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  1. A

    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    And I believe that small niche (for an IGE rotorcraft) would grow ever larger, if the machines/ kits were available- and at least affordable. I always trusted the good old R22, while I was flying it- but I was well aware of it's complexity- a semi-rigid helicopter rotor-head is definitely not...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    Re: We need a low cost contra-rotating alternative! I was afraid that the way that I worded that (about bushes, branches etc.) might have been over-stated, that is- not taken exactly as I meant it. What I really meant was that, in the somewhat extreme (and ostensibly- rare) case of venturing...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    Re: Safety Issues: SOLVED I’d like to comment on that aspect (ie; using an ordinary aircraft in place of the Hiller Platform). What exactly is the rationale for using a Hiller Platform in place of just an aircraft, such as, let’s say, a RotorWay Exec helicopter, Mosquito Ultralight, etc...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    Re: 2 Cents All kidding aside (about Wilber Wright saying to sit on fences, and the like), if we are to look at this from a purely pragmatic point of view, then Dana is, from his standpoint- correct: 1) The price tag; There's no getting around the fact that this, or any aircraft is going to...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    Until...the price tag...performance [limitations] & implications of engine failure... “If you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds...” — Wilbur Wright, 18 September, 1901 Aviator2 AKA Chuck Baltzer
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    2 Cents I'm sure glad to see that this thread and topic are still interesting, and as SkyClimber said- it really is a cutting edge subject. One aspect of this particular thread is that the person who originally started it spelled it "plateform", as in "dinner plate" rather than "platform"...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    Safety Issues: SOLVED I’d like to address the issue of safety/ emergency landings in this post. On the Ten-Up/ 15-Forward Flying Platform (means it only goes about 10 feet up, and 15 MPH airspeed max) I would use the “Lawn Mower Principle”, that is- when was the last time your simple, good old...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    Hope you get it built someday!! I hope you finish up on the "IGE helicopter" someday, that'd be very interesting to see (on video and in pictures)! As Topaz alluded to above- sometimes people just aim too high, when a lesser machine might do the job, because after all- most types of flying is...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    A Good Philosophization I haven't been on the RotaryForum.com conference in a while, but I always posted there using my real name, Chuck Baltzer, as my username. I started the thread "A New Rotorcraft Concept" back in 2/2012, which is similar, but not exactly the same as this conference...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    A little Bit of Update For those interested in this subject (the possibility of an actual home-made flying platform) I have just a scant, little bit of update from the Flying Platform LLC Company, of Lake placid, Florida. I had contacted them recently asking about progress on their company...
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    Is This Possible?

    I was wondering about a "screen-name change", that is- when I created my account on the Homebuilt conference, I chose Aviator2. But then I was thinking- I had used just my real name for years on Norm Jacobson's RotorCraft.com conference, and it always seemed more convenient and genuine. I got...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    Haaaa!!! "slices and dices through the crowd while advertising..." That IS funny. I believe that this company may very well turn out to be a reputable kit supplier for home-built flying platforms. I contacted them with questions about whether the propeller drive system allows one engine to...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    Flying Platform LLC Hey, folks- it's been almost a full year since we discussed anything about the Hiller type flying platforms on this conference, but I have learned of a new start-up company in Florida called "Flying Platform LLC", does anybody have any knowledge on this outfit? The company...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    But would it have worked? In the book “Vertical Challenge- The Hiller Aircraft Story”, in the chapter “The Mature Years”, in the section about the VZ-1 Flying Platforms, it says: “…the Army, after taking control of the flying platforms from the Office of Naval Research, requested all future...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    Safety That raises a good point- the question of safety. If you have a Hiller VZ-1 type of flying platform with one, single engine- then you have no emergency landing capability whatsoever- if the engine stalls- that is where you will drop (and crash) - period. If you have three engines...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    Paucity of Subject BBerson, on the last post you said, “I only see one blade in the photos, how does that work?” I kinda doubt that that particular platform ever got off the ground- of if he did fly I’ll bet he spun like a whirligig. It’s too bad that there isn’t some way to counter torque...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    We need a low cost contra-rotating alternative! Duplicate post.
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    We need a low cost contra-rotating alternative! Besides that, there’s another point I’d like to make on this conference, because this is a unique place to make it. And that is: that I feel- and I believe that a lot of homebuilders around the country and world feel the same way as me- that there...
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    No, I am not in any of those photos, and have never seen that machine in person. Has anybody heard anything more of Protomate's project, that is- the guy who originally started this thread intending to build a flying platform?
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    Hiller Flying Plateform Planning, All Ideas Highly Appreciated, Aircraft Noob

    Vertipod The name of the company that was attempting to build that particular flying platform is Air Buoyant, and the vehicle is (or, was) called the Vertipod. It’s been more than 6 years since anybody has reported anything about this particular flying platform. Air Buoyant president and...
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