One thing about the group that runs the
ultralight section is that if you have made the trip and paid your money
they will do everything within their power to get you up and flying, in
front of t he crowd. Last year a company showed up with a one man
helicopter, in the one and only demo flight it was decided that "
for safety reasons" after the first lift off "it was too
windy."
This year the "one man
helicopter" was again on display but this time the wind had died
down to the point that two sessions of lift off's and landings were
made.
The Gen H-4 is a very unique
"helicopter" in that it has two counter rotating blades
overhead, which eliminates the need for a tail boom and rotor. Power is
supplied by 4 - 10 hp engines, with independent clutches. This is
important, in the case of an engine failure, the engine that has failed
just drops out of the system and the remaining engines are able to keep
the craft flying. While the engines rev out to between 6900 and 7200 rpm
the rotor blades are reduced to about 800 rpm. The rotor blades are 13.1
feet long and made from a carbon Kevlar composite.
The pilot controls the pitch, roll and
yaw of the craft via a "gimble" operated control stick which
aided by a computer (or manually) uses a sort of weight shift technique
to change direction. Climb on the craft is controlled by the throttle,
as you add rpm the blades which are fixed pitch rev up more providing
the lift. To move forward you pull the control column which is located
in front of you towards yourself. Turning left or right is accomplished
using a "yaw switch" located on your left thumb - it in
essence changes the rotation of the two upper blades turning you left
and right.
To date the GEN 4 has been involved in a
lot of "hovering testing" in about a 50 foot radius in Japan.
According to the pilot I interviewed the plane in "no wind -
conditions is very easy to fly" I can fly with one hand."
"in theory the way the plane is balanced in no wind it could fly
itself"
When the kit is ready for shipping,
which is expected to be the first of the year 2,000 it is estimated the
kit should take about 40 hours to build.
For more information on the GEN H-4
Contact:
Engineering System Co. LTD
website:
http://www.engineeringsystem.co.jp/index.html
email:
aviation@engineeringsystem.co.jp
|
