Micron - Advice Needed

[jayschmi]

Hi All,

I've built a small UAV which is launched from a mobile launcher. I need some advice on how to recover it. All the landing gear included is gigantic, the rover wheels all die over about 30m/s, and I want the plane to remain stock. Any advice on how to capture/recover and/or land this little guy?

Thanks!

Craft File: Micron

[tom1499]

Very cool, but I really don't know. Maybe you could make some skids out of the probe legs? A soft landing on some small girders? Just some sugesstions.

[diegzumillo]

You want the small plane to return to the launcher or just land? Have you tried the landing gears? they are smaller than the rover wheels and can survive high speeds and high impact. Now, returning to the launcher is a whole different problem.

[Phuckle]

Try a single aircraft landing gear down the centerline that you don't deploy, just land on it stowed.

[jayschmi]

You want the small plane to return to the launcher or just land? Have you tried the landing gears? they are smaller than the rover wheels and can survive high speeds and high impact. Now, returning to the launcher is a whole different problem.

I would love to be able to return to be captured somehow by the launcher, but I couldn't think of any way to do it. I tried the single landing gear - but even 1 is so huge it makes the plane look stupid.

[PolecatEZ]

The I-beams are very tough and will easily take a skidding landing, as will the 1x1 plates if you want to make some kind of ski. Just don't land it on water, I found out that you can do a 50m/s landing on iron bars on land, but anything over 10m/s on water makes your craft explode.

[RoboRay]

Radial parachute? It works in reality.

[Scoundrel]

Parachute is the way to go. The other options are good too, but a parachute is the best solution.

[BaneOfPilots]

I sometimes use parachutes when landing gears are too cumbersome.

[Khrynn]

I made a very similar design to yours to try and help you with your problem. Of course i did not bother trying to set it on a moving launch vehicle, but it demonstrates Using I-Beams as landing gear, even at higher speeds. My design needs a large amount of trimming though, but I hope i helped answering your question.

[Tada]

What a great craft! I´ve took the basic idea, refined it a little bit and I have my Butterfly UAV

It is going to serve as a recon for my Laythe landing mission, arriving aboard a mothership

[lobsterbark]

ts.Use landing gear, although it says it has mass in vab/space plane hangar, it actually doesn't. Like struts.

[Assault Bunny]

If it has enough thrust to land vertically, I suggest the smallest landing gear. Or, if you're feeling ambitious, offset the engines (you'd have to put on a second one) and put a docking port on the rear. That way you can attach it to another craft, refuel and reuse it

In any case, without putting wheels on your options are limited to a skidding semi-crash or a vertical landing.