Tue, Aug 10, 2010
It was a site -- and sound to see/hear... Avimech Aircraft's
Dragonfly, at first glance, looks like a bare bones single place
helicopter. Then you look at the rotor blade tips and realize there
is something different. The tips have small rocket nozzles on them!
In fact this helicopter has no conventional engine! The tips are
propelled by the rotor rocket nozzles, eliminating the need for a
gearbox and conventional powerplant.
The Dragonfly is lightweight at 220 lbs and can carry payloads
of up to 800 lbs. Dragonfly's two fuel tanks are topped H2O2
(Hydrogen peroxide) an environmentally safe chemical that is
commonly used to clean printing presses, and is available
worldwide. The H2O2 reacts with a catalyst in the rotor nozzles,
causing a high pressure reaction -- and that reaction powers the
blades.
Fuel flow is reported to be about 11-12 gallons an hour. The
current price for H2O2 in the USA is around $3.85 per gallon. That
makes the Dragonfly's fuel costs less than $50 per hour. The
Dragonfly uses 70% concentration H2O2 which is not classified as a
hazardous material when being transported over the road.
Avimech Aircraft is marketing the Dragonfly as a ready to fly
helicopter. All parts installed on the Dragonfly have full FAA
traceability and are fully tested, including thermal, Load stress,
X-ray and NDI-Non Destructive inspection. All are made by highly
qualified aircraft industry companies.
All hardware is MIL-Spec, and is manufactured within ISO
parameters and intensive QMS-Quality Management System. The
Dragonfly is being marketed for several applications including
Sport Flying, Crop Spraying, Surveillance, Border Patrol, Law
Enforcement and Search and Rescue.
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