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I was on pprune where it says Erickson Air Crane & Sikorsky plan to fly a fully autonomous radio controlled model this year.

https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/63890 ... anned.html

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Erickson article

https://ericksoninc.com/a-vietname-helo ... -of-enemy/

Firefighting is the intended application.

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Some day our pilots will be teenage whiz kids who master computer games , and flight simulators , and remote control with 10 only minutes of training.

HAAAA !!!!

Should let this guy have a crack at flying it?

No, maybe not a good idea....

That guy needs lessons.
Not once did he get enough control to fly flat and level

That's right Jake... just think, if he practices realy hard and tries to concentrate....

He might be able to get the darn thing just to hover??

Yea...but his pirouettes were almost 0.001" out of eccentricity.

Not jealous or nothing!!

Just since i have your attention, here is that type of heli with a camera on the tail boom... doing those stunts and most landings are full down autos... including one landing where he autos and flips upside down, then right way up again a few times... Pretty awesome imo



Annnnnd...my old favorite

Daytime....



And Night time....



Their skill actually makes me

Question about these heli models?
I gather that the aerodynamic priciples are the same for these vs. Full Size ones, is it just mass/weight that prevents reall helis from performing like this?
Is it possible, but hu.ans can't take the g force? Or is it a HP issue or a rotor design issue?

Like building solid parts all steel with 50,000 horse power. and 1.5 pounds of useful load spinning at 2,000 rpm.

Somethings you cant scale up. these toys are running the same tip speed as their older work horses.

Most their skills are on a micro chip routine in the control box. Not like the old 4 channel and mechanical lever stuff

That's true Hillbilly... some things scale up exponentially... and at a point, things aren't able to tolerate the forces... and yes, the human body couldn't take the G forces.

It is the same scale issue like RC cars... They have remote control cars 1/10th scale that can do 80 mph... but that scale speed would be 10x the speed... that is like a real car doing 800mph. I think it is to do woth the size of atoms and molecules... like, insects are so small compared to the air they are in... they are actually 'swimming' rather than 'flying'

Then, you can splat a fly with a rolled up news paper and it ricochets off the walls... then flies away.... but then a helicopter touches a single wire or bumps a tree and it is all over... or a single plastic bag blows into a tail rotor and destroys a heli

It sure is a fascinating subject

[Youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5aMT9MBfZI[/Youtube]

Thanks for the replies, I forgot I had asked a question!
so I know I saw somewhere that the Redbull Acro Heli can do cool shit causeof a solid rotor. is that what these toys are using?

Titanium rotorhead ridged rotor. Feather bearings only - flapping & lead lag all in the flexible blade roots

The toys are simi ridged with lead lag- more mass and scaled down airframes.

Sikorsky Bell Kaman and Hughes can do aerobatics [though not certified to do aerobatics]