"Thanks, Joe. I contribute sporadically when the spirit moves me. You can find a treasure trove of airfoil data at this site:
http://www.ae.illinois.edu/m-selig/ads/coord_database.html
"
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Brad Hughey
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- Machesney Park, IL
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Brad Hughey's Discussions
The FAA, A Book Review, and Thoughts of Redundancy
Started Jul 18, 2012 0 Replies 0 Likes
I just finished an excellent read: Why Planes Crash, by David Soucie.Mr. Soucie is a former FAA accident investigator and otherwise has a very diverse background in aviation. However, far from a…Continue
North Central Illinois (Rockford) Area Test Field Wanted
Started this discussion. Last reply by Gary McCray Jan 12. 19 Replies 0 Likes
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…Continue
The Case for Large-Scale Electric Multicopters
Started this discussion. Last reply by Brad Hughey Mar 25. 79 Replies 13 Likes
This discussion thread is a follow-on to several conversations I've had with people in the forums who are particularly interested in the aerodynamics of vertical take off and landing (VTOL)…Continue
Tags: cyclic, control, quadcopter, quadrotor, multicopter
Our Host's Alma Mater Calls Us Out
Started Mar 7, 2012 0 Replies 0 Likes
I don't know how many of you read The Economist, so I thought I'd share this link to an article that brags on our Fearless Leader and this very community. In the global context of "perhaps things…Continue
Brad Hughey's Page
Latest Activity
Josef Mouris replied to Brad Hughey's discussion The Case for Large-Scale Electric Multicopters"Hi Brad, very interesting conversation. Just wondering how you got to that NACA 63-1211 foil and if you could point me to the coordinate file so I can do some real world testing on it. I'm at about 300.000 on the Re numbers so that should fit…"
Brad Hughey replied to Daniel's discussion Quad vs. Hex"Actually, it is exactly what you DO want - the inertial guidance system to respond instantly to perturbations in the air to keep the platform stable. Slow,lumbering performance could easily lead to low frequency control oscillations as well."
Brad Hughey replied to Daniel's discussion Quad vs. Hex"There are many different parameters to consider, and lifting efficiency must be balanced against control-ability. With more disk radius comes more inertia and slower response. Lighter loading has a cost too, in that smaller perturbations…"
Brad Hughey replied to Daniel's discussion Quad vs. Hex"Hovering efficiency requires a large lifting area, but electric multicopters rely on the ability to change the speed of the propellers for control. Rotational inertia increases with the square of the radius, and this is what we're…"
Brad Hughey commented on vis.asta's blog post qadrocopter 125 min in the air"@R_Lefebvre: A) Did you happen to notice there is no "# of blades" variable in the induced power calculation? Also, don't forget the INVERSE relationship between Re and Cd at these scales. Slower is not necessarily better…"
Brad Hughey replied to MarvinS's discussion APM2.5+ Gone"Just an incidentally associated rant - these "Berg-Strip" pin header connectors in common use for hobby aircraft are absolutely dreadful. Strange intermittent bug-a-boo phenomena are easily conjured up by unreliable electromechanical…"
Brad Hughey replied to Zen's discussion Is safe flight possible with diydrones gear?"I think Sgt. Ric said it best:
"@Neil, whats with the attitude? This is an open-source community with volunteers contributing some incredible features and breakthrough apps for the good of the community. What have you contributed…"
Brad Hughey replied to moglos's discussion Long battery leads and inductance"The problem really lies in the "coil of wire" like effects (parasitic inductance) on the battery lines and the way Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor speed control circuits are designed to work. MOSFETs in this…"
NYJYL R replied to Brad Hughey's discussion The Case for Large-Scale Electric Multicopters"I have been very interested in this idea , using rotomax motors that put out about 20hp a pc ,using a 6 motor setup ,doubling the electronics for safety ,also using mini gas rc engine rated about 11.5hp to turn a generator head instead of using…"
Brad Hughey replied to Jared Reabow's discussion Idea for ultra long flight times on octocopters and more!"There's no getting around the obvious energy density advantage of fossil fuels. Actually a "series hybrid" electric-powered multicopter is a wonderful idea if I do say so myself (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, kwim). …"
Brad Hughey replied to Larry Grimm's discussion Why are motors not getting full power from arducopter"This headroom value MUST be configurable, or the guys with larger ships are going to have issues (of course, no one has a craft as large as mine, but still...).
I just blithely updated my APM software when 2.8 came out, and never realized this…"
Wiki NinjaGary McCray replied to Brad Hughey's discussion North Central Illinois (Rockford) Area Test Field Wanted
"Excellent reference, thank you.
And I agree that actual comparative test results are the obvious important arbiter of existing propeller design.
I am giving consideration to putting together a simple prop thrust test rig designed solely for static…"
Brad Hughey replied to Brad Hughey's discussion North Central Illinois (Rockford) Area Test Field Wanted"@Gary: Thank you. Yes, as much as I admire Paul Pounds' work, his "flapping" concerns are a bit of a tempest in a rather small teapot. I've not talked to him in years, but it might be likely that he's mixing up…"
Brad Hughey replied to Brad Hughey's discussion The Case for Large-Scale Electric Multicopters"@Gary McCray: This manned electric multicopter party is really just getting started. As far as I know, Draganflyer had the first electric VTOL flying machine in 1997. With the advance rates of electric power technology, it was only a matter of…"
Wiki NinjaGary McCray replied to Brad Hughey's discussion North Central Illinois (Rockford) Area Test Field Wanted
"Hi Brad, I put a comment at the end of your Large Multicopter forum, then found this with the picture.
Absolutely amazing!
I know it's the middle of the winter there now and lots of snow, so I presume outdoor testing is unlikely to resume till…"
Profile Information
- About Me:
- I am a personal aviation entrepreneur dedicated to manned electric VTOL flight. An EE by education and early career, I was active in the data storage industry until recently, including authoring a couple articles for Storage magazine.
- Tell us a bit about your UAV interest
- Eschew the "U". My interest is manufacturing electric VTOL personal aircraft for the mass (ATV) market. For a technical treatise, please see US Patent #7,699,260 - A Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft Using a Redundant Array of Independent Rotors.
- Hometown:
- Chicago Suburbs
Brad Hughey's Photos
Comment Wall (4 comments)
- At 5:38pm on July 29, 2011, Julie Macfarlane said…
I have about 30 years experience as an EE and have all the neat tools :)
Either thats a very small driveway or you are out of control :)
Must be a blast to fly!
- At 5:52pm on July 29, 2011, Brad Hughey said…
It's a full-sized (3-car garage) driveway and the eCopter has a 30 foot rotor array span. I guess it might look like a model, but it's a single-passenger FAA Part 103-compliant (ultralight) human-carrying multi-rotor electric VTOL aircraft. It will be a blast to fly, but there are some unique tribulations with ground-effect aerodynamics that I am very close to solving with the help of a little automation. :-)
- At 3:59pm on March 5, 2012,
William Premerlani said… Hi Brad,
I am not sure what you mean by your question, "how fast is fast enough". Could you elaborate? If you are talking about sampling rate, tests that I have done show that 8000 samples/second is about right.
Bill
- At 5:58pm on October 2, 2012,
R. D. Starwalt said…
Methinks the same. Friends we are now.
-=Doug
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Season Two of the Trust Time Trial (T3) Contest has now begun. The fourth round is an accuracy round for multicopters, which requires contestants to fly a cube. The deadline is April 14th.A list of all T3 contests is here.
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