"minardi" (minardi) 06/09/2016 at 09:39 • Filed to: None

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Über Flying taxi.

coelacanthist > minardi 06/09/2016 at 09:59

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Flewber.

TheRealBicycleBuck > minardi 06/09/2016 at 10:56

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I was hoping this was a joke. My hopes were dashed.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetw…

As it sits, I don’t see how this design meets their first objective - “Absolute safety by design”.

Both helicopters and airplanes have one big safety advantage. In the event of power loss, they can glide or autorotate and have a chance of landing safely. If this thing loses power, it’s coming down like a rock. Perhaps it has a CAPS, but I don’t see any evidence of that.

This thing has not one, but eight exposed propellers at knee/shin height. Exposed propellers like this are a great way to mince anything that gets in their way.

There would be some margin of safety if it were operated solely at airports, but the use-case presented is more of a local runabout.

Good luck getting through the FAA approval process....