I doubt very much this vehicle will have many civilian applications. Shrouded fans may be safer than the rotorblades of a helicopter, but they are also much more inefficient. This thing will be louder and and more maintenance intensive, and it will guzzle down way more fuel per hour, with poorer performance. Plus, if the engine fails you will drop like a stone - no autorotor function like a helicopter.
Stephen N Russell
Apps for:
SAR
Rescue
Tourism
Cargo
MedEvac
Lisc for others to produce.
jerryd
This is just silly.
Far better is 2 simple counter rotating coaxial rotors controlled like a gyroplane by the cargo pod below.
Dynamically stable no flight computer needed, just tell it which way to go and carry 3x's the payload, the real app.
TomHolzel
Engineers keep trying to create a flying saucer for everyman...
Douglas Bennett Rogers
Uniquely suitable for medivac from driveways.
WillieNAz
I think a better design for troop rescue is a doughnut shaped helicopter. The outer skin made of kevlar and titanium. Lasers light up the landing zone and it swoops down around the pinned down soldiers firing its Gatling guns at the enemy. Bay doors open on the inside of the craft which also redirect the airflow out and away causing a massive dust cloud concealing the craft. And no windows just lots of redundant cameras to view the surroundings in visual and infrared so the pilot doesn't need to wear funny vision gear on their helmet that's all done for them by the cameras on the screen in front of them. Hydraulic jump legs gets them up and out of there quickly once the doors close and the downdraft resumes. Flash bangs are the last thing the enemy sees before it takes off.
SciFi9000
@mhpr262; a simple parachute would take care of emergencies; @WillieNAz; I used to love inventing stuff like that when i was 12 too, seriously though, your ideas are pretty cool.
@jerryd; I couldn't agree more, I don't understand why we persist with the rear fan to counter the torque of a single rotor when as you say, coaxial counter rotating blades eliminates the need for a tail rotor.
nubwaxer
it won't take long for unmanned vehicles of every sort will make military hardware like the f-35 obsolete. will we be able to make the ethical choices to keep robot killing machines in check or will war become even easier and detached from civilian consciousness?
ChinaMike
This would be really useful for emergency rescue of individuals, trapped in canyons and so on. As far as war casualty rescue, I could see it being used in a pinch with no other alternative. Nevertheless, great concept.