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by FabHK 3035 days ago
Why do you think electric drones have taken off as toys and for filming etc, when remote controlled helicopters have been available for ages?

Because they have better properties for many use cases: much simpler mechanically, cheaper to operate, easier to control, etc. I’d also expect drones to be more reliable, but that remains to be seen.
1 comments
908087 3035 days ago
There's a problem here, though. Drones can't autorotate, and autorotation is kind of an important safety feature for helicopters carrying humans.
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FabHK 3034 days ago
Don't know about the (8-rotor) eHang, but the 18-rotor Volocopter remains fully controllable with 3 rotor failures (or more, if they're benignly distributed), and has a ballistic rescue chute in addition (which is hard to fit on a heli).

(Of course, you need a certain altitude for the BRS to kick in successfully, so low-level hover is a risk, just as with a helicopter.)

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