Heavy Z Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 Gotta love ebay, check this out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavy Z Posted January 12, 2003 Author Share Posted January 12, 2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverz Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 reminds me of the guy who put jato rockets on his car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudge Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 Wow, that would be a rockin commuter, provided good weather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatorx Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 It's an interesting re-adaptation of an old idea. The US Army funded several similar projects in the '50's and 60's (flying platform and flying jeep) with limited success - the biggest issue with these type of vehicles is it's hard to find a test pilot willing to try an engine out procedure! I'd hate to be the first one....it won't autorotate like a helicopter, has no provision for a parachute recovery (you'd need altitude for that anyway) and has the aerodynamics of a brick. How come Bond isn't using it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 Read the deal. You can buy it but you can't fly it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatorx Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 Well, if I was going to spend (OK, IF I HAD) the $1 million they say it will command, you bet your ass I'd fly it! The agreement with the builder not to fly it is to deflect insurance liability for the certain death of the new owner... ...here's a predesessor from the late '50's, and it did autorotate: "Hundreds of United States Army, Navy, and Marine Corps helicopters operated during the Korean War, yet the enemy continued to capture American aircrews downed in hostile territory. Time was the critical factor. Any delay to the rescue helicopter, whether from weather, mechanical problems, or enemy action, meant almost certain capture. Near the end of the war, Marine Corps leaders saw a potential breakthrough in helping aircrews evade the enemy and return to friendly territory. Since World War II, the captains of the helicopter industry measured the progress of rotorcraft development in leaps and bounds. In particular, the trend toward smaller and lighter helicopters was remarkable. In 1953, the U. S. Navy, on behalf of the U. S. Marine Corps, announced a competition to design and build a one-man helicopter. The aircraft had to be man-portable, small and compact in storage but quick to assemble by one person. Aircrews would carry this tiny aircraft with them on every mission and if forced down, fly it to friendly territory. Marine Corps leaders also hoped the aircraft might give individual infantrymen air mobility for special tactical missions. Thirty firms competed for the contract, but the Navy selected only two, the Hiller ---Aircraft Company and the Gyrodyne Company of America. The Marine's judged Gyrodyne's YRON-1 design (with twin, coaxial, main rotor) impractical for one-man operation. Later, the Navy adopted this concept as the Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter (DASH) and several of these rotorcraft operated from destroyers with decks too small to mount helipads. Hiller won the contract and began to develop an innovative flying machine designated the XROE-1. The firm also appended the name 'Rotorcycle' to the new aircraft. Since Stanley Hiller flew his first helicopter, the XH-44 Hiller-Copter (see NASM collection), in 1944, the young inventor from California had earned a reputation for unique and innovative approaches to vertical flight. Hiller's experimental research division had developed and flown the ramjet-powered HOE-1 and the Model 1031 Flying Platform (see NASM collection for both aircraft). The prototype Rotorcycle weighed a scant 132 kg (290 lb). Fully packed and ready for loading aboard a Navy or Marine aircraft, the XROE-1 was just 70 cm (27 in) in diameter. The unassembled aircraft fit easily inside a streamlined pod. An airplane could carry one or more of these pods on wing racks and drop them by parachute to grounded aircrews. One man could assemble the Rotorcycle, ready-to-fly, in five minutes without special tools. Most major components unfolded on hinges and locked into place, anchored by preinstalled locking pins. Hiller packaged the tailboom separately but it was easy to snap into position. At the end of the tailboom, a small tail rotor turned to counteract torque generated by the single main rotor. Hiller made the helicopter as easy to fly as possible and he added his patented "Rotormatic" gyro-stabilization system to the main rotor. Control was slightly unconventional because Hiller suspended the cyclic stick over the pilot's head to simplify the control linkages and to make folding the aircraft easier. Otherwise, the controls resembled those of most other contemporary helicopters. The Rotorcycle was so stable that Hiller expected a non-pilot to fly it after only 8 hours of instruction. For its diminutive size, the helicopter had excellent performance except in range. The fuel tank held 9.1 liters (2.4 gals) of gasoline, enough to fly 64 km (40 miles) in calm weather at a cruise speed of 84 kph (52 mph). A person could bolt floats onto the standard, tripod-strut landing gear for operations on smooth water. The center-of-gravity range was extremely limited, prohibiting a lightweight pilot from flying without a small bucket filled with ballast and suspended from the front landing gear strut to safely balance the Rotorcycle. Hiller constructed a non-flying prototype for structural tests and one flight-test model. The XROE-1 first flew in November 1956. The Rotorcycle performed well and impressed Marine Corps officers who ordered five YROE-1 rotorcraft for evaluation. Hiller did not have the capacity to build these aircraft because the Hiller UH-12/H-23 scout utility helicopter program had consumed all manufacturing capacity. The British manufacturer, Saunders-Roe, built the five Marine Corps Rotorcycles under license to Hiller, and built an additional five Rotorcycles for sale overseas. The firm finished all ten by 1961. The YROE-1 performed well during tests but those evaluating the helicopter discovered some problems. A downed pilot trying to evade capture at the controls of the slow, noisy Rotorcycle was extremely vulnerable unless he could make his escape under cover of darkness, haze, or other weather conditions. To fly safely when night or bad weather obscured the earth's horizon, a pilot had to rely on navigation and attitude instruments such as the compass, altimeter, airspeed indicator, turn-and-bank, and other gauges. Yet, Hiller made no provisions on the YROE-1 for mounting these instruments; the space around the Rotorcycle pilot was open to the air. The Navy had to prohibit flying at night, or when haze or low clouds restricted visibility, making the Rotorcycle much less effective. The debut of turbine-powered helicopters in the late 1950s, and improved search and rescue techniques, sealed the Rotorcycle's fate and the Navy cancelled the program. A number of Rotorcycles still survive and a private owner continues to fly one example, in good weather. Hiller donated the second YROE-1 to the Smithsonian Institution after the test program ended in 1961. " By the way, there is also an example of this 'aircraft' in the US Army Aviation Museum at Ft Rucker AL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatorx Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 Here is another Hiller design - Flying Platform Model 1031 that was certainly the predesessor for the weed eater: ...certain death again! But this one would be an absolute blast to tool around the farm with: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synlubes Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 I worked with a company who developed these Ultralite Helicopters I made the main and tail rotors for these. They are sold in kit form, you build it / you fly it! They are pretty cool, if you like choppers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Wow, got up to $7,000,000.01 before they cancelled it because they forgot to tell people it doesn't function anymore! Lol that's quite an omission on a 7 million dollar bid item. Read the bottom update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 LOL...If operable, a good escape for Saddam H when Junior B's boys gets after him.Would it not be great if world leaders were forced into a ring to fistfight their differences out.Would not be much call to sacrifice the yougsters on the battlefield, cuz things would get resolved way before the gloves were strapped on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 That thing is so NOT cool... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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