[friendzis]

Height control seems to be directly on the cyclic, without the combined height/throttle handle. I do not see yaw pedals, either.

Controls of this aircraft seem to be different enough from conventional helicopter (that at least license hours were flown in) to be a serious disadvantage for potential buyers. Another consideration could be how this thing reacts to wind gusts and how different that handles compared to conventional heli. These things could be important factors for potential customers.

[ben_bai]

It's like a drone with GPS. It stays where it is unless you touch the joystick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OazFiIhwAEs

[friendzis]

Experienced pilots tell me that automatic position control even in modern (non-military) helicopters work worse than experienced hand in non ideal conditions. YMMV, though :)

[qeternity]

It seems like a big motivation behind this is to appeal to non aviation folk and make it a mainstream offering.

[FabHK]

Indeed, the volocopter breaks with traditional heli modus operandi, but that's a good thing. It is much simpler to operate, with one control stick:

* rotate to rotate the craft (replacing rudder)

* move forward/backwards/sideways to move (translate) the craft (replacing cyclic)

* operate simple switch on top to ascent/descent (replacing collective and throttle)

(Disclaimer: 1. As far as I know, 2. I have crowdfund-invested 1000 EUR in it, so im biased :-)

[tempestn]

Out of curiosity, is there a button that's held while rotating the stick to rotate? The stick looks directional, so it wouldn't make sense to just rotate it and keep it rotated...

Anyway, sounds like a cool setup.

[FabHK]

My understanding is that when you rotate the stick, the angle controls the rotational (yaw) speed of the Volcopter (in other words, you hold the stick straight, it'll keep looking in a fixed direction, say north. Now if you twist the stick a few degrees, it'll slowly rotate in that direction (and keep rotating as long as you hold it twisted). If you twist it more, it'll rotate faster. If you let go (untwist), it'll stop rotating and maintain that heading.)

You can see this in this video of the first manned flight a year ago, at around 2:26.

You can also nicely see the thumb controlled ascent/descent switch at the beginning. Controls look super intuitive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OazFiIhwAEs

[tempestn]

Ah, right, of course. That makes sense.

[friendzis]

I can understand such motivation, but aviation is extremely heavily regulated area. I am not sure whether non-standard controls would even be allowed, though. While driver's license is granted for demonstration of rather basic ability to handle a vehicle, even non-commercial pilot's license (which I do not have, so) is granted for demonstrating substantial ability to control an aircraft and number of hours clocked. Enough hours that different controls could seem an obstacle.

If it was about new concept self-driving car with manual controls on joystick rather pedals and wheel, I would have my doubts about its marketability also.

[FabHK]

> I am not sure whether non-standard controls would even be allowed, though.

Good point, regulation is a huge issue.

It is my understanding, though, that FAA and EASA are moving away from regulation that is very prescriptive in exactly how to achieve something (which would indeed make it hard to introduce an entirely new control concept) towards regulation that prescribes more what needs to be achieved (controllability, safety, etc.), under the heading of "performance-based certification".

Also, it appears regulators in Germany are somewhat positively disposed towards this, and even considering to establish a new category of aircraft with distinct certification requirements and airmen licensing requirements.

I mean, in fixed wings, you have to demonstrate a certain number of take-offs and landing, which makes perfect sense, but it's not really transferable to this aircraft:

ok, you sit in a Volocopter and then press the switch up with your thumb for take-off for a few seconds, then hold it fully down until touchdown (automatically slowed down when ground proximity is detected), then repeat a few times (up, down), and get your license... :-)