Would you believe that six engines on a plane are not only more efficient than two, but also safer? It sounds a little crazy, but that’s the claim made by Oliver VTOL. This new VTOL “Hexplane” concept packs six engines and three wings, which apparently make the craft so reliable that you could lose any one engine or even an entire wing section without compromising the craft’s ability to fly to your destination.
Oliver VTOL is currently seeking $12 million in funding to build this plane in prototype form over the next two years. We expect the military will be interested in such safety tech, especially considering the plane can haul as much cargo as a V-22 and go farther and faster on less fuel. We could also see a plane like this ending up on the tarmacs of some Middle East dictators as well – who currently have the perfect insurrectionist excuse to give their wives for buying one.
Via DVICE
Yes, it’s true. The six engines on the Hexplane can carry the same payload much faster and further than the inefficent twin engine helicopter. This is true because the Hexplane becomes a multiengine turboprop airplane just after taking to the sky. Hexplane can carry a critically injured patient to a distant trauma center much faster than a helicopter ever can. The secret behind its efficiency is because it uses the time proven highly efficient airplane propeller. Hexplane’s performance not only significantly exceeds the fuel efficiency of the helicopter and V22 Osprey but also possesses the unusual capacity to perform safe vertical landings following a propulsion system failure, something that other VTOLs cannot claim.
There are lot of things safer than the V-22. Sky diving is safer than flying in a V-22, for example.
OK…. So, it’s safer and more efficient than the Osprey? Is that what we’re getting at?