World's Smallest Helicopter Ready For a Spin
The GEN H-4 helicopter during desert testing
Those of us who've been dreaming of cheap personal air travel in the Buck Rogers, sci-fi jet-pack mode should turn their eyes towards Vinci, Italy on May 25. That's when Gennai Yanagisawa, inventor of the tiny GEN H-4 personal helicopter, will be taking his lightweight 165-pound whirly-gig on a demonstration flight.
Why Vinci? According to the 75-year-old Yanagisawa, "Since the concept of our helicopter came from Italy, I always wanted to take a flight in the birthplace of da Vinci."
Yanagisawa's inspiration: da Vinci's 1493 ornithopter
Indeed, Leonardo's famous notebook drawings from 1493 show an "ornithopter" with a screw-like rotor. Like da Vinci's pioneering design, Yanagisawa's GEN H-4 has no tail. Instead, twin counter-rotating propellers cancel out the torque that requires single-rotor helicopters to have a perpendicular tail rotor.
GEN H-4 -- the cheaper chopper
The GEN H-4 personal helicopter is actually available for purchase now, though Yanagisawa's company (located in the Japanese city of Matsumoto) has so far sold only six (2 in the USA).
The cost for one is a reasonable $58,250 and once airborne, the GEN H-4 can fly at a somewhat sedate speed of 31 mph - slow yes, but probably faster than rush hour traffic. Veni, vidi, volanti!
by Anonymous
lol
Nice
by Anonymous
hrrrmmmm
Drop the price a good 50k and EVERYONE can have one! Then we can ALL flood the sky and crash into each other... Woohoo natural selection at it's best..
by Gloria Campos
My husband would love this
Just forwarded it to him :)
by Anonymous
interesting, i wonder what
interesting, i wonder what the MPG works out to be, and what the range of the thing is.
by Anonymous
lmao it will certanly get
lmao it will certanly get the most dangerous vehicle award
by Anonymous
RE: My husband would love this
Hey, that's great sweetheart. What were you married, like, three weeks ago or something?
by Anonymous
with an attitude like that, she's likely to stay married!
by Anonymous
A preemptive strike at the Darwin award?
Humas dreams towards flight just might have taken a step in the wrong direction.
This is great for (stunt) shows, but I can't imagen this in the private sector.
by Anonymous
Sold
I will buy 25 of these for my resort. This will be great for the paying customer; the right price. Good luck!
by Anonymous
Cost and Method of this Helicopter
Sir You have made a excellent helicopter but I think there is reqmt to develope this helicopter sothat it can be cheeper to buy everyone. Please send me the hole method to make this helicopter and the current cost of this helicopter.
My email address is nikku30d@rediffmail.com
by Anonymous
Fantastic Idea but..........
This is a fantastic invention but not everyone has the guts to get on this baby to fly. When you think about it only about 2% of the world's population are pilots. More people need to be exposed to the safer aspects of flying instead of "Seconds From Disaster". It's definitely on my christmas list this year. With the proper marketing and selling points this product could make everyone's life easier. There would have to be proper legislation in place to ensure public and private safety. With all that said it's the sweetest invention since choclate.
by Anonymous
Imagine Drunk Hovering?????
Let's hope no one decides to have one too many before getting on this whirly-gig.
by Anonymous
Correction not quite 2 %
Not quite 2% even from the start. It's a lot less than that sir but I agree it's a fantastic invention.
by Anonymous
Closest......
Closest thing to Tony Stark's IRON MAN suit I've seen so far. YYYYYAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by Anonymous
JUST WHEN OIL GOT SO EXPENSIVE
Man, might as well drive a V8.
by Anonymous
sure behbeh
your thinking of your husband are you now? drop me a line and I will fly you around my rotor.
by Anonymous
face
id buy it and smuggle crack!!!
by Anonymous
i already bought one
no i havnt no i have . wateva.. but if i own one or not, one thing i can say, this is not a comfortable one