Open Source Heavy Lift VTOL + STOL RC Aircraft

Basics

• A RC Aircraft/Drone that is Fixed Wing
• It is capable of carrying relitively large and/or heavy payloads
• It is modular and efficient
• It is capable of both STOL and VTOL
• Using consumer parts it is do-able, but most likely overly expensive
• Solar-CNG Hybrid
• Optimally would use a fuel cell, but these aren't really comercially available so see the section on power for the discusssion on what will be used
• Uses a scaled down version of the Proteus 281 airframe with modifications (1/20 scale seems somewhat good; would be 85.85cm Long and have a wingspan of 118.25cm), This would leave the payload sub 1 meter long though, and this is eyeballing it without accounting for everything that needs to go on/in it)
• Has a cargo Bay with various "pods"

Existing Open Source Designs

• Tom Stanton Design

Photos

Concept Art

Basic Design for the Off-The-Shelf Version

Controls + Telemetry + FPV Camera Module

• 1x DJI Digital HD FPV Air Unit

~$179 https://www.getfpv.com/dji-digital-hd-fpv-air-unit.html?ccartCamp=65956434.0

• 1x DJI A3 Pro Flight Controller

~$1,899 https://store.dji.com/product/a3-pro?from=menu_products

• Hopefully can rund the DJI FPV on its own, but may need a seperate flight controller/interface for it as it is NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE A

Motors

• 4x High Thrust, low Efficiency EDFs for VTOL and for High Speed Horizontal Movement (Highest power we can find, this 250mm counter rotating model has 400N/40KGF Thrust and seems to be the most powerful, but it is VERY ineficient, a custom 500mm model would be nice, yet more drag would be there, and self made ones have a nasty habit of exploding due to the tolerances needed)

~$ ? http://www.vasyfan.com/vf-250-special-application.html

• Servos to control the above motors for VTOL (Need to determine torque needed etc)
• 2x(?) retractable higgh efficiency EDFs for Horizonal Hovement

Something Like This although that one was probably too expensive and not efficient enough, shouldn't be too hard to make; just a 3D Printed/CNC Milled mechanism, a servo, and the EDF

Payload Bay

• Cylendrical Shape hollowed out in the lower middle of the airframe
• Then there is a revolving half cylender "door" along an inside track controlled by a servo (this could be split in two pieces if that works better)
• Inside there are various mounting points that can be adapted for various modules (Cargo Transport via a Cylendrical Container, A Camera Bay, A Sensor Bay, A Sonobouy Dropper, A Radio Module, A ROV Dropper (Either Ground, or a bouancy glider), A Microsat Launcher for Airlaunch

Electricity Generation

Solar Cells

• All Available Surfaces will be covered in Flexible Solar Cells to allow for charging and/or operation of the high efficiency EDFs on Solar Only

Fuel Cell(s)

• These would be optimal (either methane or methanol most likely, although propane is another reasonable option, hydrogen with cryogenic storage may be an option)
• Sadly there are very few if aany on the market as of 2019, so this will be put on hold for now

Piston ICE Generators

• An off the shelf Propane generator is a decent option, but most are heavy, and produce mostly AC, not DC voltage
• This may not be an issue depending on vehicle scale etc

Custom Generator Designs

• Either a stirling, thermoelectric, or small piston ICE (nitro engies etc), or even a small turboshaft driven generator may be options (as well as combinations of these devices)
• The youtube channel "Tech Ingredients" is working on one such design that may be finished in the near term: Here is the first video in the series

Battery + Fuel Module(s)

• This is a slide in/out module used for storing the electrical and chemical energy used by the aircraft with the electric quick disconnects, and a CNG quick disconnect, also data quick disconnects for monitoring fuel usage and battery/supercapacitor status
• 1x 10gge CNG Tank (This is User:Eric's Armchair thought, but type 4 tanks allthough uber expensive, are light, and 10gge seems reasonable as a 20gal propane tank has ~14.88gge assuming This site and my math are both correct and that the tank contains EXACTLY 20 gallons which is seldom done. The below tank holds a little over 10gge in cng which should be roughly equivalent to the average 20gal propane tank:

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• 1x Battery Bank (Need to research which lithium batteries to use etc)
• ?x Supercapacitor Bank (less energy dense, but charge faster, which may be useful for the solar array, also they need more circuitry to control the output.
• A Heating + Cooling System for the Batteries, Supercapacitors, and CNG Tank (or other fuel tank)

Landing Gears

• 1 in the front, 2 in the back
• Extend A Large Distance Downwards to Allow for Large Cargo Clearance
• Retract into Pods using Servos
• The Pods are then Closed using servos
• Use Skateboard Wheels?

Payloads

Cargo Payload (Non-Droppable)

• Holds One Cargo Cylender
• Does Not airdrop; Must be removed at the destination by personell

Airdrop Cargo Payload

• Uses servos to hold and drop a single cargo cylender + parachute

8used for Cargo delivery or Sonobouy Deployment

DJI Zunmuse Style Gimballed Camera Payload

• Holds up to 4 DJI Zenmuse Style Cameras

DJI Ronin Module

• Holds a DJI Ronin or Ronin 2 + the associated camera
• Will buldge downward considerably, need to design aerodynamically for this

Radar Module

• A Radar Pod

See Also

• Open Source Drone Construction Set
• Open Source Aircraft Construction Set