Mission accomplished! The objective was to fly 43km cross country (take off in one location and land in another) and prove that this kind of long range endurance / autonomous flight / chase car was possible.
The first take off was pretty rough, the cold reduced the bungee’s pulling power and impaired my ability to feel the bungee’s tension. It skidded on the ground and nearly destroyed the prop.
After reattaching the prop, I took it off and tested it manual mode. It passed my stress test, so I set it on it’s mission.
It flew perfectly the entire trip, and covered 52km. We landed it in a remote field a few miles south of Joplin, Missouri.
Flight Stats:
Ground Covered: 52.2km/32.4mi
Duration: 37.5 min
Watt Hours: 89.4 (8.1Ah at 11.1v)
Avg Amp Draw: 12.9A
Avg Ground Speed: 83.6kph/52.0mph
Efficiency: 584m/Wh or 6.5km/Ah or 154mah/Km
Max altitude AGL: 122m
Max ground speed: 61mph
Max distance from ground station: 311m/0.2mi
See you next week!