At 16:00 I halt work on the factory floor and call a board meeting for an interim risk assessment. With my engineering cap on I get quite exercised, refusing to commit the lives of mannequins to 'Outer Somerset' in a plastic spacecraft which does appear to flex that bit more than 1/16th alloy. Flex is good, flutter is bad in aerospace and the drone is no exception and especially as it is scaled up. If the flight computer detects vibration that it tries to dampen and that vibration harmonises with its clock-speed, then it can exacerbate rather than cure the problem... like applying a force to a child on a swing too late, so as to speed it up rather than slow it down.
Any number of experimental electrical aircraft on YouTube show how many prototypes fly better with stabilisation turned off. The modern eVTOL is like an orchestra that is sublime when synchronised but unbearable when not. Unlike a concert orchestra, however, aircraft suffering 'divergent' stability are prone to break up.
As CEO with no hat on, I point out to myself that air transport at the end of the day is about 'bums on seats' even though strictly speaking we've no seat to consider. Were I Elon Musk I would have fired me by now, but instead we come to a compromise in the best spirit of Christmas present. We shall build a back-up rig of the same size but in alloy, to which we can transfer the electricals as necessary and have another go.
There is nothing new in this, any number of prototypes often accompanying the design and testing of aircraft (until relatively recently when it could all be done on computer). Wikipedia says no less than six Concordes were built for development and another fourteen intended for service, whereas nowadays there may be just one or two prior to several thousand entering service.
Interestingly Boeing's Dreamliner experienced problems with (a) a new type of battery (b) supply-chain issues related to rivets (c) new methods of working in carbon-fibre composite instead of aluminium alloy. Echoing that, our prototyping has also suffered from supply-chain issues delaying the mannequin's shoes, the process of learning with different materials and getting to grips with the lithium-based batteries.
I'll admit that issues of these sort won't be having quite the same consequences as the 737 Max had on Boeing's then-CEO, though.
In aerospace, small can be beautiful.
