Soon, electric-powered personal flying machine

Soon, electric-powered personal flying machine

FPJ BureauUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 08:17 PM IST
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Singapore : Want to fly like a bird in the backyard of your home? Your dream will come true soon as a team of engineering students from National University of Singapore (NUS) have built the first personal flying machine that can bear the load of a 70-kg person for a flight time of about five minutes, reports IANS.

Comprising an intricate design of motors, propellers and inflated landing gear set within a hexagonal frame, “Snowstorm” is an electric-powered aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing that can be controlled by a single person seated within it.

Rather than a mode of transportation, the right-member team envisions this more as an electric aircraft for personal recreational use in a large indoor space, to satisfy one’s desire to fly freely. “Snowstorm shows that a personal flying machine is a very real possibility, primarily as a means to fulfil our dreams of flying within a recreational setting,” said Dr Joerg Weigl, one of two supervisors of the project.

The electric flying machine sports 24 motors, each driving a propeller of 76 cm diameter with 2.2kW of power. Its hexagonal frame is made up of aluminium beams, carbon fibre plates and tubes with Kevlar ropes.

The pilot seat is positioned at the centre of the machine, its weight supported by six landing gear legs, the bottom of which is an inflated ball that adsorbs shock when landing.

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