Kocyba Hummel

Hummel
Daniel Kocyba
Hamburg, Germany
www.coroflot.com

Based in Hamburg, Germany, Daniel Kocyba is a product designer who has designed products from mobile phone headsets, robotic drills, robots, nanobots, to several helicopters and more. One of his recent concept designs is an all-electric folding helicopter, or an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) helicopter for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and slated for other missions.

The Hummel (bumble bee) concept design is a two passenger light eVTOL folding helicopter which can also be configured for air cargo service. The aircraft has two large ducted fans on top of the fuselage, has a large front window with excellent views and has tricycle type landing gear. Because the ducted fans rotate in opposite directions, this eliminates the need for a tail rotor. Not having a tail rotor reduces weight, reduces complexity and increases the safety of ground crew and for the passengers.

The entire aircraft has been designed with folding it into a compact size when the aircraft is not in use. To fold the aircraft, the fuselage folds backwards 90 degrees and the two top ducted fans then fold inward next to the cockpit. This completes folding the helicopter. The landing gear has a clever and useful design. The front of the aircraft has two fixed wheels in the front of the aircraft and has a rear fixed skid type landing strut. This way, the aircraft can be lifted in the rear of the helicopter and wheeled around easily after the aircraft is folded down.

This helicopter has many advantages including its small size, light weight (due to being all-electric) and small size when folded. The small size of the folded helicopter is very useful when storing a helicopter on a ship or in a building with limited space. It is also useful to have a folding helicopter when being transported by truck. In fact, the helicopter folds into a small rectangular box shape which also means it can be easily stored and transported inside a custom box.

Kocyba's Hummel concept design has many potential applications including air taxi service, personal air transportation, recreational use, scientific purposes, surveillance, geological surveys, emergency services, blood transportation, government use, coast guard service, police work, military use and another missions any small conventional helicopter could perform.

It is important to note that Kocyba's electric helicopter (or multicopter) was his 2004 thesis while at the Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts and his design was way ahead of its time.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: eVTOL folding passenger or air cargo helicopter
• Piloting: 1 pilot
• Capacity: 1 passenger
• Cruise speed: Unknown
• Range: Unknown
• Flight Time: Unknown
• Propellers: 2 ducted propellers
• Electric Motors: 2 electric motors
• Power source: Batteries
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Windows: Vertically tall wrap around windows allowing forward, left, right and top visibility, for spectacular views
• Landing gear: Fixed tricycle landing gear with two wheels in the front and a strut in the rear.

Resources:

• Daniel Kocyba Coroflot
• Article: Hummel: A two-seater, ‘foldable’ helicopter, New Launches, May 1, 2009
• Article: Two-seater Hummel helicopter concept folds-up for easy storage, New Atlas, May 1, 2009