Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident • Hacker News Board

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#31

Post by mcny » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 5:45 AM UTC

bombcar wrote: post #29

sezna wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I thought high school shop class no longer exists. anecdata: I graduated high school in 2015 and had woodshop, auto shop, and metal shop classes. Also welding, and, for what it is worth, cosmetology. This was at a public school in Houston. We had wood and metal shop in middle school, as well. These classes are still offered at my school according to my relative who still works there.

Very common in rural areas too - I wonder if it's mainly being able to find someone to teach it.

From what I understand, I am amazed we have anyone willing to teach in New York (the city) public schools. You need a master's degree and more than three (not sure) certifications. It is insane. Yes, I agree we should have some standards but too many restrictions and I am afraid only a certain kind of personality can survive as a teacher in the city.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#32

Post by rolleiflex » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 5:47 AM UTC

diskzero wrote: post #13

It is sad his passion to build and create ended with this accident. I have built and flown my own aircraft and even with excellent supervision and safety procedures in place, I still wonder if an improperly deburred rivet hole or a bad batch of resin will end up being the cause of my demise.

That sounds very interesting, have you written about it somewhere? I (and I’m sure many others here) would find it fascinating to read about.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#33

Post by zapdrive » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 5:48 AM UTC

wincy wrote: post #15

He didn't have a helmet or so much as a seatbelt in the helicopter. The tail rotor flew off, hit the main rotor at a high speed, which knocked him sideways, out of the fuselage. It was at this point his head came into contact with the spinning main rotor, likely killing him instantly. A seatbelt seems like it would have saved his life. It was recorded, which is how I know this, I honestly wouldn't suggest looking for…

Safety comes last in India. Everywhere from construction to road, safety is usually the last thing people spend money on. I'm saying this as an Indian living in India.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#34

Post by wolfretcrap » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 5:49 AM UTC

wincy wrote: post #15

He didn't have a helmet or so much as a seatbelt in the helicopter. The tail rotor flew off, hit the main rotor at a high speed, which knocked him sideways, out of the fuselage. It was at this point his head came into contact with the spinning main rotor, likely killing him instantly. A seatbelt seems like it would have saved his life. It was recorded, which is how I know this, I honestly wouldn't suggest looking for…

I am also a farmer and inventor based in India.

Problem is that we do not have many tools, indian made tools cost 3-4x of Chinese tools and have 2x worse quality on average

80% things which exist in West (made in China) does not exist in India on top India doesn't make many things. Plus we suffer from too many middlemen problem, where the end product is inflated away beyond the affordability of masses.

Not everything is available in India, when I lived in US and Germany, I felt as if I was living in heaven I could order any part and it will be at my desk within a day or two but here in India you can have money yet you'll not find what you need.

India doesn't have any marketplace for makers like Ebay or even McMasterCar.

In small cities getting even the right size bolt, nut and screws is damnn too difficult let alone compression fittings etc.. which are more involved.

Surprisingly no startup has taken this issue seriously.

As the inflation has increased, labor cost has also significantly increased and more Indians are forced to take DIY approach thanks to abundant wealth of knowledge available from youtube and reddit experts (now even homeless people on streets can be seen chatting on WhatsApp with their friends, data has got so cheap)

Material availability still a major problem outside of the big cities with 10 million+ population. Most startup founders (people with resources, knowledge, network) also live in big cities so they don't really know what problems 70% of Indians face who are still living in villages, towns and small cities.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#35

Post by Natsu » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 5:50 AM UTC

wincy wrote: post #15

He didn't have a helmet or so much as a seatbelt in the helicopter. The tail rotor flew off, hit the main rotor at a high speed, which knocked him sideways, out of the fuselage. It was at this point his head came into contact with the spinning main rotor, likely killing him instantly. A seatbelt seems like it would have saved his life. It was recorded, which is how I know this, I honestly wouldn't suggest looking for…

Back in college, one of my advisors was a control systems engineer. He showed me the matrix of PDEs for the helicopter & the control system. There was also a simulator where the height of the helicopter was fixed and you could just tilt the main rotor forward or back to move and you could try this with or without a control system.

The helicopter was completely uncontrollable without the control system. In the simulator you'd just end up spinning around or something, but that was only because it held you at a fixed height for demonstration purposes.

Seeing that demo made me realize how incredible it is that people have made helicopters work to begin with. They really don't seem to be very cooperative without a lot of work in controlling them.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#36

Post by colechristensen » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 5:50 AM UTC

eurasiantiger wrote: post #18

I saw the video. The rear propeller disintegrated during operation, seemingly from material failure. Two of the blades shot out to the ground and the third went into the main rotor a short while after, unbalancing it and causing the blades to hit the fuselage and the helicopter to jump, twist and throw the pilot out. Very sad accident indeed. It makes one think that maybe the ”hero inventor” stereotype does not lend…

You can build your own aircraft, you just can’t shoot from the hip.

From the description, the man wasnt killed by one mistake but at least a dozen at the same time, and all of them avoidable by a one man operation.

You don’t design an aircraft to fly, you design it to fail in ways and for reasons that are very well understood, then you design several ways for each impossible failure to happen gracefully.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#37

Post by foepys » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 5:50 AM UTC

mcny wrote: post #31

bombcar wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very common in rural areas too - I wonder if it's mainly being able to find someone to teach it.

From what I understand, I am amazed we have anyone willing to teach in New York (the city) public schools. You need a master's degree and more than three (not sure) certifications. It is insane. Yes, I agree we should have some standards but too many restrictions and I am afraid only a certain kind of personality can survive as a teacher in the city.

This has been the requirement for teachers in Germany since WW II. 5 years of university plus 1 year following an experienced teacher with a practical exam at the end.

Teachers are generally well paid, though.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#38

Post by colechristensen » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 5:55 AM UTC

brutus1213 wrote: post #2

I was watching the Stuff Made Here Youtube channel (amazing channel btw) and was getting tempted by Shane's (guy running said channel) shop tour ([1]). Surely I could get tool X and operate it safely? But yeah .. I'd likely get myself maimed or worse. YouTube makes this sort of stuff seem so accessible, this is a reminder of the obvious .. power tools and moving parts can kill. As software people, we sometimes don't…

You have to learn to respect your tools. In a society with guard rails everywhere and children who grow up in bubbles, it is a bit more difficult. But you do and then it becomes normal to understand that you are standing next to something that can kill you in seconds and your awareness and thoughtfulness change dramatically.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#39

Post by bombcar » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 5:55 AM UTC

mcny wrote: post #31

bombcar wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very common in rural areas too - I wonder if it's mainly being able to find someone to teach it.

From what I understand, I am amazed we have anyone willing to teach in New York (the city) public schools. You need a master's degree and more than three (not sure) certifications. It is insane. Yes, I agree we should have some standards but too many restrictions and I am afraid only a certain kind of personality can survive as a teacher in the city.

You may find if you carefully checked that a number of people who you would think are "teachers" are technically some other classification because they don't have the required paperwork.

Sometimes the requirements are and/or, and sometimes they let you slide if you're "working on the masters".

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#40

Post by Natsu » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 5:56 AM UTC

spoonjim wrote: post #26

Creating an almost-working helicopter with this level of resources is a huge achievement — it’s like a 5 foot guy making a slam dunk. To a seven footer it’s “just a helicopter” but honestly the world has lost a great talent.

One problem with helicopters is that even if you get it working mechanically, you have to actually fly it in a controlled manner. Having tried to fly a simulated helicopter with no control system, my conclusion is that I would've died in seconds from flipping over while trying to move forward.

So I have lot of respect for the people who worked out the math on that.