I just finished making a plug of the nose
section in witch Phil Nuza is going to mold it
using nomex honey comb core. This should
save a lot of weight.

I spend the last few weeks developing and
testing something I call "Auto Height" or
auto altitude. I have been using a platonic
range finder

http://www.robot-electronics.co.uk/htm/srf08bx24.shtml

along with a small processor to change the power
setting of the turbine to keep it at say 3 feet.
This was tested using a tail rotor on a stick. My wife
did not want me running the AT450 in the house.
So the tail rotor would change pitch and move the stick
up or down to keep the distance of the Range finder
and the ground 100 cm. I soon found out that
I needed PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) control
so the stick/tail rotor would not overshoot the target
height of 100 cm. After much tunning I found that it works.
So imagine a 7 foot long stick with a tail rotor and
ultra sonic sensor at one end. The stick is balanced and
rotates around a bolt near the center. Taped to the stick
is 12 ch receiver, speed control, 2 battery backs, and
a BX24 basic stamp computer.

The range finder may read 80 cm and tell the BX24 then
the BX24 tells the servo to change the Pulse width going
to the servo to push the stick up. The trick is, as the stick
rises it slows down before it gets to 100cm. Hows it know ?.

If the stick is hovering at 100 cm and you push it, it comes
right back. Not fast like a gyro, just nice and smooth.

The device may be put in the Rig later. Its not that the
Rig needs this thing, it would just make hovering at 3 feet
much easier.

The web site have been reformatted and will be updated
much more often as Rig #2 takes shape.

Eddie Weeks
http://www.corpcomp.com/weeks1/

on a great project,

Question, do you think you will ever try to take off from the ground. I messed with a Vertigo several years ago, and it seemed like the high velocity air going under the wings created a very low pressure and held the plane down.

Also, what about reingestion of the exhaust near the ground?

Anyway, good luck!

Hi Eddie,
Good work. You may want to look at adding some accelerometers as well. Analog devices make some cheap "chip" ones that does 2 axis on one chip.
Using 3 angular accel sensors (piezo gyros) and 3 accelerometers can give you almost all the control you need using a uP and some software. An old clubmate of mine David Vos did just what you did many years ago. He now runs R&D at his USA co doing RPV's at Athena. Check it out at http://www.hiflight.com/ftc_guidestar.html
Cheers
Andre Baird

Eddie, meet your wife last week. She seems like a reasonable person. Can't understand why she won't let you run it in the house. I think it would take more than a meal at Outback to get her to agree to it.
I thought maybe your dog would object more than her.
Good luck on the project. Get it ready for the Southwest in Waco in Sept.

should start your own company Eddie. You are an amazing dude when it comes to this stuff.


Terry ( San Antonio )

Thanks for all the supporting comments.

Mr_matt sorry I did not respond earlier.
You asked about take off from the ground and
I too have experienced the suction of the jet blast
It has done one rolling take off at low speed.
(in video) and I think the new Rig will be lighter so
the take off speed may be lower. I still don't think
it will take off strait up.

Yes, I am fairly sure it rainiest exhaust near the ground
(because I too am breathing the hot air) but it does not
seem to be a problem. Rig #1 never dropped or sank
quickly... Its too heavy to move very fast, if that makes any
since.


Eddie Weeks
http://www.corpcomp.com/weeks1/Rig2/Rig2.htm
(new pics of Rig 2)

on a great project,

Question, do you think you will ever try to take off from the ground. I messed with a Vertigo several years ago, and it seemed like the high velocity air going under the wings created a very low pressure and held the plane down.

Also, what about reingestion of the exhaust near the ground?

Anyway, good luck

Rig #2 is well under way and should be ready in
a month. The new Rig will have 3 times the fuel
load, more powerful turbine and should
weigh less.

Just updated the web site

Eddie Weeks
http://www.corpcomp.com/weeks1/Rig2/Rig2.htm

or

http://www.corpcomp.com/weeks1

outstanding work
thanx for sharing your experience on this project

best wishes

mec

Here is a video of some testing I did on Rig #2.

It may be clear what I am doing in the video but if not.
I power up the roll fans and then grab the roll gyro
with my left hand. As I move the gyro around the
plane starts jumping all over the place.

This is also a lession in how much control force is needed
to keep something stable in mid air.

http://www.corpcomp.com/weeks1/Movies/Rig2b.WMV

Hope you like it.

Eddie Weeks
http://www.corpcomp.com/weeks1

Hope ya didn't scratch the paint!!!!!

.