VIDEO: Manned Multicopter Takes Flight
The multicopter in flight
IMAGE BY e-volo
It's a recipe for disaster. Create a slightly flimsy looking multi-rotor flying apparatus, equipped with what appears to be an exercise ball as the central landing gear, and then place a person with a remote control pad on it. Ordinarily, you'd expect this to be the cue for screaming and yelling and maybe a missing limb or two. Thankfully, the German pilot emerged unscathed, with nought but a sense of satisfaction and a pretty cool looking show real.
The device weighs a human-like 80kg when empty, and thankfully has enough redundancy built in that it can safely land even if four of the total of sixteen rotors fail. Still, not sure we'll be putting our hands up to ride in one any time soon.
[E-Volo, via Engadget]