3 ms·

It is possible, perhaps through a clever arrangement of gears and what not, to create a human powered copter that can create sufficient lift with just one rotor

• starpilot 13y ago
  Probably, but you'd need a tailrotor or tip props on the blade tips for countertorque. There was an unsuccessful HPH design with one tip-driven rotor. The negative is that you're generating aerodynamic force that is non-lifting, and thus wasting power. Four rotors were probably chosen for this design (and many past others) for stability; a helicopter in hover is about as stable as an air hockey puck, it needs constant control input to stay in one spot. Directional control is much easier with a vehicle resting on four legs than on one.
• b_emery 13y ago
  Interesting question. Seems like they have a lot of weight in the superstructure that would be removed with a single blade (and tail rotor).
  • starpilot 13y ago
    You lose weight in the external structure, but you'd gain some back in stiffening the blades to prevent excessive blade deflection (you'd have one big rotor instead of four small ones). You could also stiffen with external tension cables, but these rotate with the blades and would incur drag (streamlined wires were invented for this reason, also bicycle wheel disk covers) and disturb the axial flow. It's all about tradeoffs. - former HPH member