World's Smallest Helicopter

By: Jaanki Dave

Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, who painted the famous 'Mona Lisa', was also an amazing inventor. Amongst other things, he designed several flight machines, including the world's first vertical flight machine or helicopter.

Now five hundred years later, a 75-year old Japanese man named Gennai Yanagisawa wants to pay tribute to the artist's idea by building the world's smallest helicopter and demonstrating it in da Vinci's hometown.

Called GEN H-4, the helicopter weighs 165 pounds and has two sets of rotors that turn in opposite direction to maintain stability. Its four engines allow for a flight time of thirty minutes at speeds not exceeding 60 miles per hour.

Mr. Yanagisawa plans to fly the helicopter in Leonardo da Vinci's hometown later this month. While the helicopter can fly as high as 165ft, he is planning to do three 10-minute flights at the height of just 17ft, so that people can take a better look at the gizmo.

So far, Mr. Yanagisawa has sold five Gen H-4's in Japan and two in the USA, for about $57,000 U.S. Dollars apiece. He is hoping that people will start to use them for their daily commutes back and from work. We think it would be a great way to get to school - don't you?

About the Author:

Jaanki, our latest contributor is a 14-year old who loves to read, play trombone, piano and do Tae-Kwon-Do - that is of course when she is not writing for DOGONews - Look for Jaanki's special articles as well as book and movie reviews in upcoming issues of DOGONews.

If you or your friends are interested in writing for DOGONews, send us an e-mail at editor@dogonews.com.

Sources: telegraph.co, cnn news