Movie Trailer

Fact is, despite the current build using metre lengths of tubing, the overall width that includes the stubs on which the motors will be mounted runs to 51" anyway, precisely the same as the outline in the previous post that has rather more to commend it.

On the other hand this one has a track just 41" wide and therefore fits snugly on the trailer, so it seems a shame to scrap it especially in view of the fact little of it could be repurposed to suit the bigger build.

It's also something of a fag having to build any number of prototypes, especially as its a scale demonstrator, or at least here in the UK. However as I've two complete sets of motors, the obvious solution would be to build two working prototypes, which if nothing else reinforces the versatility of the build methodology.

Onward and variously upward...

Versa Tile

In terms of practicality ~ when it comes to human-sized drones ~ I can't say better than this. Besides assembling as easily as display furniture it supports my own weight at full scale in the lightest grade of alloy. It is also relatively compact, with a diagonal distance of 36" between axes and 50" square, based on the 32" propellers seen here.

Equally important if you're going to fly this thing is the fact undercarriage is readily supported by connectors at each corner, and there is a natural routing for the wiring. Using four-way tube connectors instead of three-way, corners can also be extended upwards in support of further infrastructure... not least another drone to realise the dream of a flying phone-box?

But even as a platform pitched underfoot, extra motors can be mounted on the same airframe and wired as an X-8. I've always liked the idea of larger propellers running at a constant RPM to conserve energy whilst a smaller set addresses the fluctuations required for flight control, and it meets these purposes.

Did I really have any choice when it came to registering the design, with apologies to Hamburg's University of Technology?

Look on my works, ye flighty, and despair!

I Knew...

... I'd seen the UK government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic somewhere else?

Nobody Puts Monty in the Corner

Something I'd always recommend before cutting metal: the shop-floor layout exercise. Always been intrigued by the fact that prior to the sort of drafting tools we're used to today, they could still build behemoths like the Titanic by chalking up sections life-size on the factory floor by way of a working template.

It's why automakers still build visualisations in timber and clay (or 3-D printed plastics nowadays), or why airline manufacturers mock-up interiors, or indeed why jurists are invited to inspect crime scenes firsthand in an effort to formulate an opinion.

And in this case while the outline in the last post (cue bugle) has much to commend it ~ not least the fact it allows quads to be stacked so as to provide redundancy ~ it does nonetheless highlight the unbearable lightness of the previous being.

Although the lens amplifies the effect, that square in the corner is under 36" whilst the one in the foreground is around 51". That's not far off half as big again, and I know from (bitter) experience that as personal air vehicles (PAVs) scale up, so do all of the associated problems... not least the fact it wouldn't fit the flatbed trailer 'as is'.

And all to carry the self-same payload!

This calls for the sort of executive decision I was occasionally called upon to make as an airline captain... I've no choice but to run with the iteration at the back there.

My aim in all of this is to create a mass-produced flat-pack airframe that will support you or I upon a 'flying carpet' that out-does boats and hovercraft in the first instance, and which can be furnished with additional means thereafter to facilitate free-flight.

The evolution of eVTOLs has shown that getting up there is relatively easy, but staying up in the event of one or other failure is decidedly not.

I've spent a lifetime teaching people how to manage engine failures in airliners, and from the earliest times in the development of jet aircraft in particular, the problem has not been a want of power so much as to how to direct what's left of it in times of crisis.

At the outset therefore it pays to build the most reliable quad conceivable ~ which is after all what over 90% of the world's drones already are ~ than a flaky octocopter.

It remains a fact that more pilots die in twin-engined light aircraft following a single-engine failure, than do pilots of single-engine aircraft in the same circumstances.

The art of staying alive in the air is knowing precisely what you've got beneath you.

Re: Frame

See nothing here, means generally I'm thinking.

And in the ongoing search for the simplest means of making drones big enough to carry people, I've been puzzling over the easiest way of mounting the motors. This here jibes with the way I've always done it, which is to bolt them directly to the tubing albeit with an extra strip of angle-alloy.

So in this case they're bolted to the perimeter of the framework, whilst the ESCs and battery-packs will remain supported by the centre-piece upon which Monty the mannekin will be sat too.

This extends the dimensions of the framework, along with the track of the undercarriage skids... Can you see what it is yet? Get down, Rolf!

... to around four feet square in fact, a happy proportion to which nonetheless the trailer will now need adapting. Those are 32" propeller disks around a 16" flight-deck.

I'm happy with this, not least because I've all the parts in the workshop and expect to see it in all of its three-dimensional glory in the coming days.

So happy in fact that I have a slice of coffee and walnut cake.

p.s. some of you will be upset because there's an offset in the track of the quadcopter relative to the frame. This can be corrected by a software bias to relieve the pilot of constantly turning left, with the flight-control computer attached to the airframe with the same degree of departure.

Battery Park(ed)

Spend a good deal of time fitting brackets upon which to mount the speedos (ESCs) before going for the keep-it-simple solution and gorilla-taping them to the sides, with a side order of cable-ties. This is assisted to an extent by the fact that they are the same depth as the sides of the airframe, and include cooling fins that match precisely the width of said ties too.

As to the battery-packs, I'd set my heart upon suspending them beneath the centre-section before opting for a more practical solution with a view to both operational procedures and maintenance. Among my golden rules is one stating that all motors and propellers should be fitted right-way up, and that all else should be fitted topside whenever possible. Dare to be different, my friends...

For the cognoscenti the packs are 22000 milli-amp-hour LiPo sporting six cells apiece. And can you spot from this view of the airframe the plastic nubs for locating the seat in place? Well done!

And now I'm off for a run... I deserve it, don't you think?

Welcome On Board

'Gentleman, you're very welcome on board. My name's Colin Hilton and as the captain today I shall be flying you from here on the ground with the assistance of my co-pilot, First Officer Futaba. Our flight is expected to take just fifteen minutes today and at a cruising altitude of around fifteen feet, with the weather conditions fine throughout. So now is the time to sit back, relax and enjoy the service as I hand you over to the cabin crew, led this morning by Sven.'

'Gentleman, I shall be responsible for your welfare today and if I could ask you to take a moment to put down your phones, as safety here at TELEDRONE is a close second to getting rich quick. Your lap-strap is fastened, adjusted and released like this (hold up strap) and there are four emergency exits, one at the front, one at the rear and one to either side (show with hands). In the unlikely event of landing on water, your seat-cushion is available as a flotation aid.'

'For your comfort and convenience, all our premium class seats are height adjustable in order to afford the maximum leg-room from the propellers. If you wish to raise your seat prior to the flight, please alert one of the crew to the fact that you need screwing (pause for laughter). Snacks are available before take-off, and toilets to coincide with your in-flight movie, Free Willy.'

This project is going to kill me off long before I get airborne, and watching Netflix of an evening I wish people would stop living useful and rewarding lives. Saw one yesterday about Polish film-maker Tony Malik, though turns out besides a prize documentary-maker he was a prize bull-shitter, never actually having flown in the RAF... which made me feel a lot better.

For the adjustable legs of the seating arrangement I've gone strictly commercial off the shelf, with a four-set of kitchen-cabinet feet, which at £4 under-cuts the height-adjustable Airbus pilot-seat by a considerable margin.

I was thinking to underpin the seat with a false floor to further protect Monty's lower limbs, but I figure ~ along with a five-point harness ~ that it's surplus to requirements.

Test-pilot's furious at concession to budget. 'It's my cock on the block here, guys!' he shouts as he storms out of the meeting.