Cardboard in the Sky

I started a new project last week. It is one I have been wanting to do for a long time, but with a slightly different objective in mind.

I am building a new radio-controlled airplane.

This is not just any old radio-controlled airplane. I am designing this one so that it can be broken down into seven pieces for easy transport. The idea is, I will be able to stick it in a backpack and carry it into remote areas. One addition I would eventually like to make to this airplane is to add a removable hull or floats so that I can fly it off of a lake. I have a couple of lakes in mind where I'd like to fly it. But that's a ways off in the future.

This plane will be a night flyer as well, complete with four-stroke diesel engine, generator and lighting system. It will also have a bomb hatch for dropping things (like little men on parachutes), and may even be able to carry a small video camera.

This is the first in a series of steps (projects) that will lead up to my ultimate goal of creating a small aircraft that can be carried into remote areas (such as certain areas of Peru) and fly with some autonomous capability to take aerial photographs for surveying. The survey data returned would be helpful in plotting hiking paths that will lead to target areas, such as known (or perhaps unknown) cave entrances. There's a whole story behind this that I won't get into just now, but just to whet your appetite, take a look at this page.

Last week, I drew up an estimate of the wood I would need for my new plane, after conceiving an initial design, and placed an order for the wood. This weekend, I began putting together a cardboard prototype of the model - sort of a model of the model, you might say.



I like using cardboard to build prototypes in three dimensions, because it is cheap (i.e. free) and readily available, and it helps identify potential problems I might face with a new design. In the image above, you can see the prototype (in orange) as it stands today. It has already been instrumental in working out some design issues. The airplane that it is modeled on is the blue plane in the background. That is a real flying model, only it doesn't break down for easy transport.



This airplane will break down into seven pieces: the fuselage (which will contain all the servos, receiver, batteries, engine, generator, fuel tank, and any additional cargo), the tail boom, the fin (with rudder attached), the stabilizer (with elevator attached), the landing gear, and the wing will come apart in two pieces.

Well, it's a start. I have a long way to go, but I am making progress already. Once the plane is done, I will design a backpack and a shipping crate (so I can take it when I travel).

To the skies!