Returning to the sheet-metal suppliers for the material for the fixing plates top and bottom which secure the rotor-arms, I settle on a 3mm thickness to complement the wall-thickness of the alloy spars I am using for those too.
It seems also that they cut panels from sheets that measure 1000mm x 2000m, so it makes sense to enlarge the flight-deck to 500mm square so that we have a simple two-off solution.
Although I have sketched the outline of the 'hole in the drone' and made a wooden template, they are unable to use the CNC equipment as these require a .dxf file. Frankly that will have to wait, and continuing the hand-built theme for my prototype, I revert to the trusty jig-saw.
'Measure twice and cut once' they say, and in a literal last-minute change of direction I settle on aligning the pilot accommodation in the direction the drone would conventionally travel.
Of course this could be obviated in the long-term by building a bias into the control software but for now the easiest thing to do is to bias me instead toward the right side of the square.
It means that conventional programming can be adapted for one thing, and for another it means the pilot is oriented with the rotor-discs so the motion is likely to feel more natural.
Softly softly catchee monkey.
