Post by Cybermortis on Nov 24, 2015 16:42:25 GMT
During the development of VTOL aircraft designers discovered a rather significant aspect of aircraft design; Don't make things more complex than you have to. The reason the VTOL Mirage fighter proved to be a deathtrap was that it used five different engines, four for vertical lift and one for forward flight. While this did work, more often than not minor variations between the lifting engines (let alone a failure) caused the aircraft to slide sideways and slam into the ground.
While modern computer systems could probably compensate for minor variations, they can't do much if one of the engines stops working. Or in this context you need to keep the mechanical systems as simple as possible. Meaning a single main drive shaft, not two shafts both of which would require gearing...and probably a larger engine. Modern drones use a single engine, not one for each rotor.
A ducted fan system might be capable of allowing fine control similar to that of a helicopter if you could figure out a way to rotate/move the housing and fan around. The best example I can think of here would be the ducted fan design seen in the wings of the Quinjet from the Avengers films. Although I don't think it is made clear how they manage to get power to the fans without preventing the housing from rotating.
I agree with an above comment about the balance issue. The design seen would have the majority of its mass in the forward part of the craft. Far to much mass to allow even the best computer systems to compensate for.
I'd also observe that the nose section covers quite a large section of the fan, meaning that part of the rotor would be unable to provide lift as it couldn't draw air in. (I'm actually wondering what effect this might have on the fan, and if the sudden lack of air could cause damage to the rotor or even cockpit if spinning air gets slammed into the side of the structure.)
Now if you were talking about some type of fictional technology, such as an anti-gravity drive powered by the rotation of a device, such a design might well work - the air may simply be a way to cool the system with the 'blades' not actually rotating fast enough to provide lift or cause any problems. For existing or predicted technologies however I can't see such a design being all that practical.
While modern computer systems could probably compensate for minor variations, they can't do much if one of the engines stops working. Or in this context you need to keep the mechanical systems as simple as possible. Meaning a single main drive shaft, not two shafts both of which would require gearing...and probably a larger engine. Modern drones use a single engine, not one for each rotor.
A ducted fan system might be capable of allowing fine control similar to that of a helicopter if you could figure out a way to rotate/move the housing and fan around. The best example I can think of here would be the ducted fan design seen in the wings of the Quinjet from the Avengers films. Although I don't think it is made clear how they manage to get power to the fans without preventing the housing from rotating.
I agree with an above comment about the balance issue. The design seen would have the majority of its mass in the forward part of the craft. Far to much mass to allow even the best computer systems to compensate for.
I'd also observe that the nose section covers quite a large section of the fan, meaning that part of the rotor would be unable to provide lift as it couldn't draw air in. (I'm actually wondering what effect this might have on the fan, and if the sudden lack of air could cause damage to the rotor or even cockpit if spinning air gets slammed into the side of the structure.)
Now if you were talking about some type of fictional technology, such as an anti-gravity drive powered by the rotation of a device, such a design might well work - the air may simply be a way to cool the system with the 'blades' not actually rotating fast enough to provide lift or cause any problems. For existing or predicted technologies however I can't see such a design being all that practical.
