Video: The Navy Invented a Flying Segway in 1955
Posted by Tony on June 1st, 2012Along with the jet packs we were supposed to be sporting by now and the hover cars easing our commute was the military’s Flying Platform.
In 1955 a film was shot showing one of the airborne Seqway-like contraptions in operation. Originally developed by the Navy, the US Army deemed them impractical and development halted.
Looking at this now, after six decades have gone by? All we’d need is some PVC, a lawn mower engine, an arduino controller and one of those mini-trampolines.
And maybe a Kickstarter account.
[YouTube]
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June 2nd, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Next stop: Flying Platform Polo
June 4th, 2012 at 7:14 am
Air jousting. Paint them to look like ostriches like the video game. Then take bets.
June 4th, 2012 at 7:28 am
Yeah, I suspect that computer assist would make it much more stable and probably more energy efficient. Plus the benefits from material science and such. But the best construction would still be with the rotors above; like a magic umbrella rather than a manic carpet. I’ve seen tiny, single person helicopters meant for farmers and ranchers and anyone needing to patrol large tracts of land (I don’t think they are very common yet) which seem like they would be very useful for military missions. An airborne horse equivalent might be quite a force multiplier, as mounted warfare did wonders for Genghis Khan.
June 4th, 2012 at 7:28 am
Yeah, I suspect that computer assist would make it much more stable and probably more energy efficient. Plus the benefits from material science and such. But the best construction would still be with the rotors above; like a magic umbrella rather than a manic carpet. I’ve seen tiny, single person helicopters meant for farmers and ranchers and anyone needing to patrol large tracts of land (I don’t think they are very common yet) which seem like they would be very useful for military missions. An airborne horse equivalent might be quite a force multiplier, as mounted warfare did wonders for Genghis Khan.