Build Your Own Flying Lawn Mower

Ant writes "Ever seen a flying lawn mower (streaming; download 5.1 MB WMV file) before? I haven't. The WMV video file description says: 'FlyingThingZ Sky Cutter .40 V2 flying at Moon Lake's Annual Make a Wish Foundation Airshow for 2004'. More information can be found on the official Web site. Seen on Blue's News. My good friend, KaT, brought up a good question: 'Since lawns (also known as grass) live usually less than 6" from the ground, how would flying help them do their job better?'"

This is NOT what I expected

[HawkinsD]

I assumed that "flying lawnmower" meant somethinglike the ill-fated HoverMow device: a British invention, I think, that eliminated the wheels on the lawnmower by making the blades create a strong downdraft. A flexible rubber skirt retrained the air cushion, and voila! a lawnmower that moved effortlessly, even over moderately uneven terrain.

It did NOT, however, cut grass effectively, since the fan-effect tended to smush the grass down out of the way of the blades.

So I was already writing the standard Slashdot "This is old news! I know all about this already" sneer in my head when I clicked on the FA.

But then I saw this startling thing of... yes, of beauty. Fastinating. Even a lawnmower can be graceful.

I am humbled.

Oh, and Fljúgandi....ehhh....sláttuvél? also.

Re:Nothing that amazing

[timeOday]

Killjoy! I'm amazed at how well it flies. I've never seen a lawnmower do a loop in midair before.

Re:Seeing that video . . . . .

[bleckywelcky]

A guy at my local flying club where I used to live had built a flying mower, although it was red, not green. Really, the thing is just very lightweight and the thrust from the prop-engine is capable of supporting the weight of the craft (ie, it could fly in a vertical position like a helicopter just fine). You'll notice that during most of the flight, the thing has a fairly high angle of attack in order to provide the lift necessary.

Actually, there was another guy (not sure if this was at the same flying club or some other place) that built a plane that looked exactly like Snoopy sitting on the top of his dog house like the Red Baron. Except, you could not tell what the lifting surface was (except for the bottom of the dog house). There were no wings sticking out or anything. It just looked like Snoopy sitting on his dog house. Pretty cool stuff.

Lawn Sky

[Tom7]

Amazingly, I just recently recorded a song about flying lawnmowers [tom7.org] as part of the album-a-day project [spacebar.org] . I never thought it would be topical on slashdot...

Re:Just not enough merit, I guess.

[GrueMaster]

I used one from when I was 10 until it died when I was 19. Thing mowed great. There was no throttle (most basic push mowers have a fixed throttle even now). It was light enough to hang on the wall of our shed. As to bagging, as long as the blade was sharpened regularly (seasonally), then it mulched the grass to a very fine grade, which in turn kept the grass fertilized. We had 3/4 of an acre of grass, some of it on a ~45 degree slope. Instead of pushing a mower up and down, I would go side to side, standing above the mower (try that with a conventional mower). The only drawbacks to the one I had, was that it was 2 stroke (different mix than our weed eater or chainsaws), and to start it, you held the handle straight up abothe the engine, placed your left foot on the mower deck side (there was a non-slip foot pad there), tilted the mower towards you, and pulled like a SOB hoping it would start. You also had to keep your lawn well cut, because if it got too high to mulch, the grass would clump and you'd have to rack & remow the areas that were collapsed by the clumps.

My dad still has it hanging in his shop (he's moved twice since I grew up), thinking that he'll repair it some day. As a mechanic, he makes a great lawyer. Guess I'll end up inhereting it.

Re:Seeing that video . . . . .

[dougmc]

Well, duh! Kill the engines of a 747 and...

Obviously you don't fly many R/C planes. That's fine. I do.

Some glide extremely well, and others fall out of the sky the moment the engine dies. This flying lawn mower probably falls into the latter category. Running out of fuel doesn't mean you'll crash (even a helicopter can land safely with no power) but let's hope you're not far from the field, or you'll be looking for your plane.

Re:Seeing that video . . . . .

[merlin_jim]

If you look carefully, you'll notice that the body itself is an airfoil, with two horizontal control surfaces out of the back.

I'm guessing the handle plus the square dome on top (which if you notice is completely hollow) function as vertical stabilizers.

But yeah if you look at his flight, his stall angle is very close to vertical. I'd say about a 80 degree angle of attack... indicating that the engine is in fact providing most of the lift throughout flight... he's definitely doing some fancy tricks with those stabilizers to keep the lift up. When he goes into level flight is in the middle of the video when he bounces off the ground hahaha

Re:Okay, relax

[fireman sam]

Do you realize why the lawnmowers are designed to "suck". It is to lift the grass blades so they can be cut better.

The problem with the flymo is it did not lift the grass, but forced it down with the air pressure that was required for the mower to "fly". Therefore, the flymo would not cut the grass properly.

Re:Early adopter...

[goneutt]

I'm still waiting for the flying toaster.

Ah, a /. challenge. First one with a working real world flying toaster gets to have his server crashed.

ROFL

[Goeland86]

is that stupidly genius or ingeniously stupid? I spent 3 minutes of the video wondering if it was a real lawnmower casing or not, then I saw the landing gear underneath... The illusion's great though! Skycutter... I wonder if it'll work to cut off the typhoons or the hurricanes. Ideas?

Re:Seeing that video . . . . .

[Bitsy Boffin]

Airliners actually have quite exceptional glide ratios for powered craft, a 747 is in the region of 15:1 (15 units horizontal for 1 unit vertical), better than many light aircraft.