Sense of Flying

Would you like to know what it’s like flying down a mountain at 250 km per hour? Would you also like to know what that is like without actually having to go through it yourself?

Then enter Espen Fadnes - The World’s Fastest Flying Human Being 2010 – who recently teamed up with Project Managers Goovinn to communicate the experience of flying.  Sense of Flying came out of the collaboration.

The result is something like out of a James Bond film but made even more thrilling by the fact that this is not a stunt man performing this feat for a pay packet but someone doing it just for the sheer thrill of it.  In some shots this guy really does look like a human rocket – it is visually simply jaw dropping.

Bigger Than Life - Ice Caves

If you have woken up today with the desire to think up and do something that no one else has yet done then don’t bother with being the first person to film ice caves using a drone. A team from Firefight Films recently traveled to Alaska and did just that – producing these remarkable results. Directed by Lion El Aton with cinematography - by Christopher Carson, take a look while you rethink your plans for the day.

If you need any more time while pondering which world-first you will attempt after lunch then why not take a look at Kuriositas’ own feature on ice caves, from 2011.

Skyborn

A few generations from ours, humanity has been reduced to living in a smog-bound stone age.  Yet the old man Gideon has dreams of flying above the polluted earth to escape the clouds and begin life anew.  Yet his son Blue doubts his father’s beliefs and decides that whether or not the sky exists, the time has come for his father to give up his foolish dreams.

Skyborn was written and directed by Jaime Stone and stars Bob Goody (The Borrowers, among many other film, TV and stage credits). It also stars Perry Millward who despite his youth has appeared in numerous TV shows including The Sarah Jane Adventures and the demanding role of Gavroche in Les Miserables on stage.

Fight or Flight or Whatever

You can always ponder, perhaps even fantasize what you might do if the house was broken in to and you were there, on your own, face to face with masked and armed intruders. This happened to Rob Norman and he refreshingly points out right at the beginning asks poignantly what you do when, at the core of who you are, is a coward? Created by Andrew Norton and Chris Wardle, this talking head tells you exactly what Rob did.

Legacy

Sometimes the burden of family history – its legacy if you like – can weigh heavily upon someone.  So it is with the hero of this animated short written and directed by Adam Floeck.  Yet whether one makes one’s own way in this world or follows in the footsteps of who went before, perhaps the greatest resolution is to do it for yourself.  Maybe that is the greatest legacy anyone can bestow upon their children – the right to make decisions for themselves.

This is a thought-provoking and beautifully made animated short.  It is even more of an achievement when you take in to account that Floeck created it while a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design.  As an undergraduate piece this is outstanding.

Hezarfen - The (3 Minute) Movie

Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi was a legendary Ottoman of 17th-century Istanbul, purported to have achieved sustained unpowered flight.

However, if we are to believe what we see here, his attempts were not without their problems.

Yet this (quite possibly historically inaccurate look) at what happened in Istanbul back in 1632 gives another side to the story.

As the young Hezârfen leans from a high minaret he has second thoughts about his ability to fly – yet he inadvertently sets about a chain of events which the residents of Istanbul will remember for a long time to come.

Tolga Ari was the Team Leader and Technical Director on this wonderfully slapstick piece of animation. Romain Blanchet was the Art Director and Remy Hurlin the Lead Animator.  In charge of FX was Chung-Yu Huang.

Altogether this is a great piece – self contained but something that should really lead on to full feature (they may have to put some clothes on the harem girls, however!).

Kagemono: The Shadow Folk

This is the story of a little fox who, when we meet him, is wandering through the woods on a hunting trip. Unfortunately he soon comes across something quite frightening and dark and ends up the one being hunted instead!  This animated short by Sabrina Cotugno represents her fourth year film at Calarts.  As such the sophistication of the artwork and animation belies the fact that it is an undergraduate work.

The texture of the piece is really quite lovely, giving it a hand painted feel. I also really like the design of our little hero here – especially the extraordinarily bushy tail that Cotugno has given him (or her!).  Altogether this is a charming piece and certainly indicative of greater things to come.

The E-volo – Manned Multicopter is a Show Stopper

Until this week if you owned an electric multicopter it was small, unmanned and sold to you as a toy (or if you are in the military a means by which to spy upon potential threats). This week may change all of that. A group of German engineers have successfully developed the first multicopter which can carry a man. It is battery powered and the world's first flight with a manned e-powered multicopter has now taken place.

The inventors, Thomas Senkel, Stephan Wolf and Alexander Zosel (pictured above with Senkel as pilot), hope that their joystick controlled multicopter, which they call the E-volo, will revolutionize transport in the future. Even from the pictures you can see why this might be popular for recreational purposes alone. Who wouldn’t want to have a go on what looks like a space hopper with sixteen rotors, and is flown by using a joystick as if you are playing a videogame? So, if the pilot stops inputting directional instructions via the joystick the E-volo simply hovers. It’s as simple as that.

The e-volo measures in the region of five by five meters and has four jibs with 4 propellers each. Including the batteries the basic weight comes to only 80 kg, meaning that it is an ultra light aircraft. The 16 propellers give it with the required uplift and simultaneously guarantee the required safekeeping. Its creators believe that GPS technology can easily be integrated in to the controls making navigation much easier.

It has other advantages, too. It is battery powered which means it is eco-friendly and is as safe as air transport can get: it will land safely even if a quarter of its rotors fail and because they are below the pilot a parachute could even be used if needs be. Industrial uses are also obvious – the multicopter could be used for inspecting pipelines, checking wildlife habitats without intruding upon it and taking aerial photographs. Yet the technology is not with us yet for the E-volo to carry more than one person or, indeed, make flights of more than twenty minutes.

That does not downside Senkel (who made the flight) and his colleagues. They believe it is just a matter of time before flights of sixty minutes or longer are possible – and at a remarkably low price. A one hour flight would cost, in terms of energy, around 6 Euros (just over US$8) and because the E-volo has so few parts the upkeep would not be expensive either. The end of the petroleum century means that alternatives must be developed. Who knows what the future holds for the E-volo!

All photographs courtesy of E-volo. To see the E-volo in flight, watch the video below!

Zero-G

Sometimes you just have to persevere at something for long enough and it will pay off. At other times, however, it might be just as well to give up! Not so for the protagonist of Zero-G, an entertaining stop motion animation from James Wilkinson and Sam Renton. His dream is to fly and he is nothing if not persistent when it comes to his various attempts.

Yet little does he know that he is just a short distance away from a discovery that could change his life forever! It was made over a six month period in a garage, so you can guess at its budget. This, then, is a pretty remarkable achievement all told - it looks a lot more expensive than I suspect it is!

Falcon 9 Lifts Off on Maiden Flight Safely - SpaceX Jubilant

Image Credit Flickr User Matthew Simantov

Falcon 9 is GO! SpaceX’s rocket today blasted off on its maiden test flight and has achieved orbit. The rocket which, it is hoped, will one day carry astronauts has been heavily subsidised by NASA and fingers were well and truly crossed after Friday’s aborted launch attempt. Then one of the parameters of the engine fell out of the safety limits.

There is quite a way to go, however. Before the SpaceX will be allowed to carry astronauts it has to show to the world that it is reliable when it comes to taking up robotic spacecraft. Even though today’s launch was successful, that is still some way away.

Once that happens, with the Dragon Spacecraft atop, SpaceX's Falcon 9 should be the first private sector space operator.  Below is the design of both Falcon 9 and Dragon. It is hoped that in the future the Dragon section will be filled with supplies for the International Space Station and then, after that, visiting astronauts.  We cannot seem to find out how much SpaceX will charge for each astronaut, however.

Perhaps they will give NASA a discount for the heavy investment in the company?

Image Credit Flickr User Sam Churchill