Thursday, July 1, 2021

Welcome to the Megadrone


This has to be the deal clincher ~ at least in so far as building the simplest possible quadcopter goes ~ when it comes to whether we mount the prototype's propellers at the mid-points or the corners of its perimeter frame.

And this is why when it comes to flying machines, operational experience trumps the theoretical. In the debate as to whether eVTOLs are best designed by practitioners of the art or those new to aviation, there's an argument either way: knowledge hinders imagination, but inexperience can let you down with a bump.

As Confucius said, 'Study without thought is useless, although thought without study is dangerous! And can somebody get me a green tea?'

Furthermore if you've been close to kilowatts driving propellers at several thousand RPM, you realise there has to be secure passage between you and working parts. In previous prototypes that I've tested this clearance was nearly absent, and connecting the batteries was much like feeding sharks from outside a cage instead of inside.

And in this case as it'll be my cock on the block, I tell Monty that we'll stick with the outline that we've already got.