Amo ZEROº (concept design)

ZEROº (concept design)
Hector del Amo
Gijón/Xixón, Spain
www.behance.net/hectordelamo

In 2012, graphic designer Hector del Amo from Spain designed an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) one passenger ultra-light helicopter for advanced air mobility (AAM).

The ZEROº is a one passenger futuristic electric ultra-light concept design helicopter that has a three-bladed main rotorblade and has a fenestron-type tail rotor. There is also a very small T-tail on top of the tail rotor housing. The cockpit is circular and has a front windshield that curves up to the top of the cockpit roof. The cockpit has no doors and the pilot's seat has a safety harness. The rotorcraft has standard helicopter controls with a cyclic pitch stick, collective pitch stick and two anti-torque pedals. The helicopter has two fixed skids for its landing gear.

The helicopter has been designed to be as light as possible and has a minimal amount of material in its carbon fiber composite airframe. As this is an electric helicopter, there is no heavy transmission and no heavy tail rotor drive shaft. All that is needed to make the helicopter fly is the flight deck, flight controls, the pilot, flight screens, a main controller, electric motors and batteries.

Because the aircraft is an ultralight helicopter, the ZEROº helicopter is not required to be registered and the pilot does not need a pilot's license (in the USA). But as helicopters are not intuitive to fly and both hands and both feet are required to fly a helicopter, it would be highly recommended for anyone with an ultralight helicopter to take helicopter pilot classes.

There is no word if anyone will be making this concept design into a working helicopter but almost every article written about the helicopter states they hope this helicopter becomes a reality some day.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: eVTOL concept design helicopter
• Piloting: 1 pilot
• Main rotorblade: 1 main rotorblade with 3 blades
• Tail rotor: 1 tail rotor
• Electric motors: 2 electric motors
• Power source: Batteries
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Cockpit: Open cockpit
• Tail: There is a very small standard T-tail on top of the tail rotor housing
• Landing gear: Fixed skid landing gear
• Safety features: If the aircraft loses battery power, the helicopter can autorotate and land

Resources:

• Hector del Amo on Behance
• Hector del Amo ZEROº on Behance
• Article: Zero Helicopter by Hector del Amo, Tuvie
• Article: Ultramodern ZERO Personal Helicopter, My Modern Met, Jan. 9, 2012
• Article: The Zero Helicopter Concept is Designed for Aviation Neophytes, Trend Hunter, Jan. 10, 2012
• Article: Ultramodern ZERO Helicopter is the Future of Transportation, Walyou, Jan. 10, 2012
• Article: ZEROº, An Ultralight Helicopter Concept Design, Laughing Squid, July 23, 2013
• Article: Zero is a Cool New Personal Helicopter Concept, Luxatic, Dec. 24, 2017