Pushing seven hundred blogposts since commencing this venture I was rather looking forward ~ as the CEO of BP once ill-advisedly said ~ to getting my life back. Sadly, now that this thing is flying that isn't going to happen any time soon.
Despite a near-three-month delay due weather and new premises, turns out the fixes required following prior failure did the job viz. reduced weight and increased rigidity.
Like the arrangement too: practical and compact when it comes to transporting and deploying in the (waterlogged) field.
Two years tho' since the previous prototype flew at this same site, so we've to stick to this design else we'll run out of life prior commercial entry.
Task now in order is to crop the footage and post online prior to a half-day's filming for aerial footage that we can include on the website so that it looks less pedestrian.
Thereafter in '24 the object will be to scale from half- to full- prior upping the weight of the payload gradually toward my own... so no pies for me at Christmas.
For the fliterati out there, just 6kW of installed power turning 22" props is raising a gross weight which frankly I've forgotten, tho' was somewhat under the 20kg target.
Control config is X-8 and chances are this is the first time a drone overhead and another at ground level has flown an upright passenger.