Build Full Sized Plane
I’ve started work on building the full-sized MyTwinDream that I received last week. This plane is HUGE and I can easily see how it can carry several kilogram...
logs
Mini Waypoint Attempt 6
New plane build Luckily, I had a spare AXN on hand so I immediately got busy building it again (something I can now do in my sleep!). I decided to add in an ...
Mini Waypoint Attempt 5
It flew away. It was windy and wet, but I decided to give it a go anyway. It flew off in Stabilize mode, and I tried to steer it high enough in order to swit...
Mini Waypoint Attempt 4
I took it out for a flight and it was stable in steady flight. Whenever it banked though, it would roll like crazy and then eventually settle down. I’d watch...
Aid Agencies
An important part of the project involves my ability to do actual on-the-ground tests of the pproof of concept. This means working with partners in countries...
Mini Waypoint Attempt 3
Gale force winds
Mini Waypoint Attempt 2
I took off in Stabilize mode into the wind, and would attempt to gain altitude before flicking it into AUTO.
Mini Waypoint Attempt 1
I had a really hard time getting the plane to stay up — it was very unstable, often rolling side-to-side with application of throttle. It was windy, but that...
Mini Waypoint Flight
After the APM burned out following my successful flight yesterday, I swapped it out for another APM I had lying around. That didn’t work unfortunately (I’d b...
Scaled flight — Take 4
Since the last attempt we learned that we’re going to have to shed some weight (or increase the thrust) in order to keep the plane in the air. That’s what I’...
Scaled flight — Take 3
Here’s what we learned from the last flight:
Build the plane again
After the first failed attempt, I was able to retrieve the plane from the tree (using a rope and a bag of sand to pull the branch down):
Build the plane
Having already decided on the airframe we’ll be using, the next step is to test it. However, the large plane that I ordered is going to take close to a month...
Design attributes for plane
We already know we’re going to need to use a fixed-wing body in order to achieve the sort of range we’re shooting for with this plane. Now let’s do a few beh...
Previous work on Solar UAVs
This is something I probably should’ve done from the get-go. Here, I review previous work done on Solar UAVs and how they can help me get this up in the air ...
Intial wing design parameters
The purpose of this step is to come up with some sort of initial design for the aircraft wing. This would include span, chord and airfoil shape — as well as ...
General guidelines for wing design
We’ve already decided we’re going to be using a fixed-wing body. Now, before proceeding with desigining an efficient plane structure, I was able to do some r...
Aircraft forms
Before we try finding the optimum design parameters for a plane, we need to decide on a lift vehicle form. The most popular is the fixed wing “aeroplane” des...