Ground Effect Hovercraft Video: Survival Vehicle?

If you watched the "After Armageddon" videos in the previous post, you should have some awareness of how difficult it might be to get out of town at the exact same time as several million other would-be escapees. The HovPod featured in the video below was the recipient of the Al Fin 2009 Small Vehicle Survival Award.

The HovPod is a great all-terrain escape vehicle, but you can see from the topmost video that adding flight -- even low level ground effect flight -- to your escape vehicle's capabilities may make the difference between reaching the high ground and being stuck in a bad place.

The Terrafugia Transition is featured in the video below. It is a roadable aircraft capable of flying above the gridlocked freeways below. Finding a good landing spot may be problematic under some conditions, but a wise escape artist plans ahead.

The ICON A5 amphibious trailerable plane may be your best bet if you live near a lake, river, bay, or protected harbour. With the A5 you can take off from water and land on solid surface, or vice versa. Check it out below:

A personal helicopter may be your best bet if you live in the middle of a large city, and do not have access to a waterway or runway for your private airplane. The Helicycle demonstrated in the video below, is one example of a personal helicopter. Consider adding flotation for more versatility.

Skyaking: When You Must Be First in the Water

When the need to kayak the whitewater or the surf hits, you really do not want to suffer the long ride in the car, or taking the time to tie the boat down to the rack then take it back off again. You want to be the first to hit the water when the surf's up or when the river flow hits optimum.

Miles Daisher is a 40 year old adventurer from Twin Falls, Idaho, who is polishing the fine art of skyaking on the free falling slipstream.

Over the years father-of-two Miles and his team have slowly perfected the art of skyaking.

‘There are a lot of things that can go wrong in skyaking and so you have to be prepared,’ he said.

‘In skyaking I usually put the chute quite high. With skydives I will pull at 2,000 ft above the ground whereas with skyaking I will pull at 5,000 ft above the ground incase anything starts to go a little crazy.

‘That way I have a time to sort things out, get out of the boat and then pull the chute for the kayak.’ And he has noted some strong differences in regular skydiving. ‘The rate at which you fall is a lot different,’ he said.

‘Instead of falling flat on your belly you are sitting up right in an L position. I liken it to sitting on a space hopper, balancing front to back and side to side.

‘It does take some decent balance skills. And because the boat has such a big surface area your fall rate is a lot slower.

‘If you are lying on your belly, a normal sized human will fall at 120 mph.

‘If you go into a stand up or a head down then you can build the speed up to 160-180 mph.

‘But with this boat, that has so much surface area and weighs 35 lbs, meaning that I fall at only 98 mph. _ImpactLab

You can see Miles "ditching" his craft next to the runway.  Notice the beginning of wing stall as the kayak transfers energy to the water rather smoothly, but abruptly.

Next, Miles needs to put an engine on his craft in order to add range and time aloft.   At that point, he should be able to take off from water as long as he can keep his wing inflated while picking up speed.

Telescoping Wing Rear-Ducted Skybike

This 3-wheel streamlined motorbike can sprout wings and fly. Designed for the road and for the sky, the Skybike can fly to 10,000 feet in cabin comfort complete with heating and cooling.

In prototype development at Swift Engineering in San Clemente, California, the SkyBike is designed to reach speeds of 80 mph over land or over 130 mph through the air. Standard features of the SkyBike will include flexible electronic instrument main panel that changes automatically from ground to flight, dual ground/air lighting system, navigation radio, ELT (emergency location transmitter) and not forgetting the comfort factor, leather seating for two plus 50 pounds luggage capacity.

Getting off the Ground

If you’re not a pilot you’ll still be able to buy an MMV, but the flight controls and wing lock will require a physical and electronic key that is granted only once proof of appropriate pilot license is shown. A better option for those without a pilot’s license might be the factory-built, ground only AeroBike.

There isn’t any word on pricing or availability for these flying motorcycles, but Samson Motorworks hopes to have ground versions available in early 2010. _Gizmag

Photogallery

Rear props or ducted fans work well for flight, and for airboats (or amphibious flyers), iceskimmers, and hovercraft. The SkyBike switches to a conventional transmission for wheeled ground travel. Should you wish to design submersible functionality into your multifunctional vehicle, you will need yet a different propulsion system.

No one said an all-purpose vehicle would be easy.

Daring to Cross the Waters By Pedal, Sun, Beer, and Wave, 69 Year Old Ken-Ichi Horie

First he pedaled a boat from Hawaii to Okinawa. Then he crossed the Pacific in a solar-powered boat. Next he soloed the Pacific in a catamaran built of beer kegs. Now, he plans to sail from Hawaii to Japan in a novel "wave-powered" boat--in slow motion.

This month, 69-year-old Japanese sailor Ken-ichi Horie will attempt to captain the world’s most advanced wave-powered boat 4,350 miles from Hawaii to Japan. If all goes as planned, he’ll set the first Guinness world record for the longest distance traveled by a wave-powered boat and, along the way, show off the greenest nautical propulsion system since the sail.

A simple spring system enables twin fins beneath the bow of the Suntory to move up and down with the incoming waves and pull the boat forward.
At the heart of the record-setting bid is the Suntory Mermaid II, a three-ton catamaran made of recycled aluminum alloy that turns wave energy into thrust. Two fins mounted side by side beneath the bow move up and down with the incoming waves and generate dolphin-like kicks that propel the boat forward. “Waves are a negative factor for a ship—they slow it down,” says Yutaka Terao, an engineering professor at Tokai University in Japan who designed the boat’s propulsion system. “But the Suntory can transform wave energy into propulsive power regardless of where the wave comes from.”___PopSci

How efficient is the wave-powered mechanism? At first glance, I would have to say "not very." A maximum speed of 5 knots means his journey will take at least 3 months. His electronics and communication will be powered by solar panels. He will also have an emergency outboard engine on board, just in case.

I like the idea of tapping into the wave energy of the sea, to drive a boat. As a proof of concept, it is not a bad adventure. Yet, waves are a tertiary solar effect, derived from a secondary solar effect--the wind. Somehow, I cannot help but think that there is a good reason why ancient seafarers chose sail over wave power for traveling long distances by sea.

Mary Slim:

Until recently limited to military craft, the wave-piercing attributes of the Very Slender Vessel (VSV) design has now made its way into the civilian boat world in the form of the MarySlim, a stunning 72-foot, £1.5 million, long-range cruiser built by Cornwall based Multimarine Composites that debuted last year at the Royal William Yard in England. The unique shape of the yacht allows it to cleave through waves, eliminating the power-consuming, bruising bounce of other crafts, and allowing users to explore greater areas through harsher weather conditions.___Gizmag

Below deck, the nature of the design's narrow length/beam ration of 4.8 obviously puts limitations on the available living space, but the 72 foot craft still has room for an three berth cabins including the main en suite cabin and a six-seat dinnette underneath the three seat helm.

Of course, less energy consumption also means less environmental impact, an aspect of the VSV that Multimarine hopes to expand on. Not only does Multimarine wish to run the VSV on bio-diesel, like the Earthrace yacht, but it has coated the bottom of the boat with Ecospeed, a layer of resin and platelets of glass that inhibit the growth of barnacles and algae, thereby eliminating the need for damaging poisons.

The Mary Slim also allows the "wind kite" option for fuel-saving sail power, of a sort. I wonder whether the "wave-cutting" hull design would work for a real sailing yacht? More comfortable in a storm, perhaps, and possibly safer? What about speed--for racing? A lot of questions, so we will have to watch and see.

Multimarine

Designing the All-Purpose Vehicle: Basics

Russian designer-inventor Alexander Begak recently presented his invention dubbed "Evolution" to the Russian MAKS-2007 air show. As pictured above, the craft could obviously neither fly nor travel on water. Rather, the photo only shows the basic "core craft."

The pictured craft merely provides forward thrust, a protected cockpit, and a land-gear wheel system. To add flight capability, one would need to add lift--in this case fixed wings, as in standard ultra-light aircraft.

To add boating capability, one would have to provide buoyancy--inflatable pontoons/hull, solid pontoons/hull, and/or hydrofoils.

When websites and newspapers feature articles such as this or this, without the writers questioning how the vehicle could either fly or float, they illustrate the "dumbing down" of media--both old and new.

Yet, as a "core vehicle" for adding-on functional components, the pictured vehicle is both stylish and potentially workable. As it is, it could travel over relatively smooth highways and ground. With wings, it could fly as an ultralight, and with floatation it would work well as an "airboat." As a "mainstream" ground vehicle, it could not be licensed due to dangerous propeller effects. But as a backwoods/outback vehicle, it would serve well--as long as the multi-functional accessory modules were "packable." (the ground gear suspension would need improvement)

A more functional all-purpose vehicle that could be licensed for onroad travel, would have to have a different drive system--which adds weight and complexity to the vehicle, making it more expensive and subject to breakdowns. Modular add-ons--for floatation, buoyancy, etc--also add weight and time-consuming "switch-overs".

Much more ideal, is the concept of a "lifting body" craft with built-in extensible wings. The lifting body could double as a boat hull, with extensible keel and/or hydrofoils. The best way to provide thrust for flying, boating, and ground travel, while meeting safety and reliability requirements, weight limitations, and licensing requirements, is the main problem.

Throw in submarining capability, and the problem appears insurmountable. But, wait! We have not taken into account advances from nanotech in high-strength, lightweight materials. Or advanced materials turbine design. An ultralightweight, ultrastrong, but buoyant-in-water material, would be an important development. Other developments certain to come in the next decade or so, should change the outlook completely, and for the better.
H/T Keelynet

Personal Gyrocopter fromScappoose, Oregon

Gyrocopters--or autogyros--were invented in the early 1920s. Although they look like helicopters, they are actually more like airplanes--rotary wing airplanes. Sportcopter Inc., of Scappoose, Oregon, is flight-testing the sporty looking Sportcopter "Sport".

The cabin and engine of the Super Sport are completely enclosed, with removable doors and engine cowling, giving it all-weather capability, simplified maintenance, aerodynamic streamlining, added propeller efficiency and effective protection of vital components.

The engine and drive train is a special Subaru 2.5 liter liquid cooled engine which develops 190 hp.... A new Sport Copter feature on this design is a very Powerful Prerotator System which will allow incredibly short take-offs.

The large rudder and horizontal stabilizer provide stability in slow flight maneuvering and high-speed cruise, minimizing pilot workload. The fixed vertical stabilizer is less sensitive in-flight giving more stability and better handling....

Sportcopter Inc.

Powering the gyroplane forward using the front or rear-mounted thrust propeller causes air to flow over the top rotor, which begins spinning and develops enough lift to get the vehicle airborne. This doesn't take a long runway - as little as 40 feet is needed to develop enough upward lift to get off the ground, and it's possible using aftermarket kits to perform jump-style takeoffs with no ground roll at all.

Gyroplanes can cruise at roughly the speed of a helicopter, or float along so slowly you'd nearly call it hovering. The powered top rotors of helicopters cause a torque reaction that necessitates the use of a sideways-mounted tail rotor to control rotation – which makes them mechanically complicated, expensive and quite tricky to fly. The gyroplane's design is so simple that you can buy one for less than the cost of a touring motorcycle, build it and maintain it yourself.

...A range of between 300 and 400 miles from a 30 gallon tank full of ordinary 87 octane unleaded makes the Super Sport a good day tripper, and it should be good for thrills as well with a top speed in excess of 100mph.

Gizmag
As an alternative to the "flying car", the flying motorcycle incorporates an autogyro design. From the Dutch company PAL-V:

This hybrid vehicle will be able to reach speeds of 200 km/h (125 mph) both on land and in the air, requiring only a short runway of about 100 meters (330 feet) for take off and landing. Expected to be launched in 2009, this unique vehicle enables commuters to leap over traffic jams on their way to work....The Gyrocopter will run on regular petrol and most of the vehicle's components originate in the automotive industry rather than the more expensive aviation industry. In this way, both purchase and maintenance costs can be kept relatively low (although PAL-V has not published an exact cost estimate yet).

Source

Here is another approach to the flying motorcycle.

A hybrid motorcycle/gyrocopter will be a fine combination, once the glitches are smoothed away from the design. Enlarging the folding rotor-wing design to create an automobile/gyrocopter hybrid should not be difficult, with time. And on we go . . .

Electric Battery-Only Powered Aircraft Flies in France

This French kit-built plane goes a step beyond the self-launched electric powered glider from Slovenia. The French plane has made a 48 minute flight, and is preparing to fly the English Channel!

The 48-minute flight of the “Electra” covered more than 50 kilometers (31 miles)...The single-seater, based on a Sourciette kit aircraft, is the product of APAME (Association pour la Promotion des Aéronefs à Motorisation Électrique, Association to Promote Electrical Aircraft), with the support of a number of partners.

The wood and fabric Electra is 7m in length, with a wingspan of 9m. Weight of the aircraft without batteries is 134 kg. The battery pack weights 47 kg. Maximum takeoff weight is 265 kg. The aircraft has a cruise speed of 90 km/h.

APAME plans to cross the English Channel in July 2009 with the Electra...

Green Car Congress

Notice that the French Electra has very tight weight margins. Until electric storage batteries achieve a better energy density, Electra pilots must be petit.

From 5000 Feet You Can Go Just About Anywhere

Until recently, the idea of flying an aircraft on electric power alone would have been ridiculous. But the Electro Taurus from Slovenian company Pipistrel proves that it can be done. At least in a self-launching glider.

The recently announced Taurus Electro (a project started in 2006), has reportedly become the World's first two-seat self-launching electric motor-glider. Details remain scant, but with performance matching the Rotax 503 powered version, the Taurus Electro becomes a "...noise free, emissions free, totally ecologic" alternative to conventional power systems....A total of 6 minutes of climb will get you to 3300 ft, while a 10 minute climb will produce 5000 ft of thermal searching altitude. And as any glider guider can tell you, from 5000 feet, you can go just about anywhere.

Aero News

Via Nextenergy News and Ecofriend

Boat-Submarine Combo: Hyper-Sub

This exotic-looking boat has the ability to dive to 600 feet and back--without harm to boat or passengers. It is a boat-dry sub combination.

At first glance, some onlookers would probably think the test was a million-dollar ship sinking. But that was not the case. The Hyper-Sub Submersible Powerboat is a combination boat and submarine that is supposed to go underwater.

Developers said as a boat it can hit speeds of up to 35 mph, and as a sub it can go 5 mph and as far as 600 feet under water....The Hyper-Sub sports two-inch thick, iron reinforced glass to keep things safe inside during a dive.

"The first few times it was kind of scary. I was getting claustrophobic when the water would come over the top of the cabin where I could see. It was a little scary, but now it's kind of routine and most of what I think about is how much better we could do on the next one," said engineer Scott Shamblin.

Marion said now that his demo is up and running, his company has proved a lot of people wrong.

"Most of the submersible engineers we spoke to before we started building this told us that this was not possible for one craft. So we made history," Marion said.

Source Via Subreport

Converting this boat-sub so that it could also drive on highways should not be too difficult theoretically. In fact, designing a combination motor home, boat, and submarine should be well within the capability of most undergraduate engineering students. Actually building it is something else again.

I predict that within ten years, nanotech 3-D replicator technology will be far enough along to show the way clear to the final goal: the boat-sub-car-plane.

Sporty Submarine/Automobile Hybrid

A Swiss design company, Rinspeed, will unveil a wet-submersible roadster/submarine at the March, 2008, Geneva Motor Show.

To be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March, 2008, the rear-wheel drive sQuba is powered by an electric motor putting out 37 kW at 4,500 /min with torque of 160 NM at 1,500 /min according to the the specs released to date by Rinspeed. The rear jet drives for underwater cruising rely on two seperate 3.6 kW Rotinor (a name behind Seabob) electric engines and the body panels of the 920kg two-seater are made from carbon nano tubes with a steel chassis underneath.

Driver and passenger obtain fresh breathing air via 1 x 15 liter and 1 x 18 liter ScubaPro air supplies in a self-contained on-board system and back on dry land the sQuba is designed to drive itself autonomously at the push of a button.

Gizmag

Presumably, the sQuba is capable of surface cruising as well as submersible cruising to 33ft, and normal on-road driving.

My ideal vehicle is capable of on-road driving, surface cruising, dry-submersible running to 300 meters, and flying to an altitude of 25,000 feet with a range of 1500 nautical miles. It should be roomy enough for overnighting, with built-in water purification/desalination. Due to weight limitations, most food stored on-board would need to be freeze-dried.
;-)

Rinspeed's Splash hydrofoil/automobile amphibious vehicle crossed the English Channel in the summer of 2006. Video of that crossing is below.

Saving The Planet--By Twike!

Westerners are addicted to their cars. And cars cause pollution. But what if you could create a "car" that created no pollution except the exhaust gases of the driver and passengers? I am referring to the Twike

The Twike is the world’s first pedal-powered human electric hybrid car.

The company says this car can get up to speeds of 15-45 mph, with a 5 speed electric motor.

The unique aspect about this car is that it can run only with the pedal power provided by your feet, much like the Flinstone mobile. If you team up to pedal with another passenger, the combined power could generate up to 500 watts, which can increase the range of the car by an astounding 50%.

TrendhuntersBefore long, you will be seeing creative solar panel add-ons.

This is like an enclosed, recumbent side-by-side moped--except with electric motor assist, not gasoline. With photovoltaics and advanced lightweight battery add-ons, the range on a sunny day might extend hundreds of miles.

Highway safety would be an issue, and dedicated twike-ways may be in the offing. Will bicyclists share space with Twikes?

The YouTube video below demonstrates the Twike in action:

Jet Pack Adventures

They claim it has a range of 16 km per fueling. At a cost of US $226,000 those 16 km would have to be very important.

Some of the world's militaries might consider incorporating something like this in their special forces bugout kit. Night drop behind enemy lines with a high-performance para-foil (perhaps a HALO using a wingsuit for the initial freefall). Your kit includes a jetpack, which is stowed carefully until you are ready to leave. Rendezvous in mid-air with your extraction craft, and you're gone.

Hat tip geekologie, via keelynet

Undersea Hotel: Luxury 66 Feet Down

For a mere US $5500 per night, you and your significant other can escape the hectic surface world of Dubai for the privacy of your own Neptunian paradise.

At a rough cost of UK£300 million, this jaw-dropping engineering challenge will allow guests to get a true taste for the peace and beauty of underwater life – and at a projected pricetag of up to USD$5500 per night for a room, you'd certainly be hoping that life is much better down where it's wetter....While all 220 of the hotel's bubble-shaped suites lie on the floor of the Persian Gulf, 66 feet (20 metres) under the surface of the water, the twin domes of the hotel's concert auditorium and ballroom will break through the surface. The ballroom's retractable roof will allow guests to enjoy open-air events, with panoramic views of the coastline and the Dubai skyline when the weather's fine – which, being Dubai, will be almost all of the time.

The Hydropolis will be well-looked after in emergencies – a series of watertight doors will allow management to completely seal off entire sections of the complex in the case of a rupture (here's hoping there's nobody in the sealed bits!) – and in anticipation that such an extravagant project might be a terrorist target, the complex will have its own missile defense system.

Gizmag

Of course, another undersea hotel in Fiji will probably start receiving guests sooner. While the Fijian undersea hotel will be smaller than the one in Dubai, its relative remoteness from the troubled Persian Gulf region may make it more attractive for those who truly want to "get away."

Bruce Jones has spent much of his career designing underwater toys for the rich and famous. The 50-year-old president of U.S. Submarines is best known for building ultraluxe custom subs, $80-million vessels that feature private staterooms, paneled interiors made from exotic hardwoods, plush carpeting, and enough onboard oxygen to keep you and 10 friends breathing easy for three weeks of cruising at depths of nearly 1,000 feet. Now Jones is redirecting his expertise in undersea opulence toward the hotel industry. His plan: to open the Poseidon Mystery Island, the world’s first major resort at the bottom of the ocean, by September 2008.

PopsciCheck out the YouTube video below for an enticing video tour of the Poseidon undersea resort now under construction:

It will not be long before persons with access to large sums of money have a choice of luxury accommodation on the sea, under the sea, in the sky on a luxury dirigible, in earth orbit, or perhaps even on the moon.

Personally, I like the idea of my own submarine that can also fly, drive on the highway, or power across the surface like a boat. Perhaps molecular assembler fabs can help with that?