Been given the chance here (without the option to do otherwise because of the travel restrictions due the recurring nightmare that is the Covid-19 pandemic) to review the situation, as Ron Moody was wont to do. These are as follows:
(a) a design for a surface-skimmer that might be literally be electrified.
(b) a patent application for a tilting wing that might extend the range of eVTOLs.
(c) a patent application for a unique means of launching a tail-sitting aeroplane.
(d) sticking to the knitting.
As ever in aviation multiple-choice questions, the answer is most likely to be (d). Ever wonder why, incidentally? Well if the correct option was invariably the first or second, then the exam would be over that much quicker and they'd have to have thought of so many more questions, wouldn't they?
Actually it will look more like a cross between what appears above in patent form and what was built and subsequently tested, looking more like this:
But let's start at the very beginning, because it's a very good place to start. Ever since the days I'd sit in the now-defunct science reference library in Holborn avidly leafing through the equally-defunct Jane's Surface Skimmers, I've had a secret vice in the form of a passion for what are known to most of us (and who do I think I'm kidding except myself) as 'ekranoplans'. Foremost requirement for experimentation with which however is a large body of water... people on the Everglades don't know they're born.
Common to (a) in many ways however is (b), in that experiments rarely come cheap or easy. It's no excuse not to endeavour, but you have to recognise that while Edison prospered mightily by it, the countless likes of Tesla, Brunel and Trevithick came to an altogether stickier end. In other words, it costs in more ways than one, which is why like training for the Olympics most people take a pass on it.
Like all of my inventions, which I view as fondly as children, I like (b) a lot however and see only Vimana out there (https://vimana.global/vtolaav) using anything similar. Take a look at the video however and see if you don't agree with me that the bulk of eVTOLs out there are powered by little more than hot air? Anyway I emailed the (Bulgarian and Russian inventors) and they've yet to get back to me, so what I shall likely do is roll it over for twelve months and then decide: in IP trade they're called 'submarine patents' because they bite you just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.
Ditto (c), although whilst the propeller plus free-wing combination used in (b) could be controlled by stock drone avionics, it requires the control-surfaces used by airplanes. These are things I ran a mile from at school, settling instead for whirling Airfix models around my head instead. Although all the SPACs out there are currently funding what in many cases are mere pictures of extended-range eVTOL types sporting fixed wings and traditional controls, to all intents and purposes multicopters remain the vehicles of choice for the cheapest and shortest-range options... of which there will be many.
(d) is therefore the Weetabix with hot milk that you keep coming back to. Although I'd visions of being 'teleported' in lookalike phone-boxes with helis above and below, this was scotched early on by being too big to meet the rules of the GoFly challenge. This has to be credited for advancing the art, and in fact has recently been extended into 2022, way beyond the original remit and a reflection on how hard vertical flight can be. Plus, the above design still fits the criteria and may yet make an appearance however and wherever that may be.
But I can attest to the fact, having built one and stood in it, that it's ergonomically the most comfortable option, is one-size-fits-all and can be escaped with a parachute. It needs improving from the standpoint of construction, undercarriage, means of entry and protection from its uppermost quad... but all of these I know now how to address.
More importantly, beside meeting the terms of the original patent it is different from every other air vehicle out there, and as such is inspiring (inspiration being what I get up each day for). It was probably YouTube's HeroFlyer that made me watch and think "I want one of those..." that inspired me to work at it for so long as I have, and so long as I will. Talking to Morty we decided that ~ like Lilienthal ~ he likely died in its pursuit.
Of course he (she or they) might actually be a dummy, but if that's so then the editing is as nifty as the flying machine. If you're watching in the office ~ as you should if you've any sense ~ then do mute it prior:
Finally though, we all put a lot into it... it's in our DNA.
