It might be a stretch to say this vehicle “flew,” since it barely rose above the ground and the three-axis controls seem a bit limited — but a hobbyist in the UK did get his home-built multi-rotor aircraft aloft for the first time, and documented it in a YouTube video. The design is reminiscent of the layout used by the e-Volo team, but it’s powered by 54 18-inch propellers like the standard kind used for remote-control hobby airplanes, each with its own individual battery pack. The builder, who identifies himself only as “gasturbine101” on YouTube, says the aircraft has an endurance of 10 minutes. The video has gone viral, with almost 2.5 million views since it was posted about a week ago.
In notes posted below the video, the builder says the aircraft props are used at “a relatively low fraction of their thrust/rpm capability” so they should be reliable, though they’re “needlessly heavy.” And he adds that he took on the project as “just a bit of fun for myself … never intended for making a significant journey or flying much above head height.” The entire system cost about $9,000, he said. The aircraft’s “biggest flaw,” the builder said, is that “the large number of props running at high speed means the net torque reactions are relatively low, so the craft has little yaw authority.” A tail rotor might help, he said, for better turn control.
