Hello: I am looking for a good airframe base for a surveillance vehicle that wold have the ability to carry a relatively large payload, be up in the air for (hopefully) over an hour, and be for the most part invisible from the ground. Best case would be to have VTOL capability but I don't think that a multi-rotor of any kind could stay up for over an hour. I am thinking that a large wingspan, almost to the point of being a glider would be ideal so that the plane could stay up almost as long as the battery for the imaging system remains charged. I like the idea of the RQ-11 Raven, but the $30,000 price tag and the fact that they are impossible for anyone but military to get kinda trumps that.Anyway I hope that you guys have some good ideas! Cheers!
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Over an hour? thats a "holy smokes batman" kind of crazy but lets try. first, you want it for surveillance, hobby drones are not good for surveillance as we dont have an imaging system thats good enough to be used for operation and surveillance. 2nd, here in the united states its greatly frowned on hobby surveillance and surveillance in general, and the FAA treats anyone flying above the recommended 400ft as breaking the law (its not really a recommendation but at the same time it is, its confusing). back 6 years ago I designed a drone for search and rescue, was not built due to the FAA regs, however here is some tips I can give you on design. Your right on a long wingspan, have you considered a dihedral starting at 65 to 80% down the length of the wing (for each side)? It helps greatly generate lift and will allow for a large loiter time. For fuel, this is going to need to be a gas if you want that much time; glow fuel can give you 30 min, diesel can double that but you need to keep the exhaust away from the plane (kinda hard to do). Over all design depends on camera system, same for weight. Flying tips: since its gas you cant shut down the engine, but you can set it at the lowest rpm that will keep it still running, at that point fly like your a glider, do figure eight patterns of the area or do blocky ovals as a flight pattern.
If you do this, your going to need to get it certified by the FAA because your going to be up there in altitude were you have everything from Cessna's to jumbo jets in that airspace.
alternative and more of a cheap platform. You could use electric motors but 30 mins is going to be a max if its fixed wing, if its rotor expect no more than 15 min. you could use powered gliders, both prop and edf, as you can shut it down and use gliding to increase speed, loiter, and altitude. design is the same as above, long wings with a dihedral. You can make your own out of dollar tree foam board, and have about 4 engines as a max (generally). You can stay at 400 ft and still not be heard with electric. Another option is a small blimp with a material that blends with the weather, or is see through. The helium will allow a large lift, you will remain unheard, and if electric prop you can stay on station for long periods of time. the only bad thing is your more vulnerable to wind, and flying objects, out of sight is going to be hard but it is possible. polyurethane is a good material and comes in many colors, see through will be hard to find, but again its out there.
That all the advice I can give, why do you want to do surveillance, im curious?
Thats quite an ambitious flight time, to get that in an all weather scenario will be tough without spending quite alot of cash. There are a few good flying wing style UAV's out there that can carry decent payloads (how much is relatively large?) for a long time. with the ability to glide well it should stay fairly well hidden in the sky to.
Replies
Over an hour? thats a "holy smokes batman" kind of crazy but lets try. first, you want it for surveillance, hobby drones are not good for surveillance as we dont have an imaging system thats good enough to be used for operation and surveillance. 2nd, here in the united states its greatly frowned on hobby surveillance and surveillance in general, and the FAA treats anyone flying above the recommended 400ft as breaking the law (its not really a recommendation but at the same time it is, its confusing). back 6 years ago I designed a drone for search and rescue, was not built due to the FAA regs, however here is some tips I can give you on design. Your right on a long wingspan, have you considered a dihedral starting at 65 to 80% down the length of the wing (for each side)? It helps greatly generate lift and will allow for a large loiter time. For fuel, this is going to need to be a gas if you want that much time; glow fuel can give you 30 min, diesel can double that but you need to keep the exhaust away from the plane (kinda hard to do). Over all design depends on camera system, same for weight. Flying tips: since its gas you cant shut down the engine, but you can set it at the lowest rpm that will keep it still running, at that point fly like your a glider, do figure eight patterns of the area or do blocky ovals as a flight pattern.
If you do this, your going to need to get it certified by the FAA because your going to be up there in altitude were you have everything from Cessna's to jumbo jets in that airspace.
alternative and more of a cheap platform. You could use electric motors but 30 mins is going to be a max if its fixed wing, if its rotor expect no more than 15 min. you could use powered gliders, both prop and edf, as you can shut it down and use gliding to increase speed, loiter, and altitude. design is the same as above, long wings with a dihedral. You can make your own out of dollar tree foam board, and have about 4 engines as a max (generally). You can stay at 400 ft and still not be heard with electric. Another option is a small blimp with a material that blends with the weather, or is see through. The helium will allow a large lift, you will remain unheard, and if electric prop you can stay on station for long periods of time. the only bad thing is your more vulnerable to wind, and flying objects, out of sight is going to be hard but it is possible. polyurethane is a good material and comes in many colors, see through will be hard to find, but again its out there.
That all the advice I can give, why do you want to do surveillance, im curious?
Thats quite an ambitious flight time, to get that in an all weather scenario will be tough without spending quite alot of cash. There are a few good flying wing style UAV's out there that can carry decent payloads (how much is relatively large?) for a long time. with the ability to glide well it should stay fairly well hidden in the sky to.