5 ms·

For much more detail on the design I recommend the Draft FAI World Record Claim they are submitting. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5093348/Draft%20Atlas%

For much more detail on the design I recommend the Draft FAI World Record Claim they are submitting. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5093348/Draft%20Atlas%20World%20Record%20Claim.zip https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5093348/Draft%20Atlas%20...) Interesting tidbit: "The pedaling of the pilot pulls on and reels in four Vectran cords, which are pre-spooled onto each of the four rotor hubs. The action of unspooling the cord and pulling on the rotor hub drives each rotor to overcome the drag force."

pge 13y ago
thanks for the link - I saw the big spools in the video and was trying to figure out what was going on. I presume that means that flight time is limited by cord length (rather than having a circulating loop like a bike chain)?
- samstave 13y ago
  It would be interesting if they could get a version with six blades where (3) are required to provide lift and it oscillates between spooling/unspooling three of the six at a time such that you fly with 3 whilst spooling the other three - then "shift" between spools.
  - chockablock 13y ago
    I like it: a 'pull-only' transmission system to take advantage of the tensile strength of lightweight materials.
curveship 13y ago
Thanks for the link! Lots of interesting info: Empty Weight: 55.1 kg All-Up Weight: 130.1 kg Flight Power (0.5 m): 450 W Flight Power (3 m): 750 W I wonder if those wattage numbers are estimates or measurements.
- curveship 13y ago
  Replying to self, as I just noticed (awesome!) they included a power chart for the record flight. About 1kw for the first 12 secs, then settling down to 600w for most of remainder. That's a boss ride, especially for a 70kg rider. Dude's a monster.
  - unavoidable 13y ago
    And he's an engineer, to boot.
  - davidjohnstone 13y ago
    That's very impressive. To put that into perspective, that's a chart[1] that some exercise scientists have put together that shows what power cyclists of varying levels tend to be able to produce. The data in the spreadsheet gives an average power of 708W for a minute, which equates to 10.1W/kg at 70kg, which puts him at the level of a category 1 racer or domestic pro. Keep in mind that the ~1000W spike for 10s at the start of the ride probably harms the overall average, as a more constant power output generally leads to a higher overall average (or, higher power outputs are disproportionally harder). Edit: according to the photo gallery in the article, Reichert is a nationally ranked speed skater in Canada, which is another one of the "big quads" sports. 1. https://s3.amazonaws.com/cyclinganalytics/static/cycling-power-table.png https://s3.amazonaws.com/cyclinganalytics/static/cycling-pow...
    - spullara 13y ago
      I think that he had to spike at the beginning to get up to the 3m mark and then could "coast" at the lower value to stay level. Edit: spelling
      - davidjohnstone 13y ago
        Yes, there's a chart that shows power and height vs. time, and it certainly looks like that was the case. I bet it didn't feel like coasting though :-)
- 13y ago

pge 13y ago

thanks for the link - I saw the big spools in the video and was trying to figure out what was going on. I presume that means that flight time is limited by cord length (rather than having a circulating loop like a bike chain)?

samstave 13y ago
It would be interesting if they could get a version with six blades where (3) are required to provide lift and it oscillates between spooling/unspooling three of the six at a time such that you fly with 3 whilst spooling the other three - then "shift" between spools.
- chockablock 13y ago
  I like it: a 'pull-only' transmission system to take advantage of the tensile strength of lightweight materials.

curveship 13y ago

Thanks for the link! Lots of interesting info: Empty Weight: 55.1 kg All-Up Weight: 130.1 kg Flight Power (0.5 m): 450 W Flight Power (3 m): 750 W I wonder if those wattage numbers are estimates or measurements.

curveship 13y ago
Replying to self, as I just noticed (awesome!) they included a power chart for the record flight. About 1kw for the first 12 secs, then settling down to 600w for most of remainder. That's a boss ride, especially for a 70kg rider. Dude's a monster.
- unavoidable 13y ago
  And he's an engineer, to boot.
- davidjohnstone 13y ago
  That's very impressive. To put that into perspective, that's a chart[1] that some exercise scientists have put together that shows what power cyclists of varying levels tend to be able to produce. The data in the spreadsheet gives an average power of 708W for a minute, which equates to 10.1W/kg at 70kg, which puts him at the level of a category 1 racer or domestic pro. Keep in mind that the ~1000W spike for 10s at the start of the ride probably harms the overall average, as a more constant power output generally leads to a higher overall average (or, higher power outputs are disproportionally harder). Edit: according to the photo gallery in the article, Reichert is a nationally ranked speed skater in Canada, which is another one of the "big quads" sports. 1. https://s3.amazonaws.com/cyclinganalytics/static/cycling-power-table.png https://s3.amazonaws.com/cyclinganalytics/static/cycling-pow...
  - spullara 13y ago
    I think that he had to spike at the beginning to get up to the 3m mark and then could "coast" at the lower value to stay level. Edit: spelling
    - davidjohnstone 13y ago
      Yes, there's a chart that shows power and height vs. time, and it certainly looks like that was the case. I bet it didn't feel like coasting though :-)
13y ago