For the naysayers.

[fujii]

https://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/new...-229705-1.html

[Flying Binghi]

"...They plan to add a ballistic parachute,..."

That shows confidence in their product..

I'm looking forward to that Jetsons future though after somebody else works out all the bugs..

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jetsons





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[aroa]

Fantastic...the way of the future.
Flying a Robbo costs megabucks for a licence and is mechanically complex. Electric 4/6/8'copter is simple and easy to fly.

Altho my design isnt as shapely in the fuse, and has only 6 rotors...I have incorporated a central tube for a ballistic parachute.
Nothing wrong with that...having a safety feature to CYA is not a bad thing. It doesnt reflect on the quality of the idea or machine....its to save the operator and passengers lives in the event of some catastrophic failure of ??
Even a broken Robbie becomes a rock...and all the way to the ground...fatally.
Why not give yourself a chance of not becoming a rock.
There a vid about of another one in China, so...change is coming. Whoopeee !

[fujii]

[QUOTE=Flying Binghi;9914622]"...They plan to add a ballistic parachute,..."

That shows confidence in their product..

I'm looking forward to that Jetsons future though after somebody else works out all the bugs..

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jetsons




I think Cirrus is confident in its product.

[Ascend Charlie]

CA$A is talking about Geo-Fencing to prevent drones and non-piloted machines from operating anywhere near anything.

These drone heli-taxis, apart from the technical aspects of making them fly, haven't got a chance of operating in a built-up area.

[rutan around]

These drone heli-taxis, apart from the technical aspects of making them fly, haven't got a chance of operating in a built-up area.

Was it one of your ancestors that said this new thingy called an automobile will never beat horses because the law says a man waving a red flag must walk in front of it wherever it goes. (For safety of course)

[Flying Binghi]

Originally Posted by rutan around

Was it one of your ancestors that said this new thingy called an automobile will never beat horses because the law says a man waving a red flag must walk in front of it wherever it goes. (For safety of course)

I think it were only the Poms that had a red flag requirement. If you look at the actual way all the traffic interacted (Horses, trams, push carts, bicycles, etc) when cars first came out you'd probably see why the 'regulators' were a little confused about just what to do about it all.

Here's a film shot in a large Yank city before WW1 (note the lady's wearing Queen Vic era clothes) when there were likely only a dozen cars in the entire city. Note, the same cars are doing laps around the camera rig. Also note the pedestrians running helta skelta to avoid being run over by trams, cars and horse rigs. And most of the cars are right hand drive:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NINOxRxze9k

I suspect we are at a similar 'confused' stage with the new fanged drone traffic..








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[Ascend Charlie]

Well, Rutan, where do you expect your UUUUber-heli-taxi to land to pick you up at your house, and to drop you at the Pitt St Mall? Your own front yard? The nearest park, full of kids?

[fujii]

Originally Posted by Ascend Charlie

Well, Rutan, where do you expect your UUUUber-heli-taxi to land to pick you up at your house, and to drop you at the Pitt St Mall? Your own front yard? The nearest park, full of kids?

I expect that initially they will operate to/from rooftops as do helicopters now only much cheaper, probably replacing helicopters. As acceptance grows, they will use dedicated terminals, perhaps built over train stations and multi storey car parks in the inner city. Use will be limited by lack of inagination.

[Ascend Charlie]

Fujii, there has never been a rooftop helipad in Oz, and probably never will, other than those for hospitals, and they are generally on top of the carpark.

The public has rejected piloted helicopters in populated areas, and has never allowed a CBD heliport in Sydney, except for a brief period on a wharf in Darling Harbour. Many a council now has a specific policy prohibiting helicopter landings in their areas.

Look at a rooftop, it is covered with mobile phone antennas, aircon units, flagpoles. The greatest rooftop helipad was Pan Am, and after the disaster when a chopper rolled over and killed people on the rooftop and a piece fell into the street and killed a pedestrian, it was shut down.

Who is going to supervise an arrival/departure? No building owner will permit Joe Blow to wait on the rooftop for his Uuuuber chopper without somebody to cover their backsides for liability. In fact, nobody is allowed on ANY rooftop without massive OHS precautions, coveralls, tie-downs, fences around the edges etc.

This jetson-like dream of zipping through the city streets like in 5th Element, landing on rooftops and over train stations has no chance of working in our NIMBY society.

[fujii]

Originally Posted by Ascend Charlie

Fujii, there has never been a rooftop helipad in Oz, and probably never will, other than those for hospitals, and they are generally on top of the carpark.

The public has rejected piloted helicopters in populated areas, and has never allowed a CBD heliport in Sydney, except for a brief period on a wharf in Darling Harbour. Many a council now has a specific policy prohibiting helicopter landings in their areas.

Look at a rooftop, it is covered with mobile phone antennas, aircon units, flagpoles. The greatest rooftop helipad was Pan Am, and after the disaster when a chopper rolled over and killed people on the rooftop and a piece fell into the street and killed a pedestrian, it was shut down.

Who is going to supervise an arrival/departure? No building owner will permit Joe Blow to wait on the rooftop for his Uuuuber chopper without somebody to cover their backsides for liability. In fact, nobody is allowed on ANY rooftop without massive OHS precautions, coveralls, tie-downs, fences around the edges etc.

This jetson-like dream of zipping through the city streets like in 5th Element, landing on rooftops and over train stations has no chance of working in our NIMBY society.

Those all sounds like last century arguments. The Royal Melbourne and Royal Children’s hospitals both have a HLS on the roof. The RCH actually has two. There are no obstructions because the designers planned ahead. The single Darling Harbour argument doesn’t stand up as the ones on the Yarra River in Melbourne have been successfully operated for years.

Basing your response on helicopters doesn’t stand either. Drones aren’t helicopters. The lift system is completely different. Instead of a large main and smaller tail rotor with associated failure problems, drones have multiple lift engines and rotors with designed in redundancy.

Another plus for drones is that they don’t carry hundreds of litres of flamable fuel.

Your rooftop OHS argument is also flawed. Many rooftops allow persons on then without the massive OHS (now WHS) precautions. They are often referred to as observation decks and used by the public. Melbourne has a rooftop cinema. There are rooftop bars. I was on a rooftop in Starbucks in Harajuku yesterday morning.

The change is coming.

[Ascend Charlie]

The Royal Melbourne and Royal Children’s hospitals both have a HLS on the roof.

Duh!! I said APART from hospitals. As a non-hospital, the Burj-al-Arab is the exception, but I understand there are very few PUBLIC-ACCESS helipads on rooftops, or attached to buildings.

The single Darling Harbour argument doesn’t stand up

Stand up against what? The likelihood of any heli landings anywhere in Sydney is microscopic. there is only one public-access heliport in Sydney, which is the one I helped set up in Parramatta in 1997. Landing anywhere else without written dispensations from councils is a legal minefield.

Drones aren’t helicopters. The lift system is completely different

What is different about a rotating aerofoil generating lift? Your drone doesn't need anti-torque, but neither do the Kamov, Kaman, Hughes 600 series etc. But your drone is different in having fixed pitch rotors, which have their own problems.

Many rooftops allow persons on then without the massive OHS (now WHS) precautions.

Duh! But they aren't sharing that rooftop with a pilotless drone, are they?

But dream on, the world needs dreamers, but get a realistic dream, not some CGI.

[fujii]

https://www.avweb.com/eletter/archiv...t=email#229754

[Flying Binghi]

Originally Posted by fujii

https://www.avweb.com/eletter/archiv...t=email#229754

65 Knt cruise! Compared to today's relative ground vehicle speeds in a big city traffic gridlock that's probably faster then a car. The problem for drones will be the soon to arrive computer drive cars will speed up car traffic flow dramatically. A 65Knt airspeed may end up being slower then ground based computer controlled transport.

The big issue with airborne city commuters will be noise. With the increasing residential accomodation being built in the city's the last thing people will want is a swam of screaming drone traffic overhead as they sit outside sipping latte.





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[fujii]

65kts is a tad over 120km/h and that’s in a straight line. That will take some beating in an urban environment.

[Ascend Charlie]

That will take some beating in an urban environment.

..."That sounds like a last-century argument..."

[Flying Binghi]

Originally Posted by fujii

65kts is a tad over 120km/h and that’s in a straight line. That will take some beating in an urban environment.

If traffic fines wern't a concern the average motorbike rider would find 120km/h a comfortable speed around town..

As to the speed of computer controlled cars them computers 'think' a lot faster then we do. I'd imagine with an all car to car computer 'talk' link a comp-car could safely operate at the vehicles limits. Here's an amusing look at some comp-car intersection possibilities: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4SmJP8TdWTU

This is the more likely scenario: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r7_lwq3BfkY






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[Ascend Charlie]

Binghi, that last computer sim looks like the opening scenes of the Dick Tracy cartoons from the 60s!

[aroa]

In huge cities like in Brazil...where they are into practicality over anal WHS...taxi choppers are routinely used to get across town...direct building to building top, saving great swags of time,by not battling the traffic on a circuitous route to get there.

Quieter drones will eventually be the replacement vehicle.
They can have a little red flag out the front too...but to indicate slip or skid as they go.

Probably have a ex Mars Robot, back on Earth after a re-fit as a "driver"

[rutan around]

Q What do you call blokes who think and act like this?

If traffic fines wern't a concern the average motorbike rider would find 120km/h a comfortable speed around town..

A Temporary Australians.