3 ms·
But they have tiny wings (arms) and if they were airfoil shaped then it would give some lift in straight and level flight. Then at start/landing/low speed, they
by alkonaut 6y ago
But they have tiny wings (arms) and if they were airfoil shaped then it would give some lift in straight and level flight. Then at start/landing/low speed, they would just do nothing.
Perhaps the air is so turbulent around the wings due to the propellers that wings just don't get any airflow to create lift, or would need to be much longer to be out of the way of the propellers, that it's not worth it?
- mikepurvis 6y agoAdding foldable wings would be a massive complexity and weight increase relative to the standard scheme which pretty much boils down to 4 motors + an IMU, with the rotors being the only moving parts. The closest thing in the real world to the hybrid that you describe would probably be the tiltrotor, where the same engines which supply lift can turn 90 degrees to become forward thrusters on wings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiltrotor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiltrotor
- alkonaut 6y agoI don’t mean foldable I just mean airfoil shaped cross sections that still fit within the normal “wingspan” of the multirotor. Amazon have made at least two designs, one that flies “tilted” and uses the boundary ring as wings, another with more separate wings and forward propulsion Version 1: https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/31/amazons-prime-air-drone-delivery-fleet-gains-faa-approval-for-trial-commercial-flights/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/31/amazons-prime-air-drone-de... Version 2: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/teams/prime-air https://www.amazon.jobs/en/teams/prime-air