A new project

After finishing my master thesis I really thought that would be a long time before returning to undertake such a long and tiring work, but only a few months later I was already involved in a challenge that will need even more time and effort.  So from now I will publish on this blog the different stages that I am facing in my attempt to develop a realistic design of a long-endurance drone.

Why an unmanned plane? There are many reasons but I believe that all began with a simple idea, something as simple as trying to find a more dynamic and affordable alternative to do some of the tasks that nowadays are being carried out by low earth orbit satellites.

The unmanned vehicles are a reality, a technology that that has been showing spectacular results in the last years. Some of its advantages in civil applications include improves in weight and distribution due to the suppression of the life support systems, avoid human casualties in dangerous missions as fire extinction and even may have lower operational costs than conventional planes.

 Leveraging these advantages, the real objective is to create with a few airplanes a multi-role platform able to provide internet services to a remote place during one week and if it is necessary, the day after, collaborate in rescue tasks only by changing the payload.

Having this in mind, the main features that I believe must accomplish the drone plane in design are: 

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•        To have an endurance of at least 24 hours.
•           Ensure a fully autonomous flight (no necessarily a man in the loop).
•           Be able to carry an interchangeable payload of at least 300 kilograms.

Other not mandatory but desirable requisite to be achieved in the final design would be a ceiling around 50000 feet to obtain a good coverage.