Human-flying drone takes to the skies
10 January 2017
A 10ft wide, 120kg drone capable of flying a human around has been demonstrated by prominent YouTuber Casey Neistat, as it flew him over a Finnish ski resort.
In the video, the drone can be seen flying Neistat around and above ski slopes and even pulling him through the Finnish streets on his snowboard. The Samsung sponsored video ends with Neistat flying high in the sky with a flare attached to his boot in an event in which many viewers suggested was fake.
However, in a behind-the-scenes video, Neistat explains the drone was completely real and talked in depth about the technology behind the drone. The giant drone has a diameter of 10ft and weighs 120kg increasing to 165kg when flying Neistat high above the snowy slopes.
With the video being released late in December 2016, Neistat explains that the drone took the majority of the year to build. The drone is a 16 motor hexadecane coptor with 1,631 carbon fibre propellers, consisting of 16 motors with 16 batteries.
Neistat continues by explaining that the drone has a potential current of 4,000 amps, a significant amount of power, particularly when Neistat compares it to the mere 400 amps required to start a V8 engine. With approximately 81kW of power, the drone obviously required significant power to lift Neistat off the ground. In addition, despite not being shown in the video, you can expect there to have been many battery changes to keep the drone powered sufficiently!
Many suggested the video was faked due to Neistat holding on with just one arm whilst almost 25ft in the air. However, for obvious safety reasons, Neistat was simply connected to the giant drone via a body harness.
You can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At3xcj-pTjg
A behind-the-scenes video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyUrqZBs2XA
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