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One-Man Amphibious 'Copter' [video] (1955) (youtube.com)
49 points by killittosaveit on Feb 2, 2022 | hide | past | favorite | 28 comments



My palms are sweating after watching that. Risk incarnate.

That being said, I wish modern news and video had more of the magic from this time period when it comes to composition. Love the music and the narrative voice.


The music was originally created for the Paramount Superman cartoons of the 40s. https://youtu.be/_djxH-q0e48


More information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Lackner_HZ-1_Aerocycle

Originally developed by the US Army for reconnaissance.


From the “see also” on that page, this looks pretty incredible (to my untrained eye): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_X-Jet


Imagine losing your balance and falling off.

With guard rails and fully enclosed rotor blades, it might've worked. I can't think of anywhere to deploy it where it would have advantages over other modes of transportation. Desert, coastlines, ... but then what for? Landmine detection? It's also really loud, so no public or residential deployment.

And even if it had been hardened and dummy proofed, disruption of the blades would not have had many safe failure modes.


Sensor that detects something about hit the rotors, detaches the blades via explosive bolts, takes out not one person but more.


The world doesn't deserve such an incredible marvel of engineering.


There was a ducted fan version of this type of craft, a little more famous. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiller_VZ-1_Pawnee


The Hiller flying platform is a rather cool gadget and Bay-area folks can see one at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos. With all of the wacky vehicles people have made using jumped-up quadcopter designs or small jet engines I am really surprised no one has tried to make a new version of this aircraft.


Cool. I used to live near there but for some reason never knew about that Museum. I'll have to watch this video for now but I'll get over there some day again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhX_YJEkpOo


> Imagine losing your balance and falling off.

He seems to be fastened both at the feet and at the hip with some sort of wire, so I don't think he actually can fall off. But still.


> Imagine losing your balance and falling off.

Or a sudden dog running across the field. Or checking your insta-feed and overlooking that group at the wedding crossing the park.


That is the equivalent of flying a food processor.


A friend of mine (miles van dorssen) built one of these and flew it in the park. I’d possibly been a little dubious until he found the old 80s handicam he filmed on, and I got to watch the tape through the viewfinder. In that tiny window I saw miles in a bike helmet hovering two feet in the on a violently shaking lawnmower quadcopter. I don’t know how google able miles is but he builds great things


The dream is definitely alive, as per this recent viral video

https://youtu.be/Pv5JQnmD1Yk

Apparently it’s from the inventor himself, with more info.


This vehicle, and a whole bunch of other early flying platforms, is on display at the Evergreen Air & Space museum in McMinnville OR, about an hour from Portland.

https://447bg.org/helicopters/dh4-helivector/


I'd call it Flying Segway


Hiller VZ-1, see it at the San Carlos Airport:

https://www.hiller.org/event/flying-platform/


Oh, wow, that brings back some nostalgia. There's a picture of this in one of Richard Scarry's non-Busytown books that I had as a child.


I wonder why it never caught on?


People like their legs


Do you want your neighbors to have flying cars?


Such a flying “car”? Best way to have ground meat everywhere in your garden if said neighbor makes the smallest mistake…


Can anybody figure out the year?


1954


How do you know that?


The DH-4 was made in 1954, followed by the HZ-1 in 1956. The video shows N64N in the video, but the N64N-1 didn't have water applications.

Sources:

https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1140732

> It is the only surviving HZ-1. The prototype, designated DH-4 ...

https://transportation.army.mil/museum/coldwar/index.html

> The HZ-1 was tested at Fort Eustis in 1956.

https://archive.org/stream/ArmedForcesFilms1956/ArmedForcesF...

> IESM-543 . Released July 1956 ... The Aerocycle is an experimental one man flying machine.

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/lockner_helicovector...

> DH-4 first flew in January 1955.

https://asc.army.mil/docs/magazine2/armyalt-oct-dec-15.pdf

> In 1954, he proposed that if the rotors of a helicopter were on the bottom, a pilot could use his own weight to steer the vehicle using kinesthetic control, similar to riding a bicycle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Lackner_HZ-1_Aerocycle

> First flight 22 November 1954

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyBHM1vZLzc

> The De Lackner DH-4 "Aerocycle", later renamed the HZ-1 Aerocycle


Wikipedia has the first tethered test flight in late '54. It didn't fly untethered until 55, in 56 the US Army took over testing but this vehicle has no Army markings and is untethered. 1955 seems fairly likely.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Lackner_HZ-1_Aerocycle#Test...




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