Posted on 12/14/2021 12:49:12 PM PST by Red Badger
Africa's all-electric Phractyl Macrobat birdoplane will squat back, tilt its wings skyward, and perform "near vertical" takeoff and landingPhractyl VIEW 5 IMAGES
African startup Phractyl has shown us a concept unlike anything we've seen before – or are likely to see again, if we're honest. With tracked feet, bird legs, a tilting cabin and tilting wings, this avant-garde absurdity promises "near-VTOL" flight. Africa, says new electric aircraft startup Phractyl, is in a pretty unique situation as the eVTOL wave begins to break, since it's got so little in the way of ground transport infrastructure.
So aircraft that can take off and land vertically – without needing runways or helipads, or carrying the high costs of helicopters – could make an impact way beyond just cutting down commute times for grey-suited stockbrokers that don't want to take the train. They could make an absolutely transformational difference.
So a small team assembled under the name Phractyl to create an African solution to an African problem, and they came up with this, the Macrobat – a "near vertical takeoff and landing," or NVTOL aircraft with bird legs, tracked feet and some further weirdness going on around the wings, which appear to be able to partially tilt.
What on Earth is going on here? Well, the tracked feet give this machine some very mild multi-terrain capabilities. Wheels might fare better on rough ground, but then you'd need more than two of them to balance. So tracks it is, for better or worse.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
Go Hawks!!!
You are too fast!
“African”...actually, a South African company of 2 white and one Indian engineer. Those legs are completely over engineered.
looks angry...
I was just looking for that.
Just think of what all you can do with them!!!.....................
Pepper Potts’ plane? Kinda matches Iron Man’s suit
Hmmm...
LOL you saw it before me. :)
E.D. 209
I love it!
It reminds a little of the big droid in the first Robcop movie in that stance.
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It’s a flying ED-209 with the twin machine guns replaced by engine nacelles.
Ballistic parachute for the whole aircraft, probably.
A worthy successor to the Ronco Chop-O-Matic.
The drawback, as I see it: At least in the USA, the grey-suited businessman can’t just jump in it and take off for work, unless he is a licensed pilot. Not to mention that a twin engine aircraft with that wild configuration prolly would be deemed a special Type and require the pilot to be Type Rated for that to be cleared to fly it. Then there’s the price tag. Would $500K cover it? Doubtful.
The article places this in Africa but doesn’t say where. It must be somewhere between Marrakech and Maputo.
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