Bill Robertson
Who will have it first? X-Men or S.H.I.E.L.D.
RJB
There does not appear to be much space for passengers/cargo.
bergamot69
I don't know much about aeroplane aerodynamics beyond basic schoolboy physics, but this doesn't look to me like it will fly well as a plane (rather than in helicopter mode).
I'd be delighted to be proved wrong- there is a very real need for transport solutions such as this, as demonstrated by the awful tragedy in The Philippines.
Slowburn
I never thought I would say this but, I think a tilt-rotor would be simpler.
mommus
Those wings are too short to lift a thing like that into the air, the hovercraft part would cause enormous drag, both on account of its structure and when it's being used to lift the craft.
IMHO, Extremely Short Take Off and Landing On any Surface = any helicopter with floats.
Robt
What a colossal waste of time and energy. If those (very heavy and complex) "enclosed helicopter rotors" were ditched in favour of a larger wing, they'd achieve the same STOL performance. As for the helium, the idea has been around for decades. The volume of gas required to have a subsantial effect on the weight carrying capability of the machine would require a great deal larger tank / enclosure than the one in the illustration.
duh3000
O.K. Are we over-thinking this one just a little ?
Griffin
I wish you were kidding- How much have they spent on "analyzing" this already?
Helium is in low supply already- but that's ok... because there's no room for any of it here anyway!
By the time you load up what little cargo you can, where are you going to put it?
That's like filling a minivan with party balloons to make a flying car!
Look up the Piasecki 97 on YouTube and see what happens with this sort of thing and PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE IT HAPPENED!
Seriously,people- why not just get a Russian heavy lift helicopter?
They also made something like a 727 with rotors on the wing tips- they went back to normal helicopters.
The monstrous ekranoplans went the way of the dinosaur,too...
Air-cushion vehicles do NOT do well in crosswinds or grades and are inherently unstable- what do you think this will do in a crosswind slide?
Leverage is going to want to collapse the load side of the skirt, for starters... and even more unpleasant things will happen ,as the other side starts to lift.
In conclusion, complexity will NEVER breed efficiency- keep it simple.
I'm all about new ideas but complex mutants are not the way.
A large gyro-copter with a tractor-prop up front (not in the rear) would do everything this does and better with only ONE engine/drivetrain, using C-130 style narrow landing gear and could land on any major highway or sufficiently-sized parking lot (allowing for vertical obstacles)- NO helium required.
An electric pre-load system would suffice to get the main rotor up to motion.
Look up the nuclear-powered bomber and Project Pluto/SLAM and see how much money&energy can be wasted on dangerous ideas before "top men" admit it isn't practical.
Possible? Perhaps. Practical? Hell,no.
Nantha Nithiahnanthan
@ bergamot69, I was thinking the exact same thing and was going to write it. This thing is so un-aerodynamic, such stubby wings, etc that one wonders what it is actually out to accomplish.
And that wingspan is actually a hindrance on land as its going to encounter lamp posts, trees, etc.
The hovercraft is a fantastic machine. Adding some lift to it is a great idea but that can be accomplished in other ways. A much better way would be an airlift-able hovercraft that is aerodynamic and of light construction that can be delivered to site by aircraft (aeroplane or helicopter - airships don't do so well with typhoons and hurricanes).
Guy DeWardener
hel-i-cop-ter