One-Man Helicopters Give Soldiers Wings (Mar, 1940)
Filed under: Aviation — @ 2:39 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1940
| Buy on Ebay
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1940
| Buy on Ebay
One-Man Helicopters Give Soldiers Wings
Soldiers hurling themselves across wide streams at a single leap, charging over battlefields at high speeds, flying across wide trenches and gaping shell holes in a series of broad jumps—that is the picture envisioned by George de Bothezat, of New York City, inventor of a curious one-man helicopter. Consisting of two propellers mounted on a vertical axis and driven horizontally in opposite directions by a lightweight gasoline engine, the apparatus is anchored in a framework over the head of the user, who wears a special belt-and-harness support. The machine, controlled in the air by body, arm, and leg movements, might also be used by sportsmen.
Has anyone ever perfected this? Because whoa…
Although I’m not sure about the “lightweight gasoline engine” part. Running out of gas is an inconvenience these days, but running out of gas at 800 AGL…
Comment by Blurgle — June 8, 2008 @ 7:22 am
I’m wondering how you would:
Start
Launch
Steer
Land
Stop
Comment by jayessell — June 8, 2008 @ 8:13 am
So what happens when the user hits the ground? That apparatus lands on top of him? *yikes* OR what if the user, still strapped in, leans forward to put the apparatus on the ground and the propellors haven’t completed stopped rotating? This one could get UGLY!
Comment by JeffConn — June 8, 2008 @ 8:15 am
Where is the gas tank?
Comment by Bob — June 8, 2008 @ 8:34 am
Bob, the cover illustration shows landing/takeoff legs and what could be a fuel tank over the ‘pilot’.
Comment by jayessell — June 8, 2008 @ 9:10 am
A sniper’s dream… slow-moving aerial targets that aren’t in a position to shoot back…
Comment by Eliyahu — June 8, 2008 @ 9:42 am
What sort of “sportsman” would be using one of those?
Comment by Repack Rider — June 8, 2008 @ 4:46 pm
It’s not as compact as what they describe, but it looks like the general idea is plausible: http://www.ultralightflyer.com/genH4/index.htm
Comment by Greg — June 8, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
I can’t stop thinking of this as a “Far Side” comic with the caption “It was then that Bob realized that he hadn’t mailed his last insureance payment”!
Comment by KHarn — June 9, 2008 @ 5:45 pm