Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"I've got this beautiful panoramic three-dimensional painting of Mars based on Martian photos. It's 30 feet wide. You can pick out every pebble on the Martian landscape. And who'd have dreamed you could do that?"
- Arthur C. Clarke

Copter Harness  
  A single person flying machine.  

The success of the Wright brothers brought out the inventor in many people; there were a number of attempts to create a very portable, single-person flying machine in the 1920's and 1930's.

They were half way home when a single flyer, hopping free in a copter harness, approached the little parade. The flier ignored the red warning light stabbing out from the police chief's car and slanted straight down at the huge star beast. John Thomas thought that he recognized that he recognized Betty's slapdash style even before he could make out features; he was not mistaken. He caught her as she cut power.


(Robert Heinlein: The Star Beast and copter harnesses)

Technovelgy from The Star Beast, by Robert Heinlein.
Published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1954
Additional resources -

Today, it is possible to buy the Vortex Sport Copter:

All "VORTEX" copter's have the new Shock-Mounted Rotorhead and our high-performance suspension system including swing-arm nosewheel suspension. The "VORTEX" standard engine is a Rotax 582, even though, a variety of engines can beadapted, such as Rotax 618 or the Subaru four-stroke series. Our company will work with the customer to outfit the "VORTEX" with the engine of his/her choice. This is a highly versatile airframe.

Compare to the individual flyer from Asteroid Pirates (1938) by Royal Heckman and the jump harness from Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) by Robert Heinlein.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Star Beast
  More Ideas and Technology by Robert Heinlein
  Tech news articles related to The Star Beast
  Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein

Copter Harness-related news articles:
  - Skyray Human Glider Flight
  - AirScooter II Ultralight: Heinlein's Copter Harness?
  - Springtail EFV-4B Personal Air Vehicle From Trek Aerospace
  - First Jetpowered Flying Man
  - GEN H-4 Looks Like Heinlein's Copter Harness
  - VertiPod From Air Buoyant: Segway Of The Sky
  - CopterPack Is Robert Heinlein's 1954 Copter Harness
  - Robert Heinlein, Your Personal Electric Helicopter Will Be Ready In 2016
  - myCopter Personal Aerial Vehicle (PAV)

Articles related to Transportation
Tesla Electric 'Giga Train' Operational In Germany
San Francisco Autobus
Volvo's Autonomous Truck
Eviation Alice Electric Plane First Flight

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Science Fiction in the News

Miss Alabama Beauty Contest Offers Different Standards
'...they moved with the ease of dandelion puffs.'

Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)?
'...some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre...'

Drones In Vast Airborne Grids
'These pods were programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern...'

Starship Special Edition For Lunar Shuttle
Love those special edition spaceships.

Capturing Asteroids With Nets
'...the meteor caught and halted just as a small boy catches a swift ball in his cap.'

Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed!
'We have decided that it shall be but one ship... it must contain everything needed to take us through the generations.'

AI Welfare Position At Anthropic Filled By Human
'You’re the robopsychologist of the plant, so you’re to study the robot itself...'

Marslink Proposed By SpaceX
'It was the heart of the Solar System's communication line...'

Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'... designed to foil facial recognition systems.'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.