In this project, I will start building a small 3D printed fixed wing drone. I am relatively new to building aircraft, so I am still in the learning phase myself. My plan is to first build a drone that just flies and from there on keep improving it to build a capable one with a long reach and/or high speed and better flight control. For now, I will just use basic aerodynamical laws to design the drone, but in the future I might get into CFD simulations as well.
My first model is going to have a wingspan of about 70 cm and a length of about 45 cm. It will have a standard tail.
Aerodynamics
For the wing, I have chosen a NACA 2412 profile. It has a decent camber, which should generate enough lift. I will not use winglets in the first model, but I will might add them later in an improved version.
The filament I use will be LW PLA, also known as PLA Aero. It’s better for 3D printed drones, because its lighter, but I will use regular PLA as well for testing, because its cheaper.
Motor and battery
I will use a 4S, 2400 mAh (35,52 Wh) 238 g heavy LiPo battery and an iFlight XING2 2205 2300kV motor. The motor will be mounted at the front of the plane. It has a maximum power rating of 450 W and it weighs 13 g. Assuming that the plane will weigh around 500 g, that would be a power to weight ratio of 900 W/kg, which is on the higher end of usual recommendations.
Propeller
The propeller is two bladed with a 12.7 cm diameter and a 12.7 cm pitch.
Electronics
I chose the Mateksys 405-Wing flight controller with Ardupilot. It is a bit outdated, but cheaper than the newest ones and it should do its job.
Assembly of the 3D printed drone
The wings will be connected with carbon rods. I will try to glue as little as possible because I am going to reuse a lot of the components in future designs. To connect the servo motors to the flight control surfaces, I will use steel wire.