[KSagal]

Originally Posted by Bob.Kerns

I presume the pilot would not want the thing coming down on top of him.

Originally Posted by Bob.Kerns

Weight high isn't unstable, it's meta-stable. Which means, if you keep it oriented, just like on a Segway, it's fine. It's when things get out of control that you get instability.

Even so -- I suspect the center of gravity isn't that far from the plane of the rotors, and possibly even below. Where are the batteries? How much do the motors weigh?

Bob,

I said that the weight of the rider, if below the lift plane would add a level of stability. Are you really saying it would not?

Just like on a segway, a high weight is a destabilizing factor. Just because when a segway is working properly, it can compensate does not mean it is more stable than if it were designed otherwise.

And most flying machines that I know of have to deal with all sorts of degrees of instability, and the better designed ones can recover from at least some level of it. Any machine designed to not be able to deal with at least some instability will not be much of a success, or use, or even safe.

I guessed the white boxes on the arms below the motors were the battery packs, which would do a reasonable job of distributing the weight. If the entire machine were relatively symmetrical in weight, instead of a central weight and outlying lift arms, it would have a different flight characteristic. I don’t know that it would automatically be more or less stable, but by distribution the weight, individual components and frame members might be able to be made from lighter materials.

I agree, the empty machine (sans pilot) does look like the center of gravity is most likely below the props, but that pilot is a pretty big weight, and does appear relatively high to me.

Still, the whole device seems pretty light, and light duty. I am still curious, and if it came to a town near me, I might glide on over, and check it out.


As far as your first statement that the pilot would not want the thing coming down on him made me think that I would equally not want to fall off my perch and fall onto that field of spinning rotors either.