I've done a little math on this project, it's all about the Power to Weigh ratio if you want any real filght time. An onboard Turbine Power Unit would be the best choice. I would use the quadcopter X flying configuration with 2 motors per corner counter rotating for safety. Composite and aluminum frame with a battery landing backup. Must to weigh 350 lb or less and pilot needs to weigh 150 or less for a max weight of 500 lbs. This would be ideal, Remember Fuel weighs about 6.6 lb per gallon.
Someone actually did make a quad copter with a transmission that linked 4 collective pitch rotors to a single electric motor. When it came to doing the obvious, using a gas motor to extend flight time, no-one ever thought of it.
Yes, four control vanes at arms extremity, and a central air exhaust for main thrust. This is certainly done like this inside some military drones.
Seems not really complicated to do.
Nevertheless there could be some differences and code adaptation.
Another interesting setup is collective pitch using 4 electric motors (or 6 for Hexas). Should give faster response time, less power consumption, and the possibility to reverse thrust for acro fly.
Again the code should be slightly adapted for this.
The central motor setup for collective pitch seems complicated to me, unreliable, and weight costly.
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I thought about using a turbine to power a generator and then using the generator to chargo a lipo, which powers the quads brushless motors.
This way you get the reaction and burst power of the brushless, but the power from the turbine.
But I doubt there is any weight gain from carrying the turbine fuel over just plain batteries. Those turbines suck a lot of gas.
Yes, four control vanes at arms extremity, and a central air exhaust for main thrust. This is certainly done like this inside some military drones.
Seems not really complicated to do.
Nevertheless there could be some differences and code adaptation.
Another interesting setup is collective pitch using 4 electric motors (or 6 for Hexas). Should give faster response time, less power consumption, and the possibility to reverse thrust for acro fly.
Again the code should be slightly adapted for this.
The central motor setup for collective pitch seems complicated to me, unreliable, and weight costly.