Bill Lishman flies his rescue trike, a modified ultralight aircraft that he hopes aid agencies and governments will use instead of costly helicopters to distribute food and medical supplies, carried in the container beneath the pilot’s seat.
Posted on 12/04/2007 8:46:47 AM PST by BGHater
Aircraft enthusiast Bill Lishman says his latest invention can deliver supplies in emergency situations - quickly, easily and cheaply
PURPLE HILL, ONT. — Bill Lishman's workshop has more than a touch of mad inventor to it. Scattered around the glowing forge are cast-off parts from contraptions that have included everything from the frame of an underground home to a Cessna-sized steel albatross.
Then there's the pneumatic refrigerator that pops up out of the counter like a frozen jack-in-the-box, and of course the see-through ultralight plane he built to lead Canada geese through the sky - a quest that made him a laughingstock until it actually worked, making Mr. Lishman an ornithological hero and inspiring a Hollywood movie about his life.
Now Mr. Lishman is on to a new project - a tiny, skeletal aircraft he hopes will revolutionize the business of disaster relief. Mr. Lishman wants to pack more than a dozen of the little planes into a container that can be flown to areas such as Sudan's Darfur region, where they could be deployed like mechanized hornets, buzzing to hard-hit sites with loads of food and medical supplies.
"It's one of those things that sounds crazy, but you watch," said Mr. Lishman, who has spent two years building and testing his machine at his home north of Oshawa, Ont., using techniques that conjure up the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk.
Known as a rescue trike, his machine looks like a flying lawn chair: there is a bolted-together aluminum frame, a beefed-up hang-glider wing and a Bombardier aircraft engine. Mounted beneath the pilot's seat is the key feature - a pod that can carry about 90 kilograms worth of relief supplies that can be released by the pilot as the rescue trike skims low over the ground.
The seeds of Mr. Lishman's invention were sown in 1998, when he watched news coverage of the relief efforts that followed Hurricane Mitch, a sluggish storm that stalled over Central America, killing nearly 11,000 people and leaving more than 8,000 missing. Mr. Lishman noted that it took weeks to get supplies to some areas that were accessible only by air. Part of the problem, he believed, was the type of aircraft used. Transport planes such as the C-130 Hercules couldn't land in many of the places where help was needed. Helicopters were perfect, but there weren't enough of them.
Mr. Lishman quickly saw that the helicopter had some key drawbacks when it came to disaster relief. Getting them to the scene was a problem; helicopters are too slow to fly over very long distances, and are too large and complex to break down and pack inside an airplane. They are also extremely costly. The least expensive helicopter on the market (the two-seat Robinson R22) goes for more than $225,000. Most helicopters cost far more.
Helicopters also demand constant, expensive maintenance and a highly skilled pilot. In Canada, a Robinson R22 rents for about $400 an hour, including the pilot, while a larger helicopter, such as the popular Bell JetRanger, costs about $1,000 an hour.
Mr. Lishman spent many years piloting ultralight trikes (which are derived from hang gliders) in his pioneering work with migratory birds. His expeditions showed him how versatile a trike could be; the tiny machines can take off and land from soccer field-sized airstrips, and are easily disassembled for transport.
"People laugh, but these are amazing machines," said Mr. Lishman, who flies in and out of a grass airstrip in his backyard.
He built a flying prototype of the rescue trike and, for the past year, has been refining the machine, flying in and out of rough, remote areas across Ontario. The rescue trike is equipped with an ingenious release system (designed by New York engineer and hang-glider pilot Paul Yarnall) that allows the pilot to drop a sled-shaped pod without landing.
The machine is part of a grander plan. Mr. Lishman has created a fledgling organization called Air First Aid, which aims to deploy rescue trikes and a team of pilots anywhere in the world. Air First Aid currently consists of little more than the rescue trike prototype, a series of concept drawings and a website, but he believes his system will appeal to aid organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, that need a quick, low-cost way to help those in need.
The rescue trike's key feature is its simplicity: It can be built for little more than the price of a mid-size car, maintained by a shade-tree mechanic, and packed into a box for easy transport. Mr. Lishman said at least 15 of the machines can be loaded into a transport plane, packed inside a steel container.
The transport plane would serve as a delivery system for the Air First Aid team. After landing at the nearest available airstrip, the rescue trikes would be unloaded and assembled. If necessary, the container they arrived in could serve as a shelter for the pilots. The fleet of the ultralights would be loaded with supplies and then head for the disaster scene, guided by an inexpensive GPS unit.
The rescue trike can cruise at up to 100 kilometres an hour, and carries enough fuel to travel about 250 km. Mr. Lishman studied disasters and found that, in almost every case, transport aircraft landed in places that would have been within range of the trikes.
He believes the rescue trike and Air First Aid can fill a critical gap. After Hurricane Mitch, he said, thousands of people in Central America waited weeks for supplies because roads were destroyed, and helicopters weren't available.
"Air First Aid could have done the job. This is a case where less is more."
Bill Lishman flies his rescue trike, a modified ultralight aircraft that he hopes aid agencies and governments will use instead of costly helicopters to distribute food and medical supplies, carried in the container beneath the pilot’s seat.
Sounds very logical to me. Helicopters require too much infrastructure to operate.
OTOH, this thing can’t carry much of a payload. Will sufficient pilots be available to airlift enough supplies to make this approach viable in a crisis?
Looks like the pilot of that thing might be the one needing the rescuing.
If water is needed, but you cant drink the local water. Drop iodine capsules, water filters.etc. Light
Blankets, some MRE’s, first aid kits, radios, lots of stuff could be helpful all under 100lbs. I have no idea what type of weight limit that it would have though.
And what’s he going to deliver with that?...A box of oreos?
Hmmm, I see the potential for a prop strike there depending on flight and weather conditions. Cool idea though.
Fade to John Denver.....
Yes blimps and new style zeppelins would be the answer, these little ultralights would be a waste to carry anything but serum and antidotes.Of course local pilots would be very entertaining, what with the degree of technological savvy and dedication to maintenace standards Africa has enjoyed in the Post Colonial period.
According to the article the payload capacity is 90kg (200lb). That can really add up considering that during daylight hours it could easily make half a dozen two-hour trips.
According to the article, the payload is 90kg (198lbs). The premise is to have many of these (a dozen or more) shipped in and assembled, rather than one or two choppers. I’d say that the concept has some real possibilities.
(((.)))
I do believe your lighter than air ships are a better solution. Payloads would be much better.
I have relied on this guy for decades.......will continue too for my rescue !
http://www.pjsinnam.com/Udo_Toons/Images/UdoJack.jpg
Good red though !
Airships would be a better solution if you can find a quick way to transport them to the scene and set them up. These have the advantage of a fast turnaround time.
I know absolutely nothing about this, but I would think airships could be shipped in a broken down format, then reassembled on-site. At least in theory.
It should be possible to do so, but the trick is to get it up quickly. That’s where the ultralights have the edge- you could roll it out of the container, gas it up and be airborne in a matter of minutes.
Any specs on it’s ability to handle a 30 knot headwind?
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