2019-07-01_Discover

50 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COM

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Envisioning a Practical Personal Flying Vehicle

It sounds simple, yet it’s anything but: Design a personal flying vehicle. Make it quiet and safe, capable of near-vertical takeoff and

landing, and efficient enough to transport the pilot 20 miles without recharging. And don’t forget the thrill. With these requirements,

Boeing, the major aeronautics corporation widely known for making airplanes, has set out to launch the age of personal flight. The

first round of its GoFly competition attracted more than 600 participants from some 30 countries. Here are the visions of three of

the Phase 1 winners, who will build their machines and compete in a fly-off this fall.

Blue Sparrow

Pennsylvania State University

With six independently controlled

rotors above the pilot and a

battery below, the Blue Sparrow

prioritizes maneuverability and

safety, ensuring it remains aloft

even if some engines fail.

Silverwing S1

Delft University of Technology

The S1 combines the convenience

of a helicopter with the efficiency

of a fixed-wing aircraft, running

on just two heavy-duty electric

motors.

FlyKart 2

Trek Aerospace

Surrounded by 10 propellers,

the pilot of the electric FlyKart 2

can shift from vertical liftoff to a

jaunty forward tilt, experiencing

the aerial equivalent of a go-kart

joyride.

1486

Leonardo da

Vinci designs

an “ornithopter,”

based on his

observations of

birds and bats,

to give humans

the power to fly

by flapping large

artificial wings.

If Leonardo had

built one and tried

it, he’d have never

left the ground.

1783

The Montgolfier

brothers

demonstrate the

first sustained

human flight by

launching two

people in a hot air

balloon. To ensure

that the upper

atmosphere could

support life, the

inventors first

launch a sheep,

a duck and a

rooster.

1809

George Cayley

publishes On

Aerial Navigation,

the first serious

work on

aeronautical

engineering.

Based on his

experiments with

gliders, Cayley

develops the

physics that will

eventually lead

to airplanes.

1976

Viking 1 and 2 land on

Mars. In order to

prevent potential

contamination, the two

landers are heat sterilized

for 40 hours before

launch, ensuring that the

first successful landing on

Mars won’t contaminate

the Red Planet with

Earthly microbes.

2000

Astronaut

Bill Shepherd and

cosmonauts Yuri

Gidzenko and Sergei

Krikalev become

the first inhabitants

of the orbiting

International Space

Station. Today, after

additions, it’s the largest

facility built off Earth.

Ornithopter

2012

Voyager 1 is the first

man-made object to

reach interstellar space.

Launched in 1977 and

guided by computers

much simpler than a

smartphone, the NASA

spacecraft is now more

than 13 billion miles from

Cape Canaveral.

Major

Moments

for Flying

Humans

FLIGHT

EVERYTHING

WORTH

KNOWING

International

Space Station