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I'm not an aeronautical engineer, but the fuselage/wing size ratio on that is way bigger than anything I've seen that actually flies. Is something that looks l

by lukev 11y ago

I'm not an aeronautical engineer, but the fuselage/wing size ratio on that is way bigger than anything I've seen that actually flies. Is something that looks like that even a little bit possible?

jacquesm 11y ago
There is such a thing as a lifting body but this at first glance does not seem to be one of those. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body A scale model can easily be over-powered to the point that it will fly (anything can fly if you strap a large enough engine to it and you can vector thrust), but to make this work for a life-sized design the amount of power required to make it fly would likely cause the vehicle to be so in-efficient it would not be economical to use.
Someone 11y ago
Given enough power, a brick can 'fly'. This more likely is a flying body (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body) or a blended wing body (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_wing_body https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_wing_body), as 'give it an enormous engine' hurts economical feasibility. But yes, it looks as if those wings are there only to have something to hang the engines from.
jobu 11y ago
Not the most successful comparison, but it looks proportionally similar to the V-22 Osprey (also a VTOL aircraft).
- jacquesm 11y ago
  Not really, the Osprey has much more horizontal wing surface relative to its size and it has a tail surface and double stabilizer as well. That's a completely different geometry much closer to a conventional aircraft than the subject of this thread. This new vehicle also has a ducted fan for more forward thrust (I suspect this is because mounting larger tilt rotors was impossible given the constraints on height of the vehicle). It'll be a close race between this one and the Moller sky car which one will hit the dealerships first. /sarcasm.

by lukev 11y ago

I'm not an aeronautical engineer, but the fuselage/wing size ratio on that is way bigger than anything I've seen that actually flies. Is something that looks like that even a little bit possible?

jacquesm 11y ago

There is such a thing as a lifting body but this at first glance does not seem to be one of those. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body A scale model can easily be over-powered to the point that it will fly (anything can fly if you strap a large enough engine to it and you can vector thrust), but to make this work for a life-sized design the amount of power required to make it fly would likely cause the vehicle to be so in-efficient it would not be economical to use.

Someone 11y ago

Given enough power, a brick can 'fly'. This more likely is a flying body (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body) or a blended wing body (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_wing_body https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_wing_body), as 'give it an enormous engine' hurts economical feasibility. But yes, it looks as if those wings are there only to have something to hang the engines from.

jobu 11y ago

Not the most successful comparison, but it looks proportionally similar to the V-22 Osprey (also a VTOL aircraft).

jacquesm 11y ago
Not really, the Osprey has much more horizontal wing surface relative to its size and it has a tail surface and double stabilizer as well. That's a completely different geometry much closer to a conventional aircraft than the subject of this thread. This new vehicle also has a ducted fan for more forward thrust (I suspect this is because mounting larger tilt rotors was impossible given the constraints on height of the vehicle). It'll be a close race between this one and the Moller sky car which one will hit the dealerships first. /sarcasm.