Television News Segment Featuring the Golden Eagle

Hello everyone! It has been quite some time since we last had an update after the conclusion of our campaign in Indiana. Fortunately, we have more news for you, or at least WWNY does. This past week the news station visited the Clarkson University campus to prepare a segment on the successes of the Golden Eagle and its applications in wind turbine research. In the segment are our own Jordan Janas, Dan Valyou, and Pier Marzocca.

Enjoy!

Update Since Wednesday & New Videos

Hello there! Well, I'm writing this (very far) away from Indiana. I'm back to Norwich, NY getting ready to start a new job. However, I wanted to send everyone an update since Wednesday.

Wednesday we didn't fly because of extremely high winds. However, we did meet with the DOE representative to show him our concept and method of data acquisition via the sonic anemometer. Thursday, on the other hand, was a great day to get the "Golden Eagle" off the ground. The winds were nearly calm. We managed four flights yesterday: two fifteen minute data acquisition flights, a one hour data acquisition flight, and two training flights for our student pilots, Zack and Ian. Every flight went fantastically. We are planning to optimize a few things over the airframe, including the tail and tail booms. Still, for a first iteration research aircraft, the crew, Indiana University, and the DOE could not be any happier.

I left for Norwich yesterday, Friday. The crew were planning several more flights, all of which went well. We did want to share with you a new camera angle we have been experimenting with on Thursday and Friday. Matt brought his remote control truck out to the airfield. He also has a very durable HD video camera. Matt strapped the camera to his truck, and here's what he managed to capture. Enjoy!

Takeoff Mobile Camera

Takeoff Mobile Camera, Chasing

Landing Mobile Camera

Recap of Yesterday's Endeavors (Flight!)

Hello! We were planning to publish a new post yesterday evening but we had a late night getting back and there was a lot of footage and photos to sort through (more than 13GB to be exact). We're still currently editing and preparing videos. Shaun and Jonathan are going to work on a collaborated video of all of the cameras for the maiden flight, but that will take some time to finish. In total we were using four cameras on the airstrip. For now, here are some clips from the various camera positions of the maiden flight.

Traversing Camera

Landing Threshold Camera

Takeoff Threshold Camera

Wide-Angle Camera

After the maiden flight our post-flight check indicated no issues whatsoever. Because the weather conditions were still favorable, we managed another flight shortly before noon. Later that afternoon, the Indiana University research team and the airfield owner joined us for a group photo with the "Golden Eagle."

We weren't anticipating another flight because of high wind conditions but, for a change, the weather played to our favor. The crew was able to prepare for one more flight for the day, bringing the total up to three. Yesterday was, by far, the best day we have had here in Indiana.

Today isn't so good for flying. Out on the airfield this morning there were 20 mph gusts; definitely not optimal for flight. Currently we are back at the apartments giving the "Golden Eagle" a slightly modified livery. Besides aesthetics, the aircraft is as tight as a drum.

Check back tomorrow for more updates. We'll leave you with a few more photos from yesterday. Enjoy!

Success!!!

Hello everyone! The past few days we have been waiting for the appropriate parts to fix the exhaust manifold. Yesterday evening we managed to fix the exhaust and prepare for today's attempted flight. As you can tell from the title of this post it was a successful maiden flight! The crew is performing a post-flight check over the airframe, and so far we do not have any issues whatsoever. The time it has taken to get "Golden Eagle" in the air has well indeed paid off. 


We are going to attempt to get another flight in before noon today seeing as the wind is picking up. In the evening we hope for a few more flights. Unfortunately, we are unable to publish media to the blog from the field because of a spotty internet connection. But check back later for more flight details, as well as end of the day recaps and media.

Maiden Flight Postponed

Good afternoon from Indiana. As mentioned in yesterday's post the team was planning to get the "Golden Eagle" off the ground for its maiden flight. We had yet another successful taxiing test and the UAV was looking great. Before flight, the team had a final look over the aircraft. Vibration control of the control surfaces has been working out well and that was our main concern. Our professional pilot, Mike, was taking a look of his own around the aircraft and found a crack on the exhaust manifold coupling joint; a slight set back.

The movements of the motor against that of the muffler caused rapid fatigue and finally crack propagation. Fortunately, Dan, Mike, and Zack are in the process of mending the coupling joint and finding a solution to prevent the motor vibration from translating to the muffler.


Besides this issue, the UAV is ready for flight. All of the telemetry and electrical systems are debugged. The loose fittings have all been addressed and are no longer an issue. The entire team is antsy to get the "Golden Eagle" in the air. In the taxiing tests you can sense the aircraft wanting to fly. Perhaps that is only our anticipation of flight.


In the meantime, enjoy this video of the range test from yesterday. So far, this is one of the best videos of the aircraft. You can see all of the control surface deflections (except for the flaps) as well as hear the prop wash off of the elevators (the periodic wind buffeting).

Good afternoon! As this is being written we are all together working on the aircraft after yesterday's tests. We didn't have any critical damages happen on the aircraft except for a few loose fittings. The aircraft performed very well in the engine and taxiing tests. Check out this video clip of a portion of the UAV taxiing.

Notice in the video we managed to "hop" the aircraft off its front landing gear. We have lift! Personally, this project gets more and more exciting. Every step we get closer to "wheels up." Although we hoped for a maiden flight, for safety sake, we didn't want to get ahead of ourselves and overlook the minor details. We decided to return to our apartments and manage the loose fittings instead of attempting to make the minor repairs out on the airstrip. The sun was setting and we knew we would have beautiful weather today. Besides, we had crosswinds on the airstrip of about 6 mph. Crosswinds that high are not enough to ground an aircraft of this size but the conditions weren't ideal. 


Zack and Jonathan went to a local AMA field this morning for Zack to fly his personal sailplane just to give him some stick time leading up to the UAV flight. The wind was next to calm, eluding to a perfect flying day this afternoon!


It looks like we are about ready to leave the apartments and head to the airstrip. We will keep you posted on what transpires from today's tests.


Wish us luck!

Preparations for Maiden Flight

Welcome from Indiana! We arrived last Saturday and have settled into the two apartments we will occupy for the next two weeks. So far, the UAV has been prepared for its maiden flight which is set to occur today. Like any custom build (considering that the entire aircraft was designed from the ground up by our own Dan Valyou) it needed some adjustments to the engine and electronics. Also, we performed a complete inspection of the aircraft to verify airworthiness.

On Tuesday the 8th, the team made its way out to the private grass airfield near the wind farm. The team is very pleased with the airstrip, especially considering the fact that we have 3,600 feet of open, clear, flat runway which is something very hard to come by in Potsdam, NY.


Unfortunately, we did not utilize the runway that day, but we managed to calibrate the telemetry tracking unit and remote camera on the aircraft, as well as turn the engine over for the first time. The 3W-85xi motor ran fantastically and needs virtually no tuning whatsoever.


At the end of testing on Tuesday we gathered the team together for a group photo. And what better time to introduce the team than with this picture.

From left to right:


Jordan Janas - Payload Specialist
Zack Koski - Pilot
Shaun Coller - Communications Specialist
Dan Valyou - Crew Chief and Engineer
Mike Tranchitella - Consulting Engineer and Pilot
Nathan Torkaman - Electronics Specialist
Pier Marzocca - Mission Commander
Jonathan Fearer - Documentarian and Videographer


Not Pictured:
Ian Kraus - Pilot
Matt Rossman - Autopilot System Integration Specialist
Suresh Dhaniyala - Science Investigator
Lin Tian - Science Investigator


The entire team would love to extend its thanks to Mike from UAV-Assistance, LLC for his consultation in the final preparations of the "Golden Eagle" aircraft. He has designed numerous aircraft in the same class as the "Golden Eagle" and has logged over 1,000 hours of flight time for UAVs.