As we know Chinese farmer Shu Mansheng is trying to create the first craft that will allow octocopter-assisted human flight. As the above viedoe demonstrates, it appears that the Germans have entered and won the latest aeronautical race with their E-Volo Multicopter. As they reported in a recent press release:
At the end of October 2011, Thomas Senkel of e-volo had completed a series of unmanned tests and was ready for the first manned flight on an airstrip in the southwest of Germany. The flight lasted one minute and 30 seconds, after which the constructor and test pilot stated:
"The flight characteristics are good natured. Without any steering input it would just hover there on the spot".
This could be the future of flight, piloting a device as simple as a car.
That's all very impressive sounding until one carefully examines the film and notices that, not 8, but 16 little electric engines power their flying machine. Aha, so the whole mutlicopter name is just a clever ruse to try to conceal the fact that they're cheating by flying a sixteenocopter instead of an octocopter. Shame on you Germans -- shame, shame, shame!
(via The Escapist)
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