Welcome to the Dark Side

In my last post I gave a rather long (sorry) account of how I got into FPV and why.  FPV is not a hobby, it is a lifestyle, an addiction as strong as alcohol, weed or gambling.  Why? I think the answer is the same for any addiction, the way it makes you feel. The rush, the release of endorphins that makes your hands shake and stomach flutter.  I am an FPV JUNKIE!

So why fixed wing over multirotors?  The simple answer is that I got a bigger rush from the wings.  I use to think that my hands shook because I was nervous but then I noticed that they shook more when I finished a flight than when I started.  Because I fly alone most of the time and have to self launch I end up having to fly standing.  This is a full body rush, hands shaking and knees knocking all the way.   Race quads are flying bricks.  When you power them up they beat the air into submission and when you cut power they fall out of the sky.  Don't get me wrong, I still love to fly them because you can do anything you want with them.  But they use technology and power to boldly and audaciously  defy nature.  To me they are cold, mechanical, intrusive and a crap ton of fun!

Fixed wing flight conversely is a finely tuned balance, a coexistence with nature and physics that is fluid and continuous.  There are rules and if you break them nature will exact swift punishment.  This is, without a doubt, one of the biggest thrills about it. Finding that balance, the edges of the envelope knowing full well the consequences of slipping past them.  So why the strong preference toward wings?  Well let me see if I can make some sense of it.


This is the latest incarnation of the Defiant, version 3.  While this is just a prototype made of rigid insulation and extra parts you can still see simple elegance that is the flying wing. The form is so simple and true yet deceptively complex.  Wings are also loud and fast and trilling.  Hundreds or thousands of watts of power and only 2 little control surfaces.  A relaxing 45 minute cruise at 35 mph or a dizzying 4 minute white knuckle ride at 150 mph.  Whatever your preference a wing can deliver handsomely.

As I mentioned before I am cheap and I like to build.  I am an engineer so I have to know why things work the way they do.  After building 3 or four wings I decided that I wanted to design my own.  I had an idea of just what i wanted my wing to do and I didn't want to build several of other peoples wings trying to find one that satisfied my needs (cheap...).  So with requirements in hand I set out to design my own wing.  In my next post I will try to outline my wish list and requirements and how I found out just how little i knew about designing a wing.


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