Aquaether has been so far my main grounds for UAV related matters, including such hardware considerations as FTDI boards, and vehicle stories about the various forms of the Medicine Man glider. As it seems to be for us tinkering folks, these are just the tip of the iceberg of the various hobbies and activities that are related.
On this note, look for the addition of the “Photography” category, and the refinement of the “Robotics” category.
Thanks!
-Kyle
Kyle Uncategorized
I installed arduino on a new computer and once again got this error:
avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0×00
avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect=0×14, resp=0×51
If you have the old style (1.0) of ardupilot, make sure you are using the board settings for Arduino Diecimilia (Atmega168)
Kyle UAV, Uncategorized ArduPilot, FTDI, SparkFun
My second design decision was to use a foam wing from a Piper Cub trainer kit. The idea was that foam would absorb more impact force generated from the guaranteed-to-ensue carnage. This wing, however, was designed for powered flight, not gliding.
Aerospace Law 1:
Short Wings = High Speed
That’s why fighters have short wings and Cessna’s have long safe ones
Combine this with previously mentioned factors – more weight and more speed = bigger crashes! Let the fun begin.
Kyle Aerospace, Humor, Remote Control Airplanes, Uncategorized Balsa Construction, Medicine Man Glider, Sailplane
There is a fundamental rule taught in every middle school science class: only change one variable at a time. I wasn’t in class that day! The Medicine Man is a great glider, but if you are like me – your curiosities sometimes get the better of you.
First off: I built mine at about 150% scale. This does not a negative thing outright, but it does mean that you are dealing with more mass. This brings us to:
Physics Law 1:
Force = Mass * Acceleration
In practice, the ground will bring your plane to a stop in a hurry, and the more plane you have, the more there is to break!
Don’t worry, this is only important in a crash, and I don’t plan on crashing! ….yeaaaaah
Kyle Aerospace, Remote Control Airplanes, UAV, Uncategorized Add new tag, Balsa Construction, Make Magazine, Medicine Man Glider, Monokote, Sailplane
We went to go fly the Medicine Man glider in the vast empty student parking lot at McNeil highschool. It was a pretty windy day, so I was excited to see how the glider’s stability would fair in a breeze, and I was not dissapointed! 
However, I was concentrating so intently on watching the stability that I did not notice a rather tall light pole. Turns out a 1lb or so balsa and foam glider does not do so well against a (relatively) unmovable object, and carnage ensued.
On a more positive note, sting launching went fairly well! We just used a length of kitestring, tied a small loop in the end for the belly hook, and then ran like fools across the parking lot!
I also made a modification for testing purposes involving the removal of the bottom lobe of the tail so that it was flush with the bottom of the fuselage. This modification lets the fuselage absorb impacts, as I had experienced a few rough landings where a considerable ammount of energy went directly into the rudder, sheaing it from the tail.
This particular frame will surely have a few more modifications and “battlefield repairs” that will keep it far from bueaty contests – but that is kind of the joy of experimentation – you are not so afriad of scratches that you don’t push the envelope a little!
Kyle Aerospace, Austin TX, Humor, Remote Control Airplanes, Uncategorized Balsa Construction, Make Magazine, Medicine Man Glider, Monokote, Sailplane
