Wired for Ground...

...effect?

Recommend you leave the craft upright as I've done here to incorporate ESCs viz. speed controllers, this being proof-of-concept and not a 'forever' drone. 

No special measures therefore, just a couple of squirts of filler/adhesive and left to set overnight... which is why it's standing like this, so gravity can do its thing.

If you look closely you can see tooth-picks I used to mark the position of each ESC, as I've yet to fix them in place.

Cabling is wrapped round booms and bed-posts here, while the aft starboard motor is yet to be connected as it includes a pick-off for powering the voltage-sender.

This is a bit of telemetry that transmits the voltage of the battery that will be fitted here, on the assumption the others will likely be in much the same state of charge.

We'll need to monitor this during test-flights to ensure batteries do not drop below a threshold at which they would become scrap. Those in an EV have the same issues, and are controlled by a computer instead of ~ as in our case ~ an RC test-pilot.

In a perfect world wiring would be routed through tubing and not wrapped around timbers, and the electrical components would be located (suitably) in the black box.

Don't forget propellers as fitted from top left working clockwise: clock and anti, clock and anti.

Standing Orders

And here we see the advantage of mounting those rear motors so that propellers spin clear of the end of each boom. The carbon-fibre tube, as you may recall, I have included because unlike the wooden skis the uPVC laminates seen here are that bit more flexible... and when this thing flies I want it standing straight to look the world right in the eye.

Ed. Because that's what momma told him, when his drone was about knee-high.  

Motive Powers

By far the easiest way to mount the motor is to stand the cat on its end. You may find as I did that with these stock eight-foot craft this is not possible in the garage given the height of the ceiling, tho' it is practical if transferred to the conservatory (or as I call it, Assembly Hall #2).

If you don't have a conservatory, you might want to consider building one in order to complete this phase of the boat's development?

Ed. Design by Hilton, flowers by IKEA.

Toe Hold

Time was used to be the US or UK you'd look to for innovation in aviation, but now as often as not it's coming out of China... as with this here. Any guesses? Well like the flat-cat we're building it has four motors to sustain flight and two optimised for forward thrust.

'Sky Tow' is touted as the world's first uncrewed glider-tug. Not raising conventional sailplanes into the air, it is designed as a launch-method for the likes of paragliders and hang-gliders. It is thus operated remotely by a separate pilot, allowing take-offs from the smallest possible space principally because unlike a conventional glider-tug it is up in the air already.

In fact watching the video it's barely visible and said take-offs look AI-generated; except they're not. Accordingly despite the $45,000 price-tag the Shenzen company has had enquiries from around the world... except in most places it is going to take some time for the regulations to catch up in order to legalise the operation.

$45,000 tho' ~ as with all things drone ~ is way cheaper than the alternatives when it comes to capital and operating costs. Conventionally gliders are launched by either a powered winch on the ground, or an aeroplane with a modified propeller designed for pulling power at low speed... plus its pilot. Even worse, paragliders have to walk up a hillside or face a long lift up winding roads to a cliff-top: unless they are fortunate to live near Alpine ski-resorts where the lifts can operate throughout the year for this reason if none other so that everyone's a winner.

(Grim) Reaper

Costing $30 million apiece, the US has reportedly lost a dozen in the Gulf and one of these apparently to friendly fire. Beside which, its remote pilots are throwing sickies due the mental strain involved in watching individuals go about their daily business before literally raining Hellfire down on them.

Apparently not fighting fair is bad for your wellbeing as well as theirs, and so trends are toward drones that (a) are cheaper (b) can be swarmed and (c) use AI instead of remote pilots.

The Reaper was developed as a replacement for the Predator, originally developed by someone known as the father of UAV (or drone) technology. And he began it with colleagues ~ in the style of Jobs and Wozniak ~ in a garage in California. Specifically Abraham Karen teamed up with a fellow engineer and a pre-med student that he met at an aero-modelling meet.

Bankrupted, they were bought out (and taken on) by General Atomics ~ the world never really having been the same since. The reason the contractor took them on was because they'd been struggling with developing a UAV themselves... the advantage of working in a garage ever being the focus imminent penury provides.

Bar Wars

Devil is as ever in the detail and figuring out how to prevent the boat sliding out of its moorings and bouncing down the motorway takes me most of the morning and a lot of head-scratching. In the end I'd a pair of 'Tudor' style cup-hooks that I drive in either side, making a quick-release handle from a length of doweling that's a perfect fit; albeit secured by cable-ties to prevent it from popping out of place.

For the snuggest possible fit too I've glued a patch of rubber foam on the topside of the drone to prevent it from rattling around. I drive it up and down the road at upto 35 m.p.h. on what I'd consider to be taxi-trials, and job's a good 'un. My spec calls for sustained speeds of 50 m.p.h. as a reasonable minimum on motorways, beside a dash capability of 70 m.p.h. should people in Ormskirk ever launch a missile attack.

The second prototype was used throughout for this exercise, it being the one to be relocated elsewhere for wiring up and flying with four lift-motors... all being well, as the person set to be tasked with this has yet to learn about it.

As a consequence it has lost two of its 'tuna-tin' motors, and so I make an executive decision to go full speed ahead and install the regular motors prior to the PR shot.

A second consideration is that there is little but cheese in the fridge, and thus one of the tins has gone towards a tuna-cheese toastie for the 'mission director'.

Spare Keel

Already out there on the aftermarket, you simply have to pop the spare off in order to mount a maritime drone on your wheels. Now available on our merch page, enter your model number and click on 'SAW YOU COMING' for pricing.

It's already been for a drive up the motorway to see if I've torqued the 19mm nuts sufficiently, and at the service station was lucky enough to spot a couple of traffic officers.

I was thus able to enquire whether, unladen, it met applicable regs and they were kind enough to threaten me with a ticket for wasting their time.

Ed. Note how Dilbert drilled holes in the wrong place and try not be equally stupid.