Samurai Monocopter By Lockheed Martin. Future Uses For The Armies To Help Soldiers, Or Maybe A New Type Of RC Plane.

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This is the Samurai Monocopter, and it was inspired by the maple seed, or samara, that fall off trees a in a spiraling motion. Created by Lockheed Martin, this Monocopter can fly up, down, and left to right just like any remote control helicopter, but as you can see, it’s just a one winged, more portable-friendly machine.

Lockheed Martin video showing a recent flight test of a prototype of its Samarai mono-wing rotorcraft – or monocopter – unmanned aircraft. The design is insprired by the maple seed, or samara, which autorotates as it falls. This test vehicle has a 30-inch wing span, but Lockheed Martin is working to develop much smaller versions than can be carried in a soldier’s backpack, or even pocket, and launched though a window to fly indoors. The next version will have a 20-30cm span, while the ultimate Samarai could be just 5-10cm long.