Hi, I've been interested in hobby UAVs for some time and finally have my Powered Parachute project up with some initial flight tests. Info at (http://www/uavgeek.com) The base platform is a seabreeze 82" electric PPC. The guy that I bought it from videos the test flight of each PPC so this is him flying the one I bought (http://www.seabreezeparachutes.com/2008-parachutes/82-inch/82-6-20-08b.wmv)This looks to be a good match for even the ardupilot 1.0. because of the nature of a PPC. First, they are inherently stable. You simply do not need any device to keep it level. Second, you control altitude with throttle. This is exactly what the arudpilot software does so it seems almost perfect for the job. Lastly, they can carry a big payload (couple of pounds.) at the expense of flight time.So far, the only problem I've run into is that the PID loop coefficients need tweaking, PPCs are very slow compared planes and respond to control inputs slowly, in comparison, as well.OTOH, The plus side of being slow is that you have plenty of time to take back control if you don't like what you see and if it all goes pear shaped, you can kill power it it will glide to the ground, not crash.Best,Chuck
Chuck....it has been forever since you posted anything. How did this turn out. I am looking for something that requires less runways then a fixed wing. Any thoughts?
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Preston.