Levitator 3 Further Testing. DIY aircraft.

[@tazanteflight8670]

I like how it rotates slowly. Makes for an interesting vehicle.

[@davidsvingman5485]

The Levitators are such cool crafts, There's something quite calming about the way they fly.. they would look awesome with colored lights on them drifting across open fields at night as pieces of art.

[@readyreckoner1592]

Very calming indeed. I agree wholeheartedly.

[@zachmandoooo]

That would be one funny way to have people think they saw aliens

[@tarekabdelmotaal4553]

I wish u can help me make a similar one

[@mikulcek]

wow, yes, you are absolutly right, what an gorgeous vision!

[@Johnny_Appleweed]

That's a very strange thing to think of as art. You're obviously obsessed with UFOs and the delusion of aliens being here. There are no aliens visiting us, bro. Never have been. If there ever are, we'll know it. It won't be a mystery and no other human will be able to hide it from the rest of us.

[@amarug]

Long time fan here, and kinda relieved to see that you moved on to less ... ehmm... "kamikaze" projects. It looks stunning and unique in it's flight behaviour. A pleasure to watch, and very creative as always!

[@hirnlegorush]

ähm...you should re-visit 12:26 again :) but you are right about the pleasure to watch and the creativity xD

[@amarug]

@@hirnlegorush on every other channel that would be like a "uuggghhhh carefullll" moment, on this channel 12:26 is basically equivalent to petting a kitten

[@More_Row]

It was more exciting seeing him fly around in his own craft. Didn't seem dangerous

[@forton615]

He's talking about a full size version, so who knows.

[@zeahlessley6108]

Maybe he should rename the project from "Levitator" to "Long-Time Fan" 😋

[@donindri]

Mesmerizing to watch. This is the most fascinating flying machine I have ever seen. If you ever get to the point where it could carry a person, I volunteer! I have 20 years + hang gliding experience BTW. Thanks for posting

[@timurzarifov]

Это обычный вертолёт... годах в 70х, до того как в моделях начали применять автомат перекоса, вертолёты строили именно по подобным схемам - когда моторы устанавливались прямо на концы лопастей главного винта.

[@Stealthsilent1337]

Probably not, it would need to be much more powerful

[@jasonfalcon4052]

I would rather get into hang gliding being I want to do wingsuit flying but I don’t have the money for 250+ jumps to be able to buy a wingsuit. I’ve always wanted to be a fighter pilot.

[@donindri]

@@jasonfalcon4052 If you have not tried it yet, I would suggest going to an IFly wind tunnel. Very reasonable price and you get the free fall flight experience. Hang Gliding and every kind of flying is very expensive these days. I think the IFly experience would help you decide to pursue Wing Suit or not regardless of the cost.

[@jasonfalcon4052]

@@donindri your absolutely correct but I’ve actually have jumped from 120 feet high and landed in a lake in Gulf Breeze Florida. I’m a non heard of legend in Motocross and Freestyle Motocross. All the pros know who I am. I know how to fall and don’t get no adrenaline rush unless it’s insane. I invented the kiss of Death and long nose wheelies in 1999 and dominated the sport my 1st year. Unfortunately I shattered both my legs on 1/20/01 but I relearned everything without taking anything for pain and worked out everyday and as a free racer in 07 I smoked Ryan Dungey within 5 laps in loronger Louisiana as he blew his 50,000$:Pro Circuit RMZ engine which he was full factory Suzuki team #1 racer and was on my 07;KTM 250 SX 2;stroke. I have an invention that will allow mankind to fly with ease. I’m going to Patton. My uncle retired as a general flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon and survived the attack on the pentagon. I love to fall. Best ride of my life was in a helicopter in the Grand Canyon. I’ve also done free fall in an airplane and that was a lot of fun. I’m going to do the wind tunnel soon.😎❤️

[@engineerernest]

I applaud your design and curiosity. You have done something new and brilliant. Well done!

[@peterrenn6341]

It’s wonderful living in a world where people invent thing like this. Thank you!

[@boxlessthinker1973]

And we get to observe from home!

[@pauljs75]

Nicholas Rehm made a similar craft. "Spinning Drone Paradox" covers the functionality of the concept. It traded some efficiency in rotor-craft hovering mode to have the ability to use the blades as a tri-wing for fixed wing flight. The big airfoils are symmetric and change pitch at the hub, which allows the RC craft to both hover slowly and fly in a straight line somewhat quickly. Kind of an interesting project, since it's very closely related in concept to the RC craft of this video but also takes on another way of flying as well.

[@useitwice]

Very cool! And its so big! I was truly surprised when you walked into the frame

[@rowanthefirst148]

These videos of your flying machine are so soothing to watch :)

[@SecondLifeDesigner]

Has anyone else noticed that at certain distances and hover height that you get the same illusion as the silhouette of the spinning ballerina? Meaning the blades can appear to be spinning in the opposite direction and with practice you can see the Levitator spinning counter clockwise and the next second spinning clockwise.

[@marimuthumanoj7206]

It is a kite but I'm not sure, I am trust my science it's fail on this experience on a look

[@acorn1942]

yes and I like to let my eyes reverse the rotation and see how long it takes.

[@KymHammond]

It certainly has an Alexander Calder quality about it, like one of his mobiles. I can’t help feeling that the landing gear needs to be formed like the canopy arms of an umbrella with balls stuck on their ends. So instead of it rocking on that flat crossed wires when it lands the arched bends will help to absorb its kinetic energy as the device comes to a stop on the ground.

[@NikolaTzki]

L E V I T A T O R is a cool name! Bravo on the design.

[@mboybenz]

Very interesting, creating lift with a very low rpm. I bet it will pave the way for many possibilities about flight.

[@adrianstudios]

Sometimes the youtube algorithm actually works! A random suggestion for a smaller channel! Fascinating diy project that actually generates intrigue and interest in developing uses and innovation!

[@jacekzielina1359]

WOW! That looks amazing. I love it's slowness.

[@tymoteuszkazubski2755]

IIRC positive dihedral increases lean back when translating. Theoretically you can control it with one active control surface. If motors were powerful enough you could probably deal with a loss of one or even two motors too.

[@chrischris8550]

Amazing. I didn't think a singly rotor would be stable. Really great when it slows down and the motion isn't blurred.

[@BrightBlueJim]

This is truly an amazing diy project! This is probably the most efficient rotary-wing aircraft ever built, due to the low rotor speed and wing loading.

[@phillipbailey70]

Yes - when I started watching this I assumed that the frame rate made the rotation look slower than it was - the optical illusion you see with some helis, etc. But then I realised it was actually that speed! Amazing video - love it when KZbin randomly recommends something this good!

[@younanpolousy4345]

I like it 😊 you did perfect design 😮 this is small version of future crains😊 Good Job 👏

[@chrisscharfenberger6007]

I don't know what it is other than really cool! Looks like mechanical flying art to me. BRAVO!!

[@TheGbab]

I feel that somehow suspending mass and shifting the rotor axis in a thrust direction could help with lateral speed. basically configuring the center mass, batteries etc so that helicopter type flight can be achieved. it has great potential for going straight up. lifting a camera, radio antenna, or spotlight.

[@theGreaterAwareness]

It's a flying artwork! That's beautiful to watch!

[@homomorphic]

This is the most beautiful flying thing I've ever seen.

[@AussieRossco]

Scaled up to huge and spinning very very slowly would look amazing. It had real burning man machine or strand beast vibes.

[@NwoDispatcher]

Wonder how large it would have to be to levitate a sky city maybe a blimp with these spinning in the core

[@MadScientist267]

@@NwoDispatcher A *city* ? 🤣

[@NwoDispatcher]

@@MadScientist267 ya a propeller aided circular blimp that's solar and wind powered

[@MadScientist267]

@@NwoDispatcher haha I hear ya. A bit ambitious but...

[@NwoDispatcher]

@@MadScientist267 how small then? Scale that puppy!!!

[@markspc1]

Great flying machine ! It is a pleasure to see how good it hovers. Congratulation on your unique helicopter build.

[@Douglas_Hamilton]

Wow, tog mig en stund att fatta att det var de små propellrarna på vingspetsarna som fick den stora propellern att rotera. Ett stycke elegant ingenjörskonst!

[@sunspot6502]

These are very enjoyable to watch. Excellent flying machine!

[@desotopete]

With some small led lights on the wings that could really freak some people out at night. cool.

[@va7drm]

Pretty excited to find this video - I’ve been toying with building something like this over the last year. A few observations - seems like a narrower wing running at higher speed maybe even with the motor mid wing may offer quicker responses. Also, may be some interesting ideas to be gained from the k-max helicopters which use servo tabs. Thanks for sharing your video!

[@GewelReal]

When you entered the frame next to the craft it have blown be away on how huge it is!

[@timi707_1]

the cable stayed rotors are a great touch, it must cut down a lot of weight with no need for cantilever spars or something

[@steveraby6023]

I've just come across your video and I really like your craft. It looks very stable and graceful in flight. I'm going to follow your progress to see what you achieve. Good luck with it.

[@davelowe1977]

Presumably you can solve the asymmetrical lift by varying the control surfaces as a function of their rotational position and the direction of flight.

[@rc-fannl7364]

Nice to see all these experimental setups being tested to try see what works best. Keep it up!

[@PCMcGee1]

I love your process of iteration, testing, evaluation.

[@goliyth5134]

As much as this intrigues me so, one primary question keeps screaming in my head. All of these wonderful tests are being done at what elevation? Given the slow rotation, is this being done close to sea level? I only ask because I walk out my front door and am at 11,000 ft. and helicopters have issues getting higher without being "equipped" for it. I do believe it is relevant info.

[@GoldenCroc]

Pretty sure its within a few hundred feet of sea level.

[@goliyth5134]

@@GoldenCroc Ahhhh, now that makes a load more sense. Still some wonderful work, truly.

[@GoldenCroc]

@@goliyth5134 Indeed it is. I was fortunate enough to be of real world service in one of these projects, and it was a joy from start to end.

[@charlestaylor3195]

To my knowledge you can operate a crane at any elevation.

[@goliyth5134]

@@charlestaylor3195 True, but crane does not stick to side of mountain.

[@MarkLoves2Fly]

That's quite a lovely piece of art! I found it rather pleasing to watch. I agree, simple is Best. Cheers!

[@rascalwind]

A small counter rotating prop might give you the ability to do the same thing as the propeller on top but the speed control would allow you handle directional changes with speed adjustments.

[@Allan-mf1he]

Would it steer if you offsets the center of gravity? Like a weight on a controlled 3 way controlled ball swivel. Interesting machine!

[@myotherusername9224]

weight shift. Good idea. I always thought of that as being the reality of rotary wing flight anyway_ helos and gyros. You're moving the rotor disk relative to the CG. IN a sense that's how all aircraft fly, with reference to the CG. it's the major unacknowledged contributor to control in everything, even bicycles.

[@danhoffman9232]

I have been considering a large slow turning system for energy efficiency for a long time. However your antirotation, purpolusion system and control systems are completely different than anything I had visualized. I will be very interested to follow your continued progress. Hopefully it will inspire me to get off my butt and build something again.

[@Ganjarus]

That slow and steady flight would be perfect for surveying and mapping, assuming the craft can carry a few pounds

[@stephencech3696]

The most beautiful location, an incredibcle show of visuals and physics. A narrative so good I feel as if I attended Uni. Thank you VERY much for this video!

[@patrickfle9172]

With a counterrotating system you might not only equalize lift on both sides, but you could also use the little propellers for propulsion by addin power on those that momentarily point in the direction of travel and reducing power on the opposite side 🤔

[@BrightBlueJim]

Since the rotor is rigid, that is, the angle between the blades is 120 degrees at all times, this would not help. It COULD help if the blades were mounted flexibly to the hub, such that each blade could speed up and slow down cyclically through the course of revolution. That is, the blade flying into the wind could be powered less, so that it falls behind, and the rotor flying away from the wind would be powered more. This could, at least until a certain flight speed, even out the relative air speed on each blade. He alludes to this in the video, saying that the blades don't "flap", or lead and lag (which is what I'm talking about).

[@patrickfle9172]

@@BrightBlueJim that's why I wrote 'counterrotating system' aka coaxial double rotor.

[@BrightBlueJim]

@@patrickfle9172 Yes, the counterrotating rotors would equalize the lift through the whole rotation. I misunderstood what you were suggesting - adding power to the propellers on both sides that are facing closest to forward would indeed give some thrust in the desired direction, and as long as power was increased in a balanced manner between pairs of motors on the two rotors would do this without throwing off the balance of the system as a whole.

[@sourishchanda9067]

This is helicopter physics 101. Text book material. You don't need to go to fancy school to learn it. Just watch this video and appreciate. Amazing work.

[@helenidiane7538]

If you make the wings turn faster and you put at the down end a "knife" you can use it to cut the grass without get tired.I need a such one.

[@mikeriley7296]

I enjoy watching your aircraft fly ... it has an interesting quality and beautiful style to watch fly ... thank you for sharing your hard work.

[@drewmurray2583]

When you think of air as a really thin liquid, all this stuff starts to make more sense! Cool Project!!!!!!

[@mkrepps]

You're right! In fact, Featherwing beetles are so small they practically "swim" through the air.

[@browniesr4theweak]

Exactly, Flying drones I think of the same sort of concept, Air is mass which you could push off of 🤏🏽👓😳

[@senorjp21]

I saw a monocopter that used differential thrust for lateral control. That system required computer vision to determine the angular position, but you already have a stable commutator, so that might be simpler for your craft.

[@M1America]

Wonderful aircraft. Very well done. Reminds me of a project I used to work on, a gimballed coaxial dualcopter. This is much better.

[@fordprefect.betelguese]

Its very graceful and elegant in its movement

[@bobbishop9339]

I have always wondered why the rotors are so long. It seems if you like cut them in half but doubled the width you would get the same lift. This would help in the places you could fly/land the thing. Just thinking out loud....Cool videos thanks.....

[@DemsW]

The noise could make it a great aerial photography craft when being quiet is a requirement, like on a film set, wedding and many other things i'm sure. Would be nice to get some stats on the autonomy, range and load bearing capabilities

[@Drachenfang]

I really like your design. It's oddly beautiful compared to conventional drones and remote aircraft.

[@DonJuankas]

This is my first time viewing your channel and I just can say you’re awesome man, it so nice to learn and see the levitator flying. Blessings

[@oldschoolman1444]

I'd try a thiner wing cord, something more like a glider wing. Just a thought. =)

[@erobwen]

One interesting way to transition to forward flight would be use the wings as ordinary wings in forward flight by tilting the entire machine 90 degrees and lock the rotor somehow. There is a video of a drone with similar design somewhere on youtube.

[@stevosauve]

Early gyrocopters solved a similiar pitching issue by allowing the blades to flap up and down as they each transition from advancing to retreating during fwd motion. However, with your design, this would create other problems. Alternatively, you might try a means of dumping lift on advancing blades. A spoiler hatch in each main airfoil connected via cable to a gimbal ring that shifts with your cyclic control

[@equalopportunityoffender6732]

Sir, I salute 🫡 your ingenuity 👍🏻

[@nanskate]

Looks Great, Awesome project. Thanks for trying the dihedral, interesting. For a lot of control authority, you could try to make the motors pitch up and down. They are far from the CG, should work. (Maybe even better than the surfaces?)

[@Pystro]

It would certainly be easier on the servos. In the view along the control surfaces you see that the air stream really does what it wants with them and flattens them out to 1/4th the deflection they want to have.

[@unnikrishnannairkrishnannair.]

70% diameter from hob is feeling neative pressure in axial flow propellers. So that shade that area from top. 30% diameter help to produce 100% positive pressure. It is found by pressure distribution over various radii from hub. 100% pressure at tip and 25% pressure at ceter of radious

[@FilosophicalPharmer]

Gosh, that’s such a beautiful machine! Like a dragonfly pirouette…

[@aliprovidence9321]

Great idea I really appreciate for sharing your idea, for cable at 5:46 I have an idea; when the connection is good fill those holes with epoxy will stay forever. I have done it before and I'm happy about it

[@marcpoletti9511]

Very pleasant to watch, graceful and dignified.

[@ellenorbovay5226]

The centrifugal force seems to make it more stable, that design seems to have a lot of potential.

[@birdseyeview1543]

What a beautiful flying craft! VTOL is likely not possible here....but if it were a hex configuration.....maybe enough static lift?

[@kanenscott8883]

If you alter the self balancing mechanism you could potentially move in any direction faster because the top is slightly angled forward or backwards or what ever similar to a helicopter

[@BuckySwang]

this channel is a true gem!

[@marktibbetts3799]

I LIKE the way it flies slowly

[@J1WE]

Really cool if could get enough solor panels on the wings (probably colse to base and on edges of wings, or even over all weight) going to charge at same time as flying. It could be really good for searching large areas for missing hikers etc, depending on wind stability and weather.

[@wesleywebb1058]

I would put a retractable pole coming out of the bottom that kicked out landing gear. Go go gadget feet. Cool video

[@rebelcav]

You need a landing platform that is steel and a strong magnet and bearing on the bottom tube for landing it in a controlled fashion

[@sammybro70jd]

@3:30 nice camera setup with the sun shining through the trees😮❤

[@gyrogearloose1345]

This is a fabulous creation! Very refreshing to see the Levitator floating so gently under your careful guidance. I'm curious to learn what kind of stabilisation and control system you are using? Thanks very much for sharing.

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

Beautiful and elegant! Looking at your control surface connecting rods, I think you might get more strength by using a small fin rather than a post to join the control rod to the control surface. Sort of like a little vertical stabilizer. This would be stronger than a post because the control surface reciprocates with each rotor rotation. A fin-style bellcrank would give more control authority because it will be more stiff--joined to the entire width of the end of the control surface.

[@aaronvanderwal4749]

You should look into Delphi weather pack connectors, they are automotive grade and work amazingly well, and are waterproof to boot. I have been using them for almost a decade and haven't seen one fail yet, and I live in the desert so they take a beating.

[@jesuschrist2284]

funnel on the end of each wing tip with a controllable cat flap covering end of small end of funnel. weight, software timimg of fcatflaps and air resistance will all be major issues to overcome. great video and a great choice of project

[@__Gus_]

Flew rc planes for 13+ years and never did anyone think of making one of these next you should try to make a ceiling fan fly with a gyro ofcourse but i think it'll work just like this cool project man

[@jlvandat69]

First time viewing your Levitator 3 and immediately see some significant advantages to the design verses conventional helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. At 7:00 you point out one inherent safety feature- the attitude "self-correcting" feature that results from ground effect. My guess is that your weight to power ratio is better than conventional helicopters due to several factors such as slow blade rotation and the absence of a tail rotor. My initial impression is that this design has good potential for personal flight and the autonomous commuter aircraft industry although forward flight speed capability limitations will limit that applicability. Very interesting, innovative design.

[@gsmontag]

This design is extremely promising as it would scale favorably with size, at least to a point. I'd love to see a slightly scaled up version with more robust control surfaces, possibly ones with flaps for spin up and spin down/landing where the rotor is moving slower, and retractable into a shorter control surface as the rotor speed increases. And as you pointed out, stronger and faster servos would make a big difference. Another approach to consider is a dynamic wing/lifting surface that can flex or change shape to optimize performance at different speeds or if fast enough to act as a control surface itself.

[@youtubeloveTed]

Nice work, thank you for not giving up 👍 maybe if you skip the main battery pack, just use enough batteries to maintain a stable flight and make the wings covered in solar cells. 😅

[@eCitizen1]

Do you really need your rotors at the end of the wing? What about mounting them about where your strut wire attach? This way you would get more air flow over the wings.

[@Pystro]

Some of the flapback might be due to how the flight controller is tuned. For example it might be beneficial to have different lag (or angle) offsets for the P I and D influences on the flap movement. In the test with the drag surfaces below the center of mass (9:40), one problem might be that the tipping force scales with speed, not with the angle. This makes the system inherently unstable, but that should be something that the flight controller can counter. It looks like any time you change the difference of drag above/below the COG you would need to tune the settings for those new flight characteristics. Thinking about it, the dissymmetry of lift also scales with horizontal speed. Maybe your drag surfaces were just too large and over-compensated for the flapback forces, taking you from inherently strongly stabilizing to inherently unstable. Something else you could do is to shift some weight around.

[@CombatGod]

You should try to create a 3D printed negative air pressure balloon. You can use a tiny vacuum pump to regulate altitude.

[@SWijoyo-t9z]

Hope to got a good learning from showing beaitiful proggram such as flying in the air. I love it, sir.

[@MrBoatman46]

I liked the slow motion clip at the end. You can really see whats going on. Is the large wing area and slow rpm a good candidate for solar panels built in to rotors? I really think you are on to something here. So elegant!

[@GoldenCroc]

Might be, but a plane would be more efficent I would think. But if you want a rotorcraft, yeah, why not.

[@MrBoatman46]

@@GoldenCroc Solar planes with crazy flight times whether they are r/c models or full size have been achieved. My question is could you use the light weight 3d printed solar panels developed by the Australian CSiRO as the surface of the rotors in this design to achieve sustained flight in full sun. (Probably somewhere like Australia or Spain that has decent solar intensity). Another idea is a pusher prop placed at the C.O.G. rather than lower down to help lateral speed.

[@GoldenCroc]

@@MrBoatman46 Well yes I know, but I thought you might be interested in the comparison of the concept in any aircraft. If you werent, thats why I put "If you want rotorcraft, yeah why not" in my last comment as well. Anyway, I think its possible to make an totally solar powered rotorcraft using this concept, but its not going to be easy and it is going to push the envelope of light wight build techniques, making it very sensitive to wind.

[@stereo-soulsoundsystem5070]

I see mass gardening applications with this. Not to mention small scale rescue missions in odd places that need...particular maneuverability.

[@PeteLaric]

Dude, awesome.... You earned my sub! Greetings from the Southwest USA!!

[@tabcreedence6553]

That's a lot of hard work right there. Outstanding project

[@deandeann1541]

Another way to power the rotor blades is with a single centrally mounted and vertical electric motor mounted on the rotor hub. The motor's vertical propeller rotated eg clockwise while the much larger rotor blades, powered by the torque of the hub mounted electric motor, rotates eg counter clockwise. The torque will rotate the blades at the speed appropriate to the blade sizes and pitch.

[@zbdot73]

Has almost a otherworldly ufo type grace to it. As said earlier in comments mesmerizing to watch.

[@stevenmorris3181]

Military used simple rubberized male female tubes for waterproofing jeep electrical joints. Might give them a looksee as they also hold the connection tight. Used to call them cannon plugs fifty years ago

[@RoofAndAMeal4UsAll]

That's amazing, couldn't you have just walked to the craft, held up the landing skid and stuck it back on? Glorious craft!

[@neoprints1325]

Excellent flying machine! Is it possible to add Solar Panels on wing surface?

[@andersson.l.e]

Nice to take part of your experiments. Thank you.

[@morgandawd2741]

I have a solution for your steering. Replace teh 4 triangle flaps with remote activated directional weights, 4 of them like your flaps, but able to actuate to the direction you want. The maximum it might go is a 55• angle.

[@gth042]

Can wingtip motor's RPM be modulated fast enough to provide (a little) lateral thrust -- spin faster in one quadrant and slower in the opposite? Not that this in any way solves the asymmetry problem. But, if even somewhat effective for translation, a downward cant/tilt to the tip motors might lower the leading blade by brute force. A good oscillation experiment at the very least :D ...According to War's "Low Rider", it doesn't need too fly fast when it looks that cool (although a little chrome would help).

[@margou6534]

Always think outside the box brother, this probably has a really important application dude! 😊

[@falin9557]

The servo rod might have broken because it makes sudden movements and it's a continuous fatige source. Maybe you could make the servos adjust to it's position more gradually, it's easy to program, so it's not a big deal either and you might have better control over the aircraft

[@stillraven9415]

Cool. Looks like you could take off and land into a cone-like funnel.

[@mkrepps]

I really like the shots where you attached the camera to the root of the airfoil so we could watch the control surface movements throughout the cycle of rotation, but my favorite part was the slow-motion video at the end. You can really study what's happening and even see the flight control inputs are required 90 degrees prior to the motion desired (due to gyroscopic precession). Keep up the great research. I can't wait to see the next iteration! I suggest adjusting the chord to be shorter near the wingtips to reduce the induced drag near the outboard end of the wings. I think this would reduce the power required from the propellers to acquire the same rotational speeds with even longer wings which could have a better lift-to-drag ratio (like the wing tips of a glider).