It seems as we watch the war in Iraq we hear of so many helicopters crashing, but why? Are these helicopters too old and decrepit? Are they in a state of disrepair? Are these copters simply too hard to fly? Are the pilots not trained well enough? Is the enemy able to shoot them down because they are moving too slow and so noisy that they have more time to get them in their sites and fire one of those shoulder launched missiles at them and taking them out? Indeed these are all issues. But we must also remember that from the day a helicopter is built and every time it flies, it spends its life working itself apart. In the future new materials will change these things and problems. NanoTech will deliver us carbon nanotube materials which can be invisible and means much of the helicopter you will not be able to see and the parts you can will have fractal designs which confuses the human eyes and does not easily register. Invisible helicopters, well almost, but it is a start. Carbon nanotube construction is also much lighter and will improve the safety of the helicopter by lightening the load and thus we will have Helicopters, which are safe and some say Helicopters, which last forever. Other technologies being looked at will have directed sound beams, which have a noise canceling effect and we may have future military Helicopters, which make no noise or rather make noise but no one on the ground can hear it. Think on this in 2006. |
