Winners of the GoFly Phase II announced yesterday and it's good news and bad news: good from the point of view of the amount of press coverage it garners and bad from the fact that everyone else appears to be almost literally miles ahead. I feel like the guy in Chariots of Fire who falls over and finds himself practically a lap behind.
Here's my take on the runners and riders however:
Never underestimate the Russians (or Latvians) when it comes to aircraft. Checked out the video ~ background is decidedly Soviet and redolent of memories of the outskirts of Riga. The aircraft however looks to be in an advanced state of development, but a tad too many fans for my liking. However it's clearly safe, capable and quiet from the looks of things.
Another frighteningly advanced aircraft and this one driven by an expert at steering those water-boards (or are they instruments of torture?) around Florida. Relatively conventional from the point of view there's a guy out there somewhere flown a rack of these things across a Canadian lake, but then it could be the shape of the future.
A worryingly capable team whom I wish was building my own drone. I can see this being efficient over a fairly reasonable range but am unconvinced as regards its manoeuvrability. It also has moveable surfaces like the Blackfly, which I'm allergic to.
These guys are keeping an extremely low profile, and also appear extremely clever. I vaguely recall seeing a drone of this kind, but it was I think uninhabited. Not one to fall out of backwards, but I like the footprint. How it is steered is anyone's guess, and might even be another weight-shift machine to contend with the Airboard.
Another thoroughbred from the USA, and one with a worthy pedigree in view of the fact they have been making money from ducted fans for years. I like its laid-back posture and the fact it squeezes into two metres in every direction, but I cannot see it being cheap with all of that contoured plastic.
How all these things compare in a fly-off is anyone's guess, but I figure the Teledrone has as good a chance as any if ever it gets airborne.
Watch this aerospace.
