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My SkunkWorks    Email to webmaster
     
Note:  Contrary to what some think, this is not my day job. This is just fun, plain old R & R.  
1. "The Box"  
     
  This idea came about with the arrival of Lipo Power. Lipo's are great at voltage, and were not so good at amperage, early on. To make good use of the Hi Voltage an Low Amperage for the Watts formula, the box idea came about for existing lightweight 2 pole motors already out there. Here is the first test bed with an old Hacker B50-13L and the Box on 6s2p Lipo power. It still flies today, and has well over 200 flights in this configuration, and is an awesome and reliable  performer in the big sky. The Hacker is happy and cool at 40,000 rpm with a low  turbine whine. With the 2 stage gearing, it has a really big heart and hangs in there with the big guys at a fraction of the cost.  
     
 
     
  The second stage was to incorporate the 2 stage Gearing in the Logo 14 for further testing. Shown below is my Logo 14 on 570 Rotor Tech Blades and 9s2p TP gen2 4200 Lipos and a C50-13XL Hacker. This is a very quick Heli, and is not really a beginner's machine, but a great 3D platform. I plan to test it further on a 10s setup.  
     
     
2. The L10 Extreme - Click Here for the Build steps  
     
  The Ultimate L10, or L10 Extreme, or whatever you want to call it, is the natural progression of the preceding tests with the plastic frames. The L10 has been great, but could use a bit of stiffness considering the power it has to handle with the HV two stage gearing., and a design that is specific to the Lipo power available.  Here is my original CAD design  
     
   
     
  Shown below is the first frameset that came off the mill. The actual frame came out very light (187 gr with all the metal and bearing blocks),  and is extremely rigid. The RTF weight is just over 5 pounds  
     
   
     
   Here is the Average Joe Video : L10Extreme Video  
     
  Based on the work done on High Voltage/Hi RPM systems, I was approached in 2005 by XeroG to help them come up with a completely new electrical design based on their 60 sized Nitro machine that would equal or exceed the performance of the gas version. The outcome of that work saw this design XeroG (Electric) win the 2005 IRCHA Drag races in the unlimited class under the skillful driving of Ken Jennings.

Not one to stand on his achievement, Ken went on to set an official new world speed record in October 2005 with the XeroG. Here is the path to Ken's successful attempt on the World Speed Record last year with his mostly stock 600EP:

 		  
 
10-15-2005 The attempt was completed in West Middlesex PA and an initial claim filed with the AMA. (Academy of Model Aeronautics).  
     
3-11-2006 The NAA (National Aeronautic Association) accepted the claim as a new US Speed Record.  
     
05-23-2006 The world sanctioning body, the FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale) ratified the claim as a new World Speed Record!  

Ken is the first American to ever win an award in this class. Below are a couple of photos of Ken and the top Machine in the world for 2005, the XeroG 600EP.

Links to Ken's record:

  Link to the FAI World Record Site

The machine is based on 3 phase  power supplied by an Electronic Speed Controller,
and is capable of pulling more than 3kW from the system under load.

Click for Video of the XeroG 600EP in action at our test site.

Below are some pictures of the design as it progressed from idea to production.		  
     
     
  Production XeroG 600EP Kit below..  
     
  3. Moving On..  In 2007, it was time to up the Ante - We spent time developing the 720mm version from what we had learned, this time looking for a more aggressive cyclic for areobatics and increased physical symmetry for the collective geometry as well as the ability to handle much more power. Here is a look at the CAD progress part way thru the design process:  
   
     
  Only a few of us in the world have flow this monster in 2007, and it is a beast. Peak power that I have pulled on it is 8kW. Currently, we are beefing up the drive train to handle this output reliably with custom gears/materials and drive train. Here it is below as the first prototype, using a Vibe Canopy for convenience:  
 
 
..And, here it is at the field undergoing various power/gearing testing, for the first time, ranging from  37V to 45V, from 1800 to 2300 (main rotor) rpm (60,000rpm on the 3 phase motor), 690-720mm blades. It's always exciting to see to an idea go from CAD to realtime CAVU. Note the Eagle Tree recording setup it's carrying for the tests.  
 
 
  4. The Land based stuff..  Also in 2007 we were asked to help develop an all terrain Autonomus/RC vehicle for specific mission profiles. This work is ongoing, and is quite interesting, covering many technical bases. Here are a few of our unclassified pictures of the CAD work on it as well as some of the test mule version's working prototype.

Right-Click (and 'Save Target As') for a short video of the very first mule's test run..

 
 
 
 
 
   

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