Morning, everyone! Apparently I’ve been fired by the Ravens. It came as a bit of a shock to me, not gonna lie; I was told it was because we wanted to get Lamar to conform to the offensive system a little bit further. As a staff, we were concerned about his mobility, and wanted to ensure ways of minimizing risk and ensuring his protection. That’s why we wanted him to be more upright! Speaking of things that are always upright, let’s take a look at a weapon that was a rather “pie-in-the-sky” concept, which proved to be quite illuminating all the same… Hopefully if Lamar can start to play more like Joe Flacco, it’ll mean a return to head coaching for me soon enough!

THE HILLER FLYING PLATFORM

Purpose built: Testing for a reconnaissance/transport vehicle and research for V/STOL aircraft

Years used: 1955 – 1956

What is it? In the late 1940s, aeronautical engineer Charles H. Zimmerman discovered that a helicopter rotor was just as effective in creating lift if it was placed on the underside of a vehicle, as opposed to the traditional placement on top. His theories on kinaesthetic control were also of strong influence on the design of the Hiller Flying Platform, which was a project originated by the Office of Naval Research in 1953. In 1954, the first prototype was delivered; in 1956, another contract with the US Army produced a larger version of the Flying Platform, dubbed the VZ-1 Pawnee. The Pawnee was the final iteration of the design, which never got into widespread production; it used three 40-horsepower Nelson H-56 piston engines, which were connected to a helicopter transmission built by Hall-Scott. The craft got airborne via two 7-feet-wide helicopter props, which spun in opposite directions simultaneously, achieving lift via upward suction through its duct tube. To steer the aircraft, the pilot would lean in the desired direction of flight, and use the throttle to control the power and lift – not unlike the modern Segway scooter. The final prototype had a top speed of 10 miles per hour.

The US Army had envisioned these prototypes as an ability for soldiers to move quickly in and out of combat zones on an individual basis, and the simplicity of piloting and steering the craft was also useful as it might also potentially allow soldiers to use their standard-issue infantry weapons at the same time.

• 10 miles per hour is slow as shit.
• It had no armor whatsoever – the pilot was a sitting (standing?) duck.
• The steering was incredibly sensitive and the vehicle was very prone to oversteering.
• The final version was incredibly heavy, and required a (relative to the size of the craft) crazy amount of power to displace that amount of mass.
• I’m also trying to imagine someone hip-firing an assault rifle while trying to pilot one of these things… you try and shoot an M16 one-handed without any recoil, and tell me how that goes for you.

What could make it better? 

• Better engine technology was clearly needed. In order to get more speed, more power is needed, but based on the weight displacement of the engine configuration of the VZ-1, if it were ever to be built again, a small-block flat engine would be much more effective; perhaps something akin to Subaru’s boxer engine. Ideally, perhaps something more like a Tesla electric engine might be more effective, depending on final mass. Also certainly quieter, which would be a tactical advantage.
• Protect your pilot! A bulletproof bubble, mayhaps? Weight limitations here are obvious, however.

Despite slagging the design, and rightfully so, this craft did actually fly, and while it never came remotely close to being used in combat situations, the research done by the project did end up proving very useful later on in the development of hovercraft technology, which has become a more common method of mass transport in the last 50 years. Here’s a video of the first prototype of the Pawnee in action:

I dunno why people pick on stability and lack of speed so much; look at Big Ben! You can’t knock that guy down! And when you do, he complains a lot and is convinced that the system is working against him. That’s the kind of guy I want leading my team on the field the next time I’m a head coach!

Information from this article from here, here and here. Banner image by The Maestro.