At the outset the concept would be drafted out on paper, with the broader aims subject to the pursuit of patent protection in select market places considered most amenable to development of this emerging technology.

Thereafter various mechanical arrangements were modelled exclusively in balsa. Of these, a sixth-scale iteration of a full-sized 'phone booth' was fitted out with parts drawn from DJI photographic drones, so that the booth would be powered by quadcopters attached at both the base and dome.

Testing of the model was curtailed however by an electrical failure eventually traced to a blown MOSFET, a consequence of the fact that increased amperage had to be used in order to drive eight motors in place of the original eight.

Unfortunately (as so often in development) it led to the destruction of the model in the ensuing crash. Subsequently, with the third phase of the GoFly competition underway a decision was made to scale up with a switch to more expensive equipment and materials, with the initial round of finance it required.

This resulted in the Mark I timber mock-up, and a two-third scale Mark II including a seat that would appear at the event in February of 2020. This too crashed due to a GPS and compass calibration problem, not helped by the non-appearance of the nominated pilot from the UK (and since parted company).

In fact the competition rules called anyhow for a vehicle to fit in a dimensional sphere just 2.60 metres (or 8.5 feet) in diameter, which precludes any of our outlines beyond those around a metre in height.

As a result, subsequent to the GoFly event it was decided (despite a draft for a Mark III abe to seat an adult) the best arrangement to address both the market and competition would be a fourth version... albeit more of a 'flying wheelie-bin' than 'flying phone-box'.

Nonetheless this would satisfy the broader criteria better from the point of view it may function as proof-of-concept for outlines at every scale. It thus appears as the UAM on the home page ~ a 'Mark IV' described along with its predecessors in the database of the Vertical Flight Society (VFS).

This current prototype is undergoing wiring and programming prior to a testing schedule under the UK CAA's experimental category.

Onward as ever, and hopefully upward.




EVOLUTION