E-Volo: First Manned Flight of an Electric Multicopter!!!

Do you ever heard about theElectric multicopter? Thomas Senkel has found the multicopter, he is a physicist and designer as well as the builder of the ‘multicopter’. To say about the multicopter, is a first one seat ‘multicopter’ prototype and it took off from the ground back in late October last month.

The first pilot to test that, was by Thomas Senkel e-volo, on an airstrip in the southwest of Germany, flew up on the air about one minute and 30 seconds. And piloted the aircraft from a center-mounted seat, using a handheld wireless control unit.

 It is a 16 blade multicopter which has successfully lifted a human for more than a minute. It uses multiple mini helicopters arranged in a square in sets of four configured to achieve lift. They say that the multicopter is simpler in construction and mechanics compare to a helicopter and safer and the multicopter could still land safely even with up to four of its motors failed or when the propellers experience some minor wear.

Multicopter has onboard computers that is designed with custom firmware that control and monitor the rotational speed of the propellers, dictating the attitude as well as the altitude and direction of the aircraft. The solo pilot could maneuver the multicopter within a fairly small area, no need for long and wide runway for conventional airplanes or helicopters.

 This multicopter is built with four propellers and it can be said that is similar to Parrot’s A. R. Drone Quadricopter, only this time, it lets a man to sit on top of the multicopter and fly it around. It will be ready within the next few years to come with the commercial version of the e-volo’s multicopter and it is also said that, it’s going to come with the option of gas/electric hybrid model for increase flight time to about an hour.

 

On Saturday 29^th Oct 2011, Thomas Senkel tested the flight that lasted one minute and 30 seconds; its characteristics are good natured. And it is also said that without any steering input it would just hover there on the spot. The pricing and the availability is still mystery but I think it’s going to be bit cheaper than a helicopter, anyhow this will also make us still expensive, you feel the same I think.