No on-board camera?
So, apart from the GPS tracking unit, what other on-board gear does it have?
-dZ.
The Paper Aircraft Released Into Space team are delighted to bring you the final construction snaps of the Vulture 1 aircraft. You can check out the first two build phases here and here. Since we've already covered the techniques and materials used in some detail, you're advised to refer back if you've got any doubts about …
That silver paint will block some radio waves. Older GPS kit cannot handle a wet leaf let alone silver paint. A modern GPS should be OK, especially at altitude, but you have cut into the margins and may have problems after landing. If you have to put your antenna inside the fuselage, pick a pale colour. Better still, test all the radio kit in a simple painted box first because I am not sure that this PARIS would survive a complete stripping.
Vulture II should incorporate a couple those glove hand-warmers as the ballast for the nose-cone. This will heat the video camera and transmitter (Pariscope?) One could be activated at launch and a second by the altitude release rod. So warm sillicone inside PARIS could be the answer to getting a good video.
Read the article carefully. Although there'll be no onboard minature camera, the plane will have a payload dangling from it containing a video camera - so there will be video of the event. What they really need to do though is design a mirror arrangement so the camera records both the view down to earth *AND* a view looking upwards to the plane itself.
And since the plane will presumably have zero motive power (other than gravity), shouldn't it technically be called a glider?
The camera attached to the payload is actually stuck to the balloon, not the plane itself. It will capture the initial release of the Vulture 1 from the balloon but not it's whole flight.
If it was up to me, I would stick one of those $15 keyring video cameras in the plane anyway and hope for the best.
*Pint, No more till you fly the thing!!
http://aprs.fi/?call=G6UIM-12
Location: 40°20.12' N 5°31.90' W - locator IN70FI60EL - show map - static map
Last position: 2010-10-27 09:58:55 UTC (2h37m ago)
2010-10-27 11:58:55 CEST local time at El Barco de Ávila, Spain [?]
Altitude: 3471 ft
Course: 341°
Last telemetry: 2010-09-17 00:01:41 UTC (40d 12h34m ago) – show telemetry
Battery: 95 Percent, Charging/AC: 95 Charge/On/Off, GPS+Sat: 2 Sats/On/Off, A4: 0 N/A, A5: 0 N/A
A/C Charging GPS B4 B5 B6 B7 B8
Device: BigRedBee: BeeLine GPS version 10 (tracker)
Last path: G6UIM-12>APBL10 via qAS,G6UIM-9
Positions stored: 2097
Packet rate: 12 seconds between packets on average during 604 seconds.
This station is transmitting packets at a very high rate, which causes serious congestion in the APRS network. This could be considered an abuse of the network resources.
*
Blunt nose, high aerodynamic drag,
The crinkly wing covering is also bad for the laminar flow over the wing, by the way which NACA profile are you using?
I also note you do not provide any pictures of Paris's flaps, does Paris have any flaps? Plain flaps are the simplest, however fowler flaps would be more efficient, but more complex, as these flaps slide backwards before hinging downwards.
One last question, does Paris have a black box?
"This station is transmitting packets at a very high rate, which causes serious congestion in the APRS network. This could be considered an abuse of the network resources."
Abuse of the network? Shame on you Reg.
Haven't you considered the risk that that PARIS might even be shot down? In an autonomous spyplane meets AA missle 'cyber-warfare' threat to the interwebs scenario?
I reckon Mr. Playmobile should be equipped with 'stores' and ECM pod... to be on the safe side. :)