German Physicist Flies First Manned Electric Multicopter

[EmperorScorpious]

[QUOTE]Last October, near Karlsruhe, Germany, Thomas Senkel completed the first manned flight of an electric multicopter, flying it 10 feet off the ground for 90 seconds. Senkel, a physicist and paraglider pilot who helped found the company E-volo to build the craft, invented it after seeing a YouTube video of a German hobbyist’s remote-controlled hexacopter in action.

Multicopters are more stable and easier to control than helicopters. They’re also potentially safer: The craft can land even after four of its 16 rotors, each of which has its own battery-powered motor, have failed. Multicopters could also be fitted with a parachute (which would be caught in the overhead rotor on a helicopter). E-volo says it will build a two-seat multicopter by the spring and begin selling the craft for recreational purposes next year.

[img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/articles/MultiCopter_E-volo525.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-01/german-physicist-flies-first-manned-electric-multicoptor[/url]

[MrBacon]

One wrong move and...

SLICE

looks cool

[RoflKawpter]

Oh god I gotta sneeze!

Aaaaaaah-CH-zzzzzzzzzzzzgrindcrackrip

[Firewarrior]

There's also a youtube video:

[video=youtube;L75ESD9PBOw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L75ESD9PBOw[/video]

Few months old now.

[Marik Bentusi]

Looks pretty neat and fun to fly around with. Not sure about any uses beyond that tho.

[Turnips5]

That is fucking amazing.

[Number-41]

I'd try it if there were at least a small bit of protection from the 8 spinning blades

[Scrimp]

Reminds me of what the germans tried a while back
[IMG]http://www.aviastar.org/foto/focke_drache_1.jpg[/IMG]

[Awesomecaek]

[QUOTE=Scrimp;34695738]Reminds me of what the germans tried a while back
[IMG]http://www.aviastar.org/foto/focke_drache_1.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

More like [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/De_Bothezat_Quadrotor.jpg[/img]

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Bothezat_helicopter]De Bothezat Quadrotor, 1923,[/url] which is an actual multicopter unlike what you linked.

[Recco]

So that's how UFOS in Iron Sky work!

[Pikachu231]

Pretty damn awesome I'll say.

But what does this have to do with Steam again?

[Pardalis]

Now make it sound like a manhack

[Thoughtless]

Who else can say they flew in the air on an exercise ball.

[Scrimp]

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;34696116]More like [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/De_Bothezat_Quadrotor.jpg[/img]

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Bothezat_helicopter]De Bothezat Quadrotor, 1923,[/url] which is an actual multicopter unlike what you linked.[/QUOTE]

Sorry to offend :(

[Awesomecaek]

[QUOTE=Scrimp;34696657]Sorry to offend :([/QUOTE]

I forgive you, [I]for once[/I].

[Phaselancer]

I want my flying car now!

[KevBeans]

Shit, if there was a zombie apocalypse, this guy would be untouchable.

[Strontboer]

[QUOTE=just-a-boy;34710417]Shit, if there was a zombie apocalypse, this guy would be untouchable.[/QUOTE]

For a minute and a half.