Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident • Hacker News Board

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#111

Post by siva7 » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:41 AM UTC

kumarvvr wrote: post #107

capableweb wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a weird way of looking at things. With that frame of mind, I could explain all the issues I've had ever. "Oh, I hit that wall on the way out from the parking? Too bad I didn't have a racing education, then it would have been prevented" and blame it on lack of education. The reason he was killed was because the main rotor hit his head. It did so because it wasn't following safety precautions. None of that has any…

The main rotor hit his head -> Because it suffered a material/design/ structural failure -> Because design validation or material quality checks or weld quality NDT checks or bolt sizing or balancing or lateral vibration suppression or a million other things were not checked -> Because you need to know to do that, and those are taught in an engineering course.

Even if you know that, failures still happen all the time because as you state, there are thousand things that could go wrong and this task could be too much for a single person.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#112

Post by sokoloff » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:44 AM UTC

trhway wrote: post #75

4gotunameagain wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One would assume that if you have the resources to attempt to build something that resembles a helicopter, you would have a way to source a cloth strip to tie yourself to the seat. Not trying to diminish the magnitude of the disaster, but I think your argument does not apply in this case

sorry, i think you don't get it - the point is that you don't have all the necessary things. Which things out of the missing things were really necessary - that is rearview 20/20. This time it was strip of cloth, other time it may be something else.

I think there’s a counterpoint which is “while you may not have everything, it seems wise to use those things you do have.”

I cannot fathom that a person with the skills, resources, and tenacity to DIY a helicopter could not lay their hands on at least a car seatbelt and a scooter helmet during the course of the project. I wouldn’t be surprised if the crash scene was within sight of both of those items.

“Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.”

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#113

Post by amjd » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 12:11 PM UTC

wolfretcrap wrote: post #34

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…

Agree with this completely.

Moreover, India as a country has a lax attitude towards safety. When you are fighting to get the basic stuff, the safety aspect does not even cross most people's minds. This can be observed pretty much everywhere. In most construction sites here we don't see the workers wearing hard hats, which are seen as a bare necessity in developed countries.

As someone pointed out, in this case the accident could have been prevented by forming a makeshift seat-belt out of cloth, but the inventor probably wasn't thinking about safety at all.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#114

Post by hughrr » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 12:15 PM UTC

system2 wrote: post #92

hughrr wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Ah yes a colleague of mine is Indian and he said trains are a major natural predator of his race :)

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#115

Post by metalliqaz » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 12:23 PM UTC

amjd wrote: post #113

wolfretcrap wrote: post #34

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…

Agree with this completely. Moreover, India as a country has a lax attitude towards safety. When you are fighting to get the basic stuff, the safety aspect does not even cross most people's minds. This can be observed pretty much everywhere. In most construction sites here we don't see the workers wearing hard hats, which are seen as a bare necessity in developed countries. As someone pointed out, in this case the ac…

s/security/safety/g

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#116

Post by amjd » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 12:24 PM UTC

metalliqaz wrote: post #115

amjd wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree with this completely. Moreover, India as a country has a lax attitude towards safety. When you are fighting to get the basic stuff, the safety aspect does not even cross most people's minds. This can be observed pretty much everywhere. In most construction sites here we don't see the workers wearing hard hats, which are seen as a bare necessity in developed countries. As someone pointed out, in this case the ac…

s/security/safety/g

Thanks, I knew it sounded a bit odd. :'D

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#117

Post by tyingq » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 12:33 PM UTC

dredmorbius wrote: post #106

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…

Ballistic protection (and much more rigorous materials and component testing) seem like they'd have played a more critical role than a seatbelt in this particular instance. That's not to say that personal restraint system isn't a critical component of safety equipment. Just that its role in this specific mortality mode would be negligible. Helicoptors are complex. There are many ways they can kill you (or those aroun…

In this particular case, his neck wouldn't have been hit/cut if it had stayed inside the plane of the open frame door.

Anything could have happened. But for what did happen, a 4 point belt would have sufficed.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#118

Post by lotsofpulp » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 12:34 PM 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.

> 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.

The biggest restriction is lack of decent pay relative to the quality of life and liabilities of the job.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#119

Post by iamgopal » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 12:36 PM UTC

kumarvvr wrote: post #65

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…

Was he smart? I give credit to him that he is intelligent, dedicated, hard working, etc. But smart? If he was smart, he would know that a helicopter is one of the most complex flying machines ever designed. Everything is so critical, from design of the mechanical system, right down to quality of welds and quality of material used. I have seen pics and video of the copter. Its a frame, and some blades, welded in some…

True that. Most important part that is not taught in engineering is, testing. Anybody can make anything, even rockets are not so difficult, but creating a testing and checking framework around the build system takes all the efforts. Elon musk said that, almost 100 times more efforts go towards design and making system that make rockets than actually designing rockets. Some conveniently forget the first ( most Tesla and spacex competition ) and fails miserably.

Re: Indian inventor dies in homemade helicopter accident

#120

Post by mLuby » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 12:38 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #78

Natsu wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 simulat…

Nowhere near the same level, but one of my proudest moments in gaming as a teenager was being able to complete a single mission in Search and Rescue 4. It took many, many hours of futzing with the game interface, and even more hours reading up on helicopter controls on the Internet. Without the latter, I couldn't really understand what's going on with the controls. I know it's just a videogame, but it gave me a deep…

> I wish I could fly one for real. Maybe in another life, when I'm someone with more time, money and risk tolerance.

That dream is much more attainable than you might realize. "Discovery flights" are pretty cheap, and of course you're going up with a seasoned instructor who guides you through a few maneuvers. Highly recommend it!