Can't believe this apparatus got cleared to try & fly...

Creepy Green Light

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius
Sometimes I say that are best & brightest are so bright - that they can't get out of their own way (like experts that validated Billy Meier, Adamski & Paul Trent's photos/videos to be the real deal). Here's another example. You don't have to be an engineer to figure out that this was never going to work. But somebody actually thought this craft was going to be the workhorse of the U.S. Forestry Service? I mean, at least create a specialized device with a rotor on it - just don't take 4 helicopters & saw them in half and then bolt them onto some paint scaffolding and then have that bolted to a blimp. But yet somehow, someway everybody got on the same page - engineers and pilots alike and thought it'd be a good idea.

 

AD1184

Celestial
Interestingly that particular YouTube clip is unavailable in Britain. It says

"Video unavailable
This content is not available in your country due to a legal complaint."

Here are some alternative YouTube videos of the same event:



 

Ritzy

Super Novice
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That's amazing. Not in a good way. Seems like there would be room for a solid round of ground tests and such things for $40M. Holy shit.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Incredible...

...
 

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Celestial
The phenomenon that lead to this contraption's destruction, ground resonance, is something that can afflict even successful, certified helicopter designs. Here are some example videos:







It probably would have been better off if all four engines were under the control of a single pilot, rather than this jury-rigged four-helicopter-fuselage arrangement with one pilot for each fuselage.

The lesson is don't fly in helicopters because they are death traps.
 

Creepy Green Light

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius
The phenomenon that lead to this contraption's destruction, ground resonance, is something that can afflict even successful, certified helicopter designs. Here are some example videos:







It probably would have been better off if all four engines were under the control of a single pilot, rather than this jury-rigged four-helicopter-fuselage arrangement with one pilot for each fuselage.

The lesson is don't fly in helicopters because they are death traps.

I learned to fly fixed wing aircraft back in 1995. I've had a couple of helicopter lessons but I regret not getting my license when I was younger. All it takes is time and $$$. Maybe one day I'll get it, who knows?
 
The project was perhaps a bit less moronic than it looks in that video. I did a small bit of reading about it, and apparently it did fly a few times before Hindenburg: Redneck Edition. Sorry, someone posted that at YT and I realize one of the pilots died in the crash. I mean no disrespect to anyone who died in either disaster, it's just that quip seemed to sum up the look of the thing so well.

Obviously four helicopter rotors on a truss works fine in about a billion drones and such. Just seems like there should have been a lot of testing with remote controls before any flight. "Let's bolt four old used up helicopters to a blimp and see how well it flies" seems like a "What could go wrong?" kind of deal. I'm surprised they didn't bother to paint the helo bodies. That just made it look more like something out of Junkyard Wars. For forty million bucks, even today, I'd expect something that looked a lot more airworthy.

I'm tempted to do some more reading, to try to find out who was flying the thing. Seems like communication between the four pilots would be critical. If that got lost, how would they manage it? Also, even if it worked well, what happens when one engine dies?
 

Creepy Green Light

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius
The project was perhaps a bit less moronic than it looks in that video. I did a small bit of reading about it, and apparently it did fly a few times before Hindenburg: Redneck Edition. Sorry, someone posted that at YT and I realize one of the pilots died in the crash. I mean no disrespect to anyone who died in either disaster, it's just that quip seemed to sum up the look of the thing so well.

Obviously four helicopter rotors on a truss works fine in about a billion drones and such. Just seems like there should have been a lot of testing with remote controls before any flight. "Let's bolt four old used up helicopters to a blimp and see how well it flies" seems like a "What could go wrong?" kind of deal. I'm surprised they didn't bother to paint the helo bodies. That just made it look more like something out of Junkyard Wars. For forty million bucks, even today, I'd expect something that looked a lot more airworthy.

I'm tempted to do some more reading, to try to find out who was flying the thing. Seems like communication between the four pilots would be critical. If that got lost, how would they manage it? Also, even if it worked well, what happens when one engine dies?
Agreed. And as you know, it crashed at the same place the Hindenburg blew up at (Lakehurst NAS). Not only bold 4 helicopters onto what looks like a jumbled mess of paint scaffolding, but they sawed off the anti-torque rotor/tail boom which made it look more ghetto - not to mention the mismatched paint jobs. Like I said, sometimes you don't need a multi-million dollar computer or "experts" to evaluate something for months or years on end. I could have told you by the way that thing was put together that it was a death trap. RIP to the pilot that lost his life.
 

bill.zen

I want to believe
My god, look at the frame on that thing. Who thought this was a good idea.

And to have four pilots in separate craft controlling the thing, it was a recipe for disaster. Who the hell approved this design.
 
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