the helicopter/aircraft dichotomy.
Braking can be done quite effectively using the air brakes (differentially deflected inner and outer elevons). If more braking power is needed, the pilot can "Flare" like a helicopter (pitch the nose up while in vertical mode). Providing any more mid-air braking power than this in flight is a liability, since tilting the propellers past 90 degrees can cause loss of control. The plane is not designed to fly backwards., but yes, the exhaust of the engines COULD be used to feed the puffers.
@carmatic We haven't had the possibility to try it yet. RC planes have made several successful "Dead Stick" landings, but the propellers are fixed-pitch, so no feathering or autogyroing is possible with the models. However, it is quite likely that the props' rotational inertia would be enough to at least dampen the landing, using autogyro principles; increase prop RPM by pointing them into the oncoming air, and then point them vertically, while increasing the pitch of the props b/4 landing.
It's an interesting suggestion, but to work with where the propwash points "on average" just wouldn't cut it for this design. The idea of putting some control surfaces in the propwash is not bad, and it may become a future development of this plane, but for now we're aiming to prove the concept with the assumption that it's a STOVL, not a VTOL. How we hope to achieve full VTOL, that's something we've already got some very good ideas for.
It really is hard to say. There are so many factors. But for sure it would go faster if people were to "buy in" to the idea, literally. With investors, the plane could be developed a lot faster. Watch the latest video to get an idea for how long it's taken to get to this point. (search for "Verticopter 1.5")
have you thought about adding a control surface on the rear bottom side of the prop hole? that is where the prop is pointed 'on average' it could be a horizontal, lateral surface, like a flap, pointed downwards during hover, and back during forward flight... it could be used to actively stabilize the transitions or it could be a vertical surface, moving side to side...it gives roll stability when there is no authority on the elevons or you could combine them into a V configuration...
The last idea in your post would not be too good... the props can be used for something like autorotation. When they're in vertical mode, they can help cushion the plane's landing, in case of engine failure. But I guess you were asking about landing gear failure. Any plane with landing gear failure will sustain damages... and the Verticopter would be no more dangerous than any other plane from such failure. (Think of twin turboprops. I wouldn't be inside one of those during LG faiure!)
Beautiful design, I'd love to be on the design team for this magnificent aircraft. One question that's bugging me though: what measures are in place to stop the propellers in the event of a gears-up landing? Having a 6000 rpm propeller hitting the ground would cause catastrophic damage. Would the counter measure be a forced deployment of the landing gear? (ballistic pistons) Or rather would it be some brake to stop the prop?
continued from my last message assuming that the exhaust from the engines can be used for thrust... it could be vectored backwards by default, downwards as necessary to counter the nose-up tendency, and maybe forwards for braking too?
I love it !! I WANT one!! curius.. how is the problem solved with different weight in the nose relativ to the center of gravity of the plane..? I fully understand the concept of counter weight. But nice to see the koncept on this plane.. Love the plane! =)
i have also been wondering about a both-engine failure, or fuel outage situation.... have you tried to see if you can make it glide further by using your plan of autogyroing the propellers, or if you feather the propellers and use the plane as a pure glider?
Thanks for the comment!
Prop failure during gear-up landings is not a huge problem, at least not bigger than with regular prop aircraft. First, the fuselage and props are made out of carbon fiber, which makes the fuse almost impenetrable, and the blades have less inertia. Second, landing gear on the 7-seater is set to deploy in case of failure. Third, the VC now features ballistic parachutes, for extra safety (you can turn the props off if you wish, once the chute is open.
That plane looks just stunning ! Please, make this thing to happen in real !
The strength of this plane is, that it offers near-VTOL performance in its most basic configuration. No puffers means less weight and less cost. The full-scale Verticopter is conceptualized as a STOVL, with the ability to upgrade to VTOL depending on the practicality of the proposed solutions. For the consumer, this will ultimately mean, higher purchase and maintenance cost, more weight, and more complexity.
Otherwise, yes; the features discussed in this video are planned for implementation.
This is an amazing aircraft... I could see the benefits of maybe adding turbo props or collective pitch blades that can switch to zero or negative collective... That would allow engine speed and power to be maintained at a steady or high output while still allowing decent so when power is quickly needed it is there without having the delay of engines coming back up to speed & power levels... This is an ingenious design, I can see flying cars of the future being like this...
Looks like you have an answer for everything! I can't wait for these to hit market. 2M$ is a small price to pay for the functionality of a helicopter and the speed of an aircraft. The central prop design seems far superior to tilt-rotors. Congratulations for finding such an innovative solution to the helicopter/aircraft dichotomy.
I totally, 100%, wholeheartely agree! We're working on a 20% scale RC prototype for mass production right now. Keep watching my channel.
And you're using X-Plane in the process?
Dan, you are a legend - no brown-nosing intended.
Braking can be done quite effectively using the air brakes (differentially deflected inner and outer elevons). If more braking power is needed, the pilot can "Flare" like a helicopter (pitch the nose up while in vertical mode).
Providing any more mid-air braking power than this in flight is a liability, since tilting the propellers past 90 degrees can cause loss of control. The plane is not designed to fly backwards., but yes, the exhaust of the engines COULD be used to feed the puffers.
The new version of the Verticopter effectively eliminates any pitch-up tendency anyways. The latest video explains it. (Verticopter 1.5)
Yes, I'm working with them on the design of the Verticopter.
@carmatic
We haven't had the possibility to try it yet. RC planes have made several successful "Dead Stick" landings, but the propellers are fixed-pitch, so no feathering or autogyroing is possible with the models. However, it is quite likely that the props' rotational inertia would be enough to at least dampen the landing, using autogyro principles; increase prop RPM by pointing them into the oncoming air, and then point them vertically, while increasing the pitch of the props b/4 landing.
It's an interesting suggestion, but to work with where the propwash points "on average" just wouldn't cut it for this design.
The idea of putting some control surfaces in the propwash is not bad, and it may become a future development of this plane, but for now we're aiming to prove the concept with the assumption that it's a STOVL, not a VTOL.
How we hope to achieve full VTOL, that's something we've already got some very good ideas for.
Im trying but its going to be an utter failure because your the best modeler I know of
Not yet. Prototypes are done and flying, but mass production is still not ready.
It really is hard to say. There are so many factors. But for sure it would go faster if people were to "buy in" to the idea, literally. With investors, the plane could be developed a lot faster.
Watch the latest video to get an idea for how long it's taken to get to this point. (search for "Verticopter 1.5")
have you thought about adding a control surface on the rear bottom side of the prop hole? that is where the prop is pointed 'on average'
it could be a horizontal, lateral surface, like a flap, pointed downwards during hover, and back during forward flight... it could be used to actively stabilize the transitions
or it could be a vertical surface, moving side to side...it gives roll stability when there is no authority on the elevons
or you could combine them into a V configuration...
The last idea in your post would not be too good... the props can be used for something like autorotation. When they're in vertical mode, they can help cushion the plane's landing, in case of engine failure. But I guess you were asking about landing gear failure.
Any plane with landing gear failure will sustain damages... and the Verticopter would be no more dangerous than any other plane from such failure. (Think of twin turboprops. I wouldn't be inside one of those during LG faiure!)
Beautiful design, I'd love to be on the design team for this magnificent aircraft. One question that's bugging me though: what measures are in place to stop the propellers in the event of a gears-up landing? Having a 6000 rpm propeller hitting the ground would cause catastrophic damage. Would the counter measure be a forced deployment of the landing gear? (ballistic pistons) Or rather would it be some brake to stop the prop?
I find that a kill rotation button would be useful.
The new one is basically an Osprey with a box wing design.
continued from my last message
assuming that the exhaust from the engines can be used for thrust... it could be vectored backwards by default, downwards as necessary to counter the nose-up tendency, and maybe forwards for braking too?
I love it !! I WANT one!!
curius.. how is the problem solved with different weight in the nose relativ to the center of gravity of the plane..? I fully understand the concept of counter weight. But nice to see the koncept on this plane.. Love the plane! =)
You should make the FA-37 Talon
@carmatic
Not only top secret, they're also as of yet in their testing phase.
Great plane ! hope to see it real soon ! but not for military use ! :(
i have also been wondering about a both-engine failure, or fuel outage situation....
have you tried to see if you can make it glide further by using your plan of autogyroing the propellers, or if you feather the propellers and use the plane as a pure glider?
X-Plane.
Sign up for my RUclips channel. More info on the latest progress on the Verticopter coming real soon.
@chris3992
You can use your mouse, as mentioned in this tutorial, but it's not recommended, as it will limit the Verticopter's functionality.
Verticopter doesn't look like this anymore. The new one is just a tilt rotor. :/
I should make it?
YOU should make it! You can try it by watching the tutorials on my channel.
@rokyfox
This is part 2 of a 2-part series. Your questions are all answered in the first part.
where can i buy 1 given up on cars.
Hi!
Is there any chance of buying the aircraft in rc mode??
Totally amasing!
Hi Dan,
Do you have some sort of affiliation with Garrow Aircraft?
was this game made in blender?
and is this plane real?
its soooooooo sexy, cant wate for this to be fully developed