Ummm… lots of crashing! Maiden flights can be painful.
This week I flew the Solar Prototype on it’s maiden flights. Sadly, it was the worst airplane I think I’ve ever made! I had to use the APM’s stabilize flight mode just to get it in the air, and then it quickly crashed 35ft into a tree.
I learned a lot from this attempt, specifically that I needed some kind of roll control via dihedral or ailerons, and that a 10cm (4in) is too small of a chord for this wing at this speed.
I may be on vacation next week (I’ll be right back!!!) but meanwhile I’ll be getting a new wing and doing some additional research. A new plane will be built!
-Trent
Trent,
I’m new to RC and being recently retired, I’m going to get into the hobby, something I started back in the early 60’s on control line but lost touch with the hobby because life happens. I did learn to fly single engine back in the 80’s but never took the test for my license, life happens. Thanks for sharing your love of the sport (It’s not a sport, you know…).
WRT Solar plane; of course think about including the dihedral and flaps for stability in low altitude flight. If your goal is long duration flight, you will need to stay up over 5km (disregard any FAA stuff). At that altitude, temperature and turbulence are low. To maximize efficiency, think about incorporating wing warping into the control system. This technique loses less energy than ailerons. Scale your cord to match the Solar Impulse 2 for close to best efficiency. Using one servo and spider-wire fishing line should be able to push/pull both wings at once with a minimum of lost speed and used electric power all for less than 6 grams. Test for cold operations. Temps are very low at high altitude. Tape that hold well in 70-100F may lose all its holding power at 10F to -40F. Home freezer should tell you if any materials get too brittle of stick-less.
Your testing with the solar panels was terrific. Temp is not going to be an issue at altitude.
Autopilot is where the rub lies. Can you run fully autonomous without any ground station connection “Guided Free Flight”? (I know that is oxymoronic) Will you write your own code for around the clock free flight? Take advantage of thermals etc? Maybe you could work out how to make a smart phone be the autopilot (an app) that could use 3G data for command and control. Hack down a Galaxy to be minimal in weight and use system power, detachable screen….
To my knowledge nobody has an Android OS autopilot. Be the first man.
Good luck
Thanks for sharing
Wayne
Warren, NH