New UAS

[jtprouty]

Hi All,

I've completed the mold and done a mockup of my newest UAS. It's designed for a wing in the 120-140" wingspan range and is meant to be an electric powered duration UAS. Pictures show a side view of the pod plug and a mockup with the wing and empenage temporarily installed on the plug.

Not visible in the pictures are two hatches, one large hatch on the forward fuse to access the main cargo area and one smaller hatch on the right side of the fuselage to access batteries, autopilot, data systems, etc. The molds are complete and I'll be pulling a fuselage in the next couple of weeks if the weather warms up enough to let me spray some PVA in my workshop.

The fuselage pod is setup so that the CG is in the center making it easier to balance the plane and maximize the useful load. Landing gear are an option and initial flight testing will be done without them.

Construction will be fiberglass/carbon/Kevlar composites and all work is done in-house. Wings will be foam core, three piece construction with fiberglass/carbon/Kevlar bagged skin. I know there are questions about the rigidity of the tailboom but, rest assured, the booms are very stiff and can handle very high flight loads. The UAS can also be modified for twin tailbooms and a more standard empenage if necessary.

Power will be a brushless motor with folding prop and LiPo batteries.


Initial flight testing will be done manually and data will be collected on flight performance using a video downlink and video overlay. Once I can afford an autopilot I'll install one for further testing. (Anyone want to partner?)

Questions or comments? Be glad to hear them.

Happy flying,

Jimmy

[zlite]

Beautiful! Putting the center of the equipment compartment at the CG is very smart, as it will give needed flexibility on the payload.

What sort of help do you need on the autopilot? If you can make the airframe available on a small scale commercially, I'd be willing to help in matching it with the right electronics.

[kd7ost]

Hope you don't mind me doing this Jimmy.

Anyone intersted in Jimmy's work? He's the chief designer, mold maker, builder as well as test pilot for this platform.

http://www.vectorp.com/

The guy knows his business.

Dan

[lvspark]

Yea, we know Jimmy.. Welcome back. I remember when you built up the vectorp. I sent you email a few months ago to say hi and some guy with a funny name replied back. Hope you got the good end of the deal. New plane looks cool.

[danstrider]

Hm, looks almost like the body of a Firescout :-)

subscribing

[jtprouty]

Now that you mention it, it would probably make a neat fueslae for a large gasser heli! Hadn't thought of that before.

lvspark - good to be back. Lots of plans in the works for airframes. :)

Jimmy

[dalbert02]

Anything new? I bet you could make a fortune selling your airframes to the AP/FPV/UAV guys. I for one would expect to pay several hundred dollars as that seems to be the going rate for high performance molded aircraft.
-dave

[jtprouty]

Hi Dave,

I've pulled the first fuselage and it came out really well. The stregnth of the fuselage is very good and the only internal structure will be to support payload and aircraft systems. I'm happy with the weight for the 1st fuselage at 1 lb. 12 oz. The tailboom and horizontal/vertical stabilizers will add a minimum amount of weight so everything is on track.

I'll post a picture later today.

Jimmy

[Connexxion]

Anything new? I bet you could make a fortune selling your airframes to the AP/FPV/UAV guys. I for one would expect to pay several hundred dollars as that seems to be the going rate for high performance molded aircraft.
-dave

I agree with that one.
Most seasoned rc flyers fly a lot of hours during the year.

The rc planes on the market aren't meant to be used that often.

So one has to recover,repair or at worst buy a new plane.

A product like Jimmies,will definitely serve a large group of "professional" rc flyers who need a long lasting airframe.An airframe that is built for the purpose the most AP/FPV/UAV guys intend to use their planes in the first place.

Since most (if not all) modelplanes aren't meant for what we would like to use them,we're forced to build self one or modify a existing one.

Unfortunately I couldn't find a pricelist on the mentioned site.

[jtprouty]

Hi Connexxion,

We haven't established any prices yet due to the product still being in development. I'd like to make everything in-house for the plane to keep it cheaper but may outsource the wings if it looks like it would save production time.

One note: I like to keep things affordable which gives me a larger market and lets those of use that are cash challenged afford somthing that we might not otherwise be able to afford. I don't see this airframe costing any more than today's open class gliders.

I hope to be offering it as a stand alone airframe and also with what ever options a customer would like to have installed (power system, radio, AP, communication package with ground station etc.) We can also install and test custom payloads based on customer's needs.

Happy flying,

Jimmy

[Connexxion]

Hi Jimmy,

I actualy meant a price list on www.vectorp.com :D

[jtprouty]

Oops! :)

I'm not sure what they're charging since I left the company. Prices were very good and extremely low for the quality of the product.

I'm currently working on a new design that will be of the same type as the VP. It will be a pusher and will be available with a stadard fuselage and in a twin boom design. It will also have a nose that can be removed and interchanged with anothe nose. Power can be either gas or electric depending on your needs.

The plug for the plane has been cut and I'm in the process of finalizing the design at this point. More to come as I make progres.....

Jimmy

[dalbert02]

I hope to be offering it as a stand alone airframe...
Jimmy

Put me down for one! Need a deposit? I am ready.
-dave

[jtprouty]

Hi Guys,

Here's some pix of the first fuse that I pulled from my new mold. The canopy gives great access to all of the onboard systems and the hatch on the side lets you access items towards the rear of the fuse. It's also a convenient place to put the power switch, charge jacks, data buses ect. I can add hatches as needed based on customer requirements without having to modify the mold.

Based on the strength of this first fuse it looks like I won't need any additional internal bracing other than the wing saddle and the motor mount. All other light weigh structure would be to support payloads as needed. I plan to use a foam/fiberglass laminate for structure to keep it as light as possible.

Happy flying,

Jimmy