Tuesday, January 6, 2009

In Case You Were Wondering What To Get Me

I want this (you can watch with the sound muted if you're at work):


helicoptere personnel


For those of you actually interested in this gizmo, there's not a whole lot of info. The pilot/inventor is supposedly from Austria and this is appearently the only one of these he's built. So far. Obviously it's not powerful enough to achieve much more than ground effect flight and any kind of safety feature is pretty much nonexistant. Supposedly, this video was shot in Courdimanche-sur-Essonne, Île-de-France, France. I say supposedly a lot in this paragraph because information on this machine is pretty hard to come by.

Still, until something better comes along in this shiney new 21st century, it'll do.

And I want one.

15 comments:

  1. Sweet. Can't imagine the collision insurance on it, though.

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  2. WOW! And much less fuel use than the Bell Jet Pack. A helicopter hat. Let's get one made out of teak and give it to Nathan.

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  3. I thought that came standard with admission into the Sooper Sekrit UCF, part of the government kick backs we get. :)

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  4. I always wondered why the jet pack hasn't made any tech improvements since the 80's.. everything else has made quantum leaps in technology, seems like it should have as well. barring that, this one looks like fun

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  5. Two thoughts:

    1) That looks ASWESOME!
    2) I would so get my head caught in the propeller blades.

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  6. Woah - sure would make trips to the post office more fun - BzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZownt :)

    Go Go Gadget hat copter!

    Here's one almost as small, or maybe just with better seating.

    I bet VXE-6 would like a few of these as spares - hee!

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  7. Karl, yeah I saw that one yesterday when I was trying to learn more about the hatcopter.

    That's the GEN H-4 One-Man Co-axial Ultra-light Helicopter. Supposedly the smallest and lightest (at 155lbs) production helicopter. Four engines provide a total of 40hp, and the beast can make a controlled emergency landing on two engines alone. 60mins endurance, 55mph cruise speed, 10,000ft ceiling. Ballistic recovery system (parachute) is optional. It's made in Japan and you can actually buy one through Ace Craft USA.

    And I can see a number of limited military uses for something like this. Or remote exploration in rugged territory.

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  8. The Helicoptere Personnel looks like it couldn't carry enough fuel to get you out of the backyard - somewhat of a design flaw. ;)

    BUT - you could turn it upside down and use it on low speed to trim your hedges, and I do love a good multifunction tool.

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  9. My first thought was that it makes a nifty hi-tech guillotine.

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  10. it makes a nifty hi-tech guillotine.

    Well, that would depend on where you flew it, like, say into a crowd...or the zoo, in the giraffe paddock.

    What?

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  11. Or the ostrich pen. urk

    I looked into getting one of the Benson gyros back in 10th grade - there was a personal runway available then. Then the Bells. (Weiland's added personal helos!) Then the Hughes 500 line. (You can see where this is going...) I got ground school out of the way in my junior year and then things happened and here I am - not being a pilot.

    Now I have helo-hat on my mind, though ::grin::

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  12. First thought -- the propeller beenie cap goes high tech.

    Second thought -- It's the amazing flying camera tripod. (Don't, however, pan down...)

    Dr. Phil

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  13. *sidles up to the zookeepers after the hatcopter has gone past*

    So... you don't need those headless giraffes for anything anymore, right? Can I have them?

    What? Eric is hounding me about a contract!

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  14. When you get yours and work the bugs out, you can come to Downtown Atlanta and peek into my sometime office window...
    on the 33rd floor!!

    Just be careful of the cross currents coming from nearby CNN- all that hot air!

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