North Central Illinois (Rockford) Area Test Field Wanted

My electric multicopter is 25 feet wide from propeller tip to tip.  Testing it in my driveway is no longer a viable option.  Mechanical and electrical failures have been eliminated, and now it's time to tune the world's largest craft with the APM at its core. This copter has been in development for 8 years, so it's not the first time it has been throttled up - not by a long shot.

I need a low-cut grass field perhaps a minimum of 250 feet square or so.  If you're an aviation enthusiast and want to be part of something cool, send me a message.  Rental by the day would be considered.  The copter does break down to fit on a trailer, so driveway access is also required.  Thanks for your interest and support!

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Dean Wynton on June 7, 2012 at 1:41pm

Thats a beast Brad... Are you planning on sitting on top of it?

Permalink Reply by Brad Hughey on June 7, 2012 at 1:51pm

It was designed to be a manned aircraft, but it now has R/C capability of course.  Here's a photo:


ModeratorPermalink Reply by Dean Wynton on June 7, 2012 at 2:12pm

That looks much more thought out than the German one that was made recently, where the seat was on top?

Definately safer and more stable being underneath the props, I would love to help.. Shame you not in England I have a bit of land I have access to. How many props and what size?

Permalink Reply by Brad Hughey on June 7, 2012 at 2:36pm

There are 36 thrust units, with each rotor being 46" (1.17 m) in diameter.  If the math suddenly doesn't add up, that's because they overlap about 30% ala Leishman's modeling of the CH-47.

Permalink Reply by Brad Hughey on June 7, 2012 at 2:37pm

Thank you, I'd love to, but that's a very long drive on a cheap kit trailer from Harbor Freight.  :-)

Permalink Reply by Brad Hughey on June 7, 2012 at 2:59pm

Thanks, Monroe.  I guess many here were not around when Chris Anderson goaded me into letting him post my now infamous YouTube crash video last August (which I subsequently removed).  Some of my random pontifications in this very venue have had the ulterior motive of dispelling my burgeoning reputation as "that nut who crashed in his driveway."  A lot of hard work in research and development went into the basic aerodynamics and drive control of this ship.

http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/awesome-manned-electric-multico...


DeveloperPermalink Reply by Andreas M. Antonopoulos on June 7, 2012 at 2:17pm

I am trying to come up with a suitable expletive. Holy smokes? Ay Caramba? Not quite. 

MOTHER OF FRANKENSTEIN!

That thing is HUGE.

I'm having trouble finding enough space to fly my 2ft wide copter because I suck as a pilot. 

Tip: Look at the shadow on the gound, that shows the design clearly

Permalink Reply by Richard on June 7, 2012 at 2:28pm

Is that 24 props, or did I miss some?

Are you bussing prop groups together so it 'looks' like a hexacopter to the APM, or did you do something else to get it to drive that many?

Permalink Reply by Brad Hughey on June 7, 2012 at 2:40pm

It is 36 thrust units arranged into zones like a + quad.  There are 10 each in the front and rear zones, and 8 each in the left and right.


ModeratorPermalink Reply by Sgt Ric on June 7, 2012 at 3:14pm

I'm surprised no-one has jumped in yet and asked for your PID settings...ha,ha.

 

Permalink Reply by Brad Hughey on June 7, 2012 at 3:19pm

Why, they're whatever Jason Short tells me they should be!  (lol)

Seriously, I am but a humble student when it comes to the APM platform.  I just tried some rate_P settings in my drive way and think it needs to go way up.  

Permalink Reply by R. D. Starwalt on October 2, 2012 at 5:39pm

I've been terribly remiss in my investigation of this site.

Brad, you did a maiden last year on *my* birthday. This year on my birthday, my first quad got some air.

I have family in Illinois though down in the central east section.. perfect for your testing though they have about given up the land there.

What is the status of this now?

-=Doug

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