Small Electric Gyro from Luminati

[sanman]

Has anybody heard about this? It's electric and uses ducted fans:

LUMINATI VTOL | luminati VTOL

www.luminativtol.aero

They say it can hit 208 knots, and they plan to incorporate GyRhino's jump takeoff technology. 😲

They're saying this initial model has a battery-limited flight endurance of 54 minutes, but that their future high-speed model will fly as long as 2.5 hours. 😲 😲

They plan to sell them for $160K each.

Is something like this really possible, or is this hype?

 

[Brian Jackson]

It's a Nano with DFs mounted. Think I recall his name from a scam a while back. I don't trust this guy. Prove me wrong.

 

[sanman]

It's a Nano with DFs mounted. Think I recall his name from a scam a while back. I don't trust this guy. Prove me wrong.

On their webpage, their list of names seems to include Dick DeGraw -- he's the creator of the GyRhino, isn't he?

MEET THE TEAM​

DANIEL PRESTON​

TONY TETHER​

ANTHONY CALISE​

GENE COLABATISTTO​

DICK DEGRAW​

JOHN J. YOUNG JR.​

GIRISH CHOWDHARY​

EDWARD J. SHEEHAN JR.​

ROBERT S. TAMARU​

JEFFREY K. HARRIS​

JERRY HOWE​

DAVID D. DEPTULA​

HERBERT LEE BUCHANAN​

GARY SOJKA​

 

[sanman]

 

[Brian Jackson]

On their webpage, their list of names seems to include Dick DeGraw -- he's the creator of the GyRhino, isn't he?

MEET THE TEAM​

DANIEL PRESTON​

TONY TETHER​

ANTHONY CALISE​

GENE COLABATISTTO​

DICK DEGRAW​

JOHN J. YOUNG JR.​

GIRISH CHOWDHARY​

EDWARD J. SHEEHAN JR.​

ROBERT S. TAMARU​

JEFFREY K. HARRIS​

JERRY HOWE​

DAVID D. DEPTULA​

HERBERT LEE BUCHANAN​

GARY SOJKA​

Yes, but I would want to hear from Dick and others before assuming there's any validity to that assertion. I can bang out a web page with anyone's picture I want in 5 minutes. If this is a legitimate operation and endeavor it would be really great news. I just remain skeptical until shown otherwise. Need more evidence than a mock-up and a web page. I hope my hunch is wrong though.

 

[Martin W.]

.

--- According to the video they have $48 million funding available from Zuckerberg ... that helps ... !!!
--- the gyro weighs only 260 lbs WITH batteries .... is that possible .... ???
--- says they have a solar powered fixed wing that is designed to fly at 85,000 feet .... wow ... that is close to the edge of space and twice as high as the airlines fly .

.

 

[helipaddy]

Here’s a short piece on the CEO.

Opinion | His past full of outrageous claims and broken deals, Luminati’s Daniel Preston is coming for Riverhead

Our year-long investigation into Daniel Preston’s past uncovered little to back up his most outlandish claims – just a long trail of disappointed former partners, fabricated success stories and broken…

riverheadlocal.com

 

[Abid]

I am a lowly employee CTO of my company that I founded in 2012, got into gyroplanes in 2015 with a couple of partners and later (recently) sold majority of the shares to a public holding company that now owns and controls the company and honestly I could be fired from my job as a CTO any time.
But I worked my arse off and took many risks even getting here. If this person can get $48 million from Mark Zuckerburg, well Mark deserves what he got.
Isn't this the guy who bought Ernie Boyette's rotorblade business and then skipped on him after the first payment after taking all his tooling etc. He was also kicked out of some city in NY because he was found to be a fraud.
I hate people like this who kill it for people like me and many others who work very hard, deal with a ton of headaches in a tough business that we are passionate about.
Gyrodyne Helicopter Company was bought by Aviodyne and that company no longer exists. The Sunseeker around the world solar flight had nothing to do with this gentleman. Shame on ANN honestly on not fact checking or doing a simple historical reference check on this guy and giving him a platform on their channel
Dick Degraw: What the heck are you doing associating with this guy?

 

[loftus]

Only one question - anybody see this aircraft fly?

 

[WaspAir]

They say it can hit 208 knots

Maybe if you remove the blades and drop it off a tall mountain.

 

[Tyger]

Rob Lutz, who's a member of this forum, left Luminati years ago to start his own gyroplane sales and training operation on LI.
But Luminati still list him on their website as their "chief pilot"...

 

[Vance]

208 knots seem quite fast for an electric gyroplane and two and a half hours seems like a lot of endurance to me. That is over a 416 nautical mile range with a half hour reserve.

260 pounds with the batteries seems quite light to me.

$130,000 seems like a reasonable price for such performance.

I saw their aircraft at Air Venture and it seemed to be attracting a lot of attention.

I found the article about Daniel Preston and Luminati Aerospace illuminating.

I wish them all the best on their gyroplane adventure.

 

[Ernie_B]

If this mans mouth is moving. It is a LIE All he does is promise the world. But will break any and all contracts and STEAL Your money. Buyer beware

 

[Tyger]

Luminati Aerospace CEO says he’s moving his company upstate

Luminati Aerospace CEO says he'll be “a landowner and investor" at EPCAL, but he's moving his company operations to the City of Little Falls in Herkimer County. What does this mean for EPCAL land deal?

riverheadlocal.com

“Daniel Preston’s history with the Town of Riverhead should serve as a warning to anyone putting their trust in him,” [Town Supervisor] Jens-Smith said in an interview today. “Luminati makes a lot of promises, but Riverhead has learned the hard way that they are so often empty.”

 

[Tyger]

If this mans mouth is moving. It is a LIE All he does is promise the world. But will break any and all contracts and STEAL Your money. Buyer beware

And they even use Ernie's name on their website:
Dragon Wings were developed by Ernie Boyette a well known and respected member of the gyrocopter community. Ernie Boyette personally tested every rotor set manufactured for the past 30 years before passing on the torch to Luminati Aerospace.

Dragonwings | luminati VTOL

www.luminativtol.aero

Amazing.

I find it quite amusing that the photo of "their" Gyrodyne QH50 (a design from the early 1960s, which has not been in use since the early 1970s) is "courtesy the Carolinas Aviation Museum".

 

[Doug Riley]

As I understand it, Luminati did in fact buy the Dragon Wings design and tooling. That's why there are no Dragon Wings being made anymore.

A pity, as DW's were a quantum leap forward in small rotorcraft blades.

Dick DeGraw is a quiet, honest genius. He gets things done. It's most unlikely that he has anything to do with this operation. Cripes, they can't even spell "chord."

 

[All_In]

Called my brother Dick this morning...
Dick and Ernie are old army buddies. So dick knew Luminati history and record from Ernie's experience.
Asked if he was working with Luminati and he said "Yes and No".
Yes, he sold them the nonexclusive rights for his rotor head with royalties.
No, he is not part of the company or working for them.

He got paid before he transferred his technology.
He does not expert any royalties as he does not think it will ever be built as they have designed it.

---
PS:
He and Carol will be coming to PRA's 60's Convention in August of 2022.

If you would like to see 2 jump takeoff gyro's then come to PRA's international fly-in/Party.

 

[Tyger]

208 knots seem quite fast for an electric gyroplane and two and a half hours seems like a lot of endurance to me. That is over a 416 nautical mile range with a half hour reserve.
260 pounds with the batteries seems quite light to me.

I think the above is what is known as "tongue in cheek"? (I hope)

 

[Vance]

I think the above is what is known as "tongue in cheek"? (I hope)

I don’t do tongue in cheek.

I applauded his pursuit of such big dreams.

I continue to be amazed by what people are able to achieve.

I would like to have a Jump takeoff electric gyroplane that would go 200kts.

I would council a friend against investing money they could not afford to lose in Daniel Preston’s dream.

My concern is the big talk without results diminishes the value of what people are able to achieve and creates unreasonable expectations that foster disappointment.

 

[Rattler 1]

I saw this Electric Nano at Oshkosh this year. It was a static display with the fan motors mounted. No wiring, batteries or rotor.