What Would You Pay For An Airframe?

[Wayne Dancer]

I am getting close to moving from a hobby involving RC and UAVs to making a career out of it. I am currently in the final stages of development of an all aluminum airframe with a 5-10 HP gas motor, 20 lb recommended to 50lb max payload, large internal area, and the ability to be quickly torn down and put into a sedan that has fold down back seats. It will not be the sexiest beast in the air, think of it as a project box with wings.

I am thinking of offering the following;
-Plans
-parts packages
-Almost Ready To Fly (ARF)

What would any of you be willing to pay for any of these?

[Patrick Egan]

Hold on sparky! Who's your target audience?

[Wayne Dancer]

Mostly universities, but I thought the DIY plans and kits would be more affordable for those without bigger budgets.

[Patrick Egan]

The reason I ask is... that there will be certain regulatory restrictions in sizes, weights and materials.

[Andrus Kangro]

Hi, if you compare yor offering with that, then what are advantages?
I would be a bit affraid of aluminium on DIY context, foam/balsa sounds a lot safer.

[Matt Fisher]

I know as a hobbyist I would not be legally allowed to fly this. Regardless I am interested. Are you planning on only using gas engines with large frames. I would be more interested in a midsized electric frames, but that's just me.

[Wayne Dancer]

There is an even larger one in the works, but there will possibly be a smaller one in the near future. Currently, I am only looking at gas power, but electric may be a possibility.

Aluminum is really not that hard to work with. There will be no complex curves to shape, just a lot of riveting. Aluminum is a higher price than balsa and foam, but more durable in heavy use situations and also helps block stray EM emissions that can play havoc with electronics. I am currently talking to University of North Dakota about them buying one. They will be using it for their aerospace engineering program for airfoil design. A wing swap on this thing takes about a minute, so they are very interested.

As for general hobbyists, personally, I would stick to something like the Senior Telemaster just to stay on the good side of the FAA. If you want to jump through the hoops for flying commercial UAVs, I am betting that mine would be cheaper and more easily maintained. I have a really large one that carries a 500lb payload available, but I'm guessing most of you couldn't afford that one :(

[Patrick Egan]

There is no good side with those guys ;-)

[Matt Fisher]

I would love to see some images of these larger UAV's. I am also willing to go for a flight in your 500lb payload aircraft. :P

[Kendric Eugene Oatis]

what kind of wingspan are you talking about, I will be willing to pay whatever you think it's worth as long as it's resonable

[Wayne Dancer]

8, 12, and 21 foot are current wingspan configurations. The 21 footer we are planning on a 100 lb payload.

[Patrick Egan]

Have you thought about going for an EAC for one or all of these airframes?

[Wayne Dancer]

Experimental cert?