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Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

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Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#92
post #79
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…

Urf I did go looking for this and found it. You’re spot on. India is not known for looking at what can go wrong. There are many YouTube videos out there showing you how to make things with electricity which can kill you dead instantly. What’s worse is they never discuss safety and you only get to see the survivors. My favourite is the (now removed) video of repairing a switch more power supply. The guy has a mains le…

So many Indians die for easily preventable accidents. LiveLeak is full of them. You shouldn't even think about their train rides and their adrenaline games.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#93
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…

Has there ever been an attempt at solving the problem with a cooperatively owned retailer? They're a little old school but useful for changing markets that are dysfunctional, and overcoming a lack of capital by allowing members to combine their (individually too small) means.

Similarly, are there groups where people with these interests communicate about how frustrated they are?

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#94
post #28

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…

> It makes one think that maybe the ”hero inventor” stereotype does not lend itself well to our current level of technology I'm sure if you look at the history of inventors there are many people who were killed along the way. The Wright brothers were heavily inspired by Otto Lilienthal, who was killed in an accident flying one of his gliders. Of course this doesn't make this any less tragic, my prayers go out to this…

What he means is, we already invented the helicopter and it is very advanced machinery. I wish instead of a helicopter, this inventor chose something like a glider or a plane.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#95

It's a shame that someone so dedicated to their passions had to die young. Did he spend any time modeling the physics of a helicopter control system? It would have to be of the most complex control systems to model. You don't just build a helicopter. Maybe he should have begun by building a scaled-down version instead. Maybe he did all of this due diligence, and just overlooked some unfortunate minor detail. Some of…

He made the helicopter from sheet metal. I don't think he really understood the high speed rotation's effects on them. A few grams of imbalance can totally destroy the rotors. Which probably what happened in this video.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#96

Relevant (and terribly interesting) wiki page[1]. I was impressed it was already updated with this accident. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors_killed_by_...

On a technicality: this wasn't an invention, this was just poor execution. Same with the electric Tuk Tuk earlier, the line between re-implementation and invention is apparently blurring, personally I feel that the term 'invention' should be saved for things that were not done before.

These inventors are usually from very poor countries trying to replicate a known vehicle. I strongly believe most of them are doing it to get some sort of recognition or to get funded to achieve financial freedom (or to find a job?).

Tuk Tuk didn't show anything extra other than having solar panels on the sides. Simply, slapping several panels to a solar charger for lithium battery pack to operate an ebike-ish drive is not an invention in my opinion.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#97

>The inventor taught himself the basics of aeronautical engineering using YouTube and over two years built a single-seater helicopter using a car engine and scrap metal. I am speaking without enough knowledge. But I have to wonder if this serves as a harsh criticism of Youtube. I do understand Youtube is a mixed bag of resources. More structured learning might have resulted in better understanding of material strengt…

Education in India is restricted to English speakers by state diktat.

The inventor noted above didn't have much of a choice - or indeed even a sequence of books he could work through.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#98
post #54
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with YouTube as an alternative to formal education is that it doesn't tell you what you don't know. YouTube should warn people that its content shouldn't be mistaken for a comprehensive education on a dangerous topic.

> YouTube should warn people that its content shouldn't be mistaken for a comprehensive education on a dangerous topic. You mean like those hundreds of safety warnings even for trivial appliances like smartphone chargers, which nobody ever reads? Do you think someone who builds a helicopter in their garage will be deterred by a warning "This video doesn't teach everything there is to know about mechanical engineering…

At least one person did need to know that YouTube was not an alternative to an engineering degree...

But no, I was referring to the more general problem: how to keep people safe without withholding educational information.

Also I have no idea what warnings you're talking about. I've watched hundreds of YT videos on topics like chemistry experiments, woodworking, etc. A very small fraction of videos have warnings, and none are provided by YouTube.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This is so true. It sucks India does not have a hardware ecosystem similar to Shenzhen. There is no capital available for independent innovators who want to build hardware products. There are few skilled engineers who can develop the tooling required to make parts like screws, fittings etc. at a scale and price that makes sense for the market. Import duties to encourage import substitution have only made parts more e…

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