Cubdriver

Another curious aerospace creation I came across recently. Garage models at this point- but you gotta start somewhere. This creation is reminiscent of the Bell-Augusta 609 which I thought had been shelved but apparently was bought by Augusta to get Bell out and quietly kept undergoing flight testing (BA609 wiki). I think Bell wanted out because they were interested in a civilian version while the market for that tanked in '09. The Sikorsky X2 is another competitor, not as far along.

Morgan EM-J (Extremely Maneuverable JetProp)

• unmanned UAV applications
• VIP transport
• mine detection and clearing roles
• off shore oil operation/ VIP transport/ fast supplies
• any mission where high cruise speed + VTOL is central

Thoughts on design-

• High wetted surface area (drag).
• Range won't be very good, maybe 700nm. Somewhat better for unmanned version.
• Lots of drag from rotor holes, need to cover those up in cruise.
• Pusher problems associated with dirty air such as noise and vibration.
• Dubious high speed potential due to the drag issues- fat inboard wing sections, etc.

Morgan EM-J website

JamesNoBrakes

And heavy with mechanical loss from 6 props and associated shafts/gearing!

It doesn't seem like there's any good "solution" in this area. How many times better would a good ole amphib be in the "offshore transport" role? (except limited by the seas). Either it's slow and crazy inefficient as a helicopter, or efficient, safer, and inflexible as a plane, but in between you get the worst of both worlds, less safe with huge asymmetrical power issues (if shafts/gears/hubs give out), usually poor glide capacity, still huge fuel consumption, and massively complex/expensive...

Cubdriver

If this design goes anywhere I'll eat my hat, feel free to quote me on that. It would take an act of Congress to fund the R&D necessary to prove this machine worthy of the minimally unique mission profiles it offers. It has been said that "anything can be done- but at what cost?" The V-22 Osprey and F-35 are the only novel designs Congress has had as much interest in lately, and you see how controversial those are. UAVs and drones with roles for missions this machine could cover already exist.