Took a family outing to the Museum of Flight (
106) yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by the new exhibits as well as some others I hadn’t looked at very closely. Case in point:
Williams X-Jet – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1):
The Williams X-Jet, created by Williams International, was a small, light-weight Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) system powered by a modified Williams F107 turbofan aircraft engine. It was designed to be operated by and carry one person and controlled by leaning in the direction of desired travel and adjusting the power. It could move in any direction, accelerate rapidly, hover, and rotate on its axis, staying aloft for up to 45 minutes and traveling at speeds up to 60 miles per hour (100 km/h). It was evaluated by the U.S. Army in the 1980s, and was deemed inferior to the capabilities of helicopters and small unmanned aircraft.
I wish I could locate the video they showed: a promo piece to be sure, but the similarities to the Segway — the pilot controls direction by shifting his body weight — were striking. Power and lift were controlled with a couple of simple twistgrips and that was it. A 30 minute flight duration would be fine for commuting, especially at 60 mph. Imagine the license and regulation nightmare: as bad as people share terrestrial space with just two dimensions, what would three be like?
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