As far as scaling these sorts of rotors go, more small-scale work would likely have to be done to prove their worth. They could still work at larger scales, though. “There is good potential and plenty of conceptual student designs from UMD and other universities which highlight that a larger scale aerial screw is feasible,” the engineer said. “In fact, the performance of the aerial screws I’ve tested is very similar to conventional rotors of the same scale.” This might indicate that larger screws have similar performance to their conventional rotor counterparts.
This doesn’t mean you’ll start seeing helicopters or the like with DaVinci screws instead of conventional rotors, but it does mean the concept is workable, and for certain applications, it might even be more appropriate. Prete says he’s not in a position to continue developing the concept as he’s taken a job in the industry. That said, he’s open to seeing others advance the idea.
“I would like to see others expand on… the optimization of aerial screw geometry to benefit hover performance, a comprehensive analysis of aerial screw performance in higher forward flight regimes, and general rotor characterization,” he said. Clearly, there’s at least more wacky-looking aircraft to come out of this sort of work.
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