Latest Lunar Module Quadcopter work.
Sometime soon I"m going to begin a "Build Thread" on this project.
The Descent Stage upper bulkhead after the strut assemblies were glued in place, spacers, and reinforcements added. 4/40 screws near the corners to help keep them from ripping out in a bad crash. The legs themselves will have a couple of weak points designed in so that in a really bad crash the legs should break at the weak spots and not rip out these upper struts. Later, slit plastic tubing will be slipped over to build up the diameters before adding appropriate coverings.
In the next photo, a top view of the upper bulkhead, and the lower bulkhead frame assembly next to it.
View of the bulkheads stacked at about the distance they will be when the vertical posts and side pieces are added.
Upper bulkhead upside down, with 10mm square tubing for motor arms dry-fit in place.
Upright view with lower bulkhead underneath, and anti vibration mount for the Flight Controller dry-fit in place. Later a GPS module will be mounted to a short tower above the vibration mount. To the right, a Phantom for size reference.
Do have all the ESC's, motors, and props on hand, as well as other hardware. Have to get the descent stage assembled further before I start to wire up and mount electronic and R/C components. Hope to have it flying in less than a week, at least for its bare-bones proof-of-flight testing (with ballast added to simulate mass of later parts like legs and Ascent stage).
This is a drawing of the Descent Module by itself. For the first test flights it won't have legs, at least not realistic looking ones Other details like ladder, "porch" , and descent engine nozzle to be added if the tests go well.
