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MEET BART JANSEN.
He’s 36. He hails from the Netherlands. He fits solar panels on roofs for a living. He has kids.
And in his spare time, he turns dead animals into exotic remote-control vehicles.
It all started in 2012, when his cat Orville got hit by a car.
Jansen decided it would be a shame to simply bury his late feline friend, so he drew inspiration from his pet’s namesake — Orville Wright, one of the Wright Brothers, the inventors of heavier-than-air flight. Jansen gutted Orville, preserved him, and turned him into a custom quadcopter.
The response was huge.
Jansen had recruited the help of technical engineer Arjen Beltman to design and help fly his “half-cat, half-machine creation,” and it was covered everywhere from Mail Online to Forbes.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the unconventional drone caused “global outrage” after footage of it went viral.
The “Orvillecopter,” as Jansen calls it, was subsequently exhibited at the Kunstrai art festival in Amsterdam.
After that success, Jansen got more ambitious.
In 2013, his next project was again using a taxidermy animal as its base — but a far larger one. Jansen asked around local farms for a suitable animal, and one eventually got back to him with news of a recently deceased candidate: an ostrich.
Arjen Beltman again offered his services as engineer and pilot.
“Without Arjen there are no flying animals,” Jansen said.
“I build the puppet. He does all the electronics.”
RC Technics also gave financial support to the project, according to a Wired interview Jansen gave at the time.
“Getting the shape done was the most difficult part,” Jansen told Wired.
“I looked at hundreds of pictures of live ostriches, dead ones, skinned ones to try and figure out what its body looked like. I had to then fit the skin around it and found that in some places I had too much foam and in others not enough. The skin then got a bit mildewy and I had to take it back to the taxidermist to treat it.”
There have been other projects along the way – with dead rats, sharks, and even a badger.
But now Jansen and Beltman have a new project: A “mancopter.”
He explains:
“We’re still deciding on which shape our mancopter will have. Trying to build a flying motorcycle was one of the ideas, but that one is already been thought of by a different group of inventors. So we figured it be better to stick with what we know and build a one-person multicopter in the shape of an animal.”
What animal?
Jansen, again:
“A cow could fit a person. So a cow is one of the options. That means we’d be using a cow indeed. Or any other animal we can lay our hands on that fits a person, but again, it’s in a very early state of development, all still in our minds.”
There’s been huge media attention in his projects to date, but it has yet to translate into a commercial success story.
A €100,000 offer for the Orvillecopter in 2012 never materialised.
He told Business Insider he would be “happy to sell” the projects, but no one wants to buy them.
“We do TV shows, live shows and performances, that pay for the new projects,” Jansen said.
He also has a new plan for revenue up his sleeve:
“We will start merchandising in a few weeks. People may not buy the Orvillecopter, but they might like a fridge magnet of it …”
Rob Price for Business Insider
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These friendlies mean nothing.
@Sun Rise: no such thing as a friendly in rugby.. and far as I know these test matches affect world rankings which obviously had a knock on effect..
@Stiles: yes they do, but unfortunately our ranking has justified some performances. Next week will be interesting though.
I was only glancing at today’s game but that lad Prendergast had an excellent day.
@Paul O’Mahoney: * hasn’t
@Paul O’Mahoney:
Pendergast good but not excellent .
@Sun Rise: Not this nonsense again. zzzzzzzz.
@Sun Rise: shows how little you know ! They mean a lot for the next W.C
@Sun Rise: jog on, soccer boy!
@Jb Walshe: ironically our worst performance in the last 4 world cups was when we achieved a top 4 seeding for the pool draw.
@Sun Rise: obviously not a rugby fan – if you were you’d know that’s tihsllub. Every game is important!!! Whether these particular games affect this ranking or that pool is irrelevant it’s all about a bigger picture…
@Jb Walshe: only rugby fans would understand how correct you are. Tro. lls only look for thumbs up
@brian o’leary: that’s certainly true Brian and we had a bit of bad luck thrown in the mix also,between the draw,some decisions we made,and lacking manpower on the bench. That’s the way it goes I suppose but we live in hope and we will keep supporting our team
@Jb Walshe: yes keep plugging away, plan A now is to achieve a top 6 seeding, hope the seedings work this time, get a little luck with the draw, and most importantly, avoid SA and NZ until after the Quarters, if we get that far.
@Sun Rise: mean nothing to you.
@Lulu: As ai said I was only glancing but I’m happy with my view…..as his dynamic was different, yes a few errors and I’m saying this as a Munster supporter.
@Stiles: when it matters in world cups when it reay matter ireland bottle, all the talk ireland no 1 team ranking, nobody cares
@Sun Rise: 1st time?
@Thomas Meaney: rugby is shite
@Paul O’Mahoney: yes Predergast I think is our best 10…. some bad decisions though…. should maybe have passed a little more than some of the kicks…. but I think he will only keep improving… good win today.
@Sun Rise: Cool story
@Lulu: that complement coming from a munster head, he must have played excellent!!!
Can all the Crowley cult members please sit down now and stop screeching. Prendergast is the man for the 10 jersey and it’s tough luck to you. Crowley had his chance against New Zealand and Argentina and he didn’t cut it. He lost focus after 50 minutes and started kicking and passing aimlessly. We got actually got a performance from our 10 today where he stayed in the match for the full duration and worked his magic. Prendergast was exceptional both in his decision making and in his general vision and the players all looked so much better playing off a level-headed and confident fly-half. Crowley was nothing more than a placeholder for the shirt while a proper heir was developed post Sexton and it’s time for him to put back on the bench where he belongs.
@Frank O’Hara: jaysus Frank, I haven’t seen a player this hyped since Jordan Larmor? I thought he did very well, apart from kicking the ball dead… twice, getting a yellow that was lucky not be red, and getting caught in possession. Bolter for the lions tour maybe?
@Frank O’Hara:
Hahaha …. Good man Frank O’Haha !
@Frank O’Hara: muppet
@Frank O’Hara: put down the creamy pints and take a breath…
@brian o’leary: How did he “caught in possession?” His passing was on the money every time and the speed of his distribution which enabled the ball to get out to the wings was nothing short of phenomenal. The yellow card was a joke. Turning your back and lightly bumping into someone isn’t even a penalty, although the referee had a shocker in terms of being biased against Ireland from the get-go so I wasn’t surprised that she gave him a card. It’s a sign that rugby has gone too soft. In any case, look at how Ireland performed as a team. Prendergast had them absolutely humming. Everything was sticking and all the backline moves were coming off. Crowley offered none of that. I wouldn’t say he’s a Lions bolter just yet. My money is on Finn Russell, Owen Farrell and Fin Smith taking the slots.
@Stiles: Take off your red-tinted glasses and take a breath.
@Frank O’Hara: he was caught at one stage passing to the left, when a try was on, took too long and was tackled, possession turned over?re yellow, contact with the head, upright, no attempt to rap and make a legal tackle, clear sight and no late change of direction or height? Made freddy Stewart look like gerry conlon?
I like Sam BTW, how could you not, but let’s remain clam here .
@Frank O’Hara: jayzus it was Fiji , his granny would have done ok against Fiji ffs
@Frank O’Hara: Very easy to look good at 10 against that opposition. You need to calm down a bit.
@brian o’leary: Come on mate, that yellow card was a terrible decision and you know it. Prendergast turned his back on the Fijian player to see where the ball went from the grubber through and gently bumped against him. The Fijian player then engaged in a series of dramatics like a footballer and Holly Davidson bought it because she doesn’t seem to have a clue about the rules. It wasn’t even a penalty. Do you not agree though from a purely objective observation, the Irish attack was humming in a more sleek and cohesive manner? Do you not think that we actually got a full 80 minute performance off the Irish attack for the first time since the France match in the Six Nations earlier this year?
@Frank O’Hara: I know the rules, contact with the head, upright, no attempt to make a legal tackle, no late change of direction or lowering of height by the tackled player?
It was a good performance, yes, but against a tear 2 nation, I’m going to remain clam
@brian o’leary: clam yes, you’re being very clam.
@Frank O’Hara: that is the most extraordinarily green-tinted description of Prendergast’s card. He turn e to see where the ball was going? He very clearly stepped across to make contact with the Fijian player. It was a stupid gesture, a deliberate piece of foul play. Not dangerous enough to be a red, but a definite yellow
@Frank O’Hara: Calm down there a bit. They are both very good players with more to learn
@Frank O’Hara: He was lucky to see the game out really. Has a while to go yet, Crowley still ahead of the pack for now, rugby is a slower burn than football (assuming thats your prefer sport). Always love the naive ‘general public’ take we get from the one article on the Journal. Never see you on the 42 Frank? Be time fan eh?
Some really good stuff but also some really dreadful stuff!
Max 16 countries in the world play top class rugby, build ireland up the easier they fall, bottlers of world cups
@burrito girl: I’d say if there was a world cup for knitting, you’d win in hands down girly…
@burrito girl: that’s better than football then. Max 7 countries play top class stuff, the rest are just there to pretend it’s a contest.
@burrito girl: stick to the gaa
Ref gifted one
Ah, the once mighty Fifi have fallen! Yawn…
Micky mouse game, make the rules up as the go along. Only 10 rugby clubs in Fiji
sublime reasoning shown by true fans here, lol
I turned this rubbish off after 20 mins
have your say