Gender
Male
About
Location
Conroe, TX
About Me:
I am a personal aviation entrepreneur dedicated to the proposition that flying is the ultimate expression of freedom. An electronics engineer by education and early career, I was active in the data storage industry for a long time. But my first love has always been aviation, having passed my private pilot check ride 4 days after my 17th birthday.
Please tell us a bit about your UAV interest
It's ironic that coming from the data storage industry, my job was to preach the benefits of having redundancy and fault-tolerance. "If it moves, it fails." Regular helicopters rely on achieving and maintaining mechanical perfection for reliability. What if they were designed more like enterprise storage systems? THEY CAN BE.
Hometown:
Chicago Suburbs
Activity Feed
"Charles Linquist said:
2. Use larger props, which are more efficient and will lift more grams per Watt. 20" props can get you 10g / Watt. But don't forget that the larger frame and props will add weight. You won't be able to fly as fast, either.…"
2. Use larger props, which are more efficient and will lift more grams per Watt. 20" props can get you 10g / Watt. But don't forget that the larger frame and props will add weight. You won't be able to fly as fast, either.…"
"@Peter Dobber - You've made an excellent point . The bottom line: how to achieve lifting platform reliability?
Conventional single-rotor helicopters are reliable because they set a goal of attaining and maintaining mechanical perfection. Think of a…"
Conventional single-rotor helicopters are reliable because they set a goal of attaining and maintaining mechanical perfection. Think of a…"
"@ George Kelly - Part 103 is a beautiful thing indeed. Keep it under 254 pounds empty, don't fly it like an idiot, and all is OK with the g-men regulators. That's subject to change, of course, at the first incident caused by a sufficiently talented…"
"Rob!Thanks for your kind words. I've been focusing on my day job for a while to continue my self-funding. In this thread I have tried to stay in the theoretical realm. Talking about what I am (or anyone else is) planning to do would just spur a…"
"@John C Hansen - You're asking a lot of good questions, but at the heart of the matter is the universal engineering axiom: compromises must be made. The two essential attributes of an airfoil shape are the coefficients of lift and drag. The Cl…"
"@Gary McCray - Thank you for your kind words, Gary. When it comes to control, it's poles and zeros, baby, poles and zeros. For a time I was working on a passive variable pitch prop, but the IP protection ecosystem is truly crowded with players. When…"
"@John C Hansen
Nobody hijacked anything; it was a technical discussion from the start, not a marketing one. My assertion was (and still is) that for a given disk loading, an electric multicopter can have a higher FM than a single-rotor helicopter…"
Nobody hijacked anything; it was a technical discussion from the start, not a marketing one. My assertion was (and still is) that for a given disk loading, an electric multicopter can have a higher FM than a single-rotor helicopter…"
"Thank you for your kind words, Chris. Yes, I have thought about this.
Control authority is all about how much of the total thrust you can change and how fast. Consider the case of a conventional cyclic-pitch-controlled helicopter as an example.
A…"
Control authority is all about how much of the total thrust you can change and how fast. Consider the case of a conventional cyclic-pitch-controlled helicopter as an example.
A…"
"Here is a link to Dr. Pounds' excellent paper on the subject:
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/33767/1/33767.pdf
Based on rather rigorous mathematical analysis of quadrotor dynamics, his conclusion is "...the system exhibits an unstable oscillation when…"
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/33767/1/33767.pdf
Based on rather rigorous mathematical analysis of quadrotor dynamics, his conclusion is "...the system exhibits an unstable oscillation when…"
"Just for the record, I am convinced that commercialized manned electric multicopter flight isn't just possible - it is inevitable. I too applaud the intrepid souls who are pioneering this area. They are heralding the future. However, if you study…"
"Here's another example of the fact that there's more to a large-scale electric multicopter design than merely having enough thrust vectors to add together. The basic problem is rotational inertia, of both the propellers and the airframe. As Mr.…"
"Hello and Welcome Jochem,
This will get you started:
Basic Rotorcraft Aerodynamics
The dynamics of control are well spelled out here:
Paul Pounds Modelling and Control...
My favorite reference text:
Dr. Leishman's _Principles of Helicopter…"
This will get you started:
Basic Rotorcraft Aerodynamics
The dynamics of control are well spelled out here:
Paul Pounds Modelling and Control...
My favorite reference text:
Dr. Leishman's _Principles of Helicopter…"
"Thanks. I just saw this. Yes, Dr. Pound's conclusion is that a center of mass just slightly above the lifting plane yields the best dynamic control configuration. The primary mission for the engineer is to make design compromises based not on theory…"
"Hi Gary,
Thank you for your kind words. I have not been very active the last two years due to budget and personal considerations, like the logistics of moving from Illinois to Texas. But I have far from given up. In fact, I am more convinced that…"
Thank you for your kind words. I have not been very active the last two years due to budget and personal considerations, like the logistics of moving from Illinois to Texas. But I have far from given up. In fact, I am more convinced that…"
"The theory is all summed up here. Assume a FM of .60 to get started. Your mileage may vary.
Lifting With Propellers - The Real Math Deal"
Lifting With Propellers - The Real Math Deal"
"Thank you, Gary. You're too kind."
