Reply to:"Re: [Paparazzi-devel] Re: it is soooo cold outside"

[Chris]

I went the other way :-)
Having constructed 5 airframes from gliders to delta wings but finally i 
understood that
long flight time is not the same as long range.
After some tests i concluded that foam planes must be excluded as their 
L/D ratio is horrible.
The foam has some properties that disrupts the air flow as it seems.
Now i have a wing loading of a brick, about 37 oz/sqf  but the plane 
consumes less energy
when flying at 80km/h than the Cularis needed for 50km/h
Here is some real measured data:
Cruise speed is 75-80km/h, current draw is 13,address@hidden (202w to cruise) 
(it can go up to 15,5A),
stall speed is ~45km/h.
On board the plane carries a 4s3p 15Ah pack weighting ~1400g a nice 
camera with X10 optical zoom
and 360 degree ratation mechanism, a 3w 2.4 ghz video transmitter, a 
350g 2.5m parachute etc.
I have removed the landing gear as i take off using a bungee and land 
with a parachute just to
lower the drag and use a lighter motor.
Chris