I think I’m onto something here as you can see from these pictures from the lab.

On the design I’m still working on a few challenges. I’m convinced it flies well with just webbing rather than the banner. I flew that configuration it in the lab. It’s tricky to get a good assessment indoors but I’ve used to it. 🙂

A couple things about assembly and a couple things about aerodynamics are on the table. There are some configurations that get into an accelerated phugoid. I think I may learn something about aerodynamics here as I can’t imagine what could cause that.

But it’s pretty clear that this will gel pretty soon.

This thing has more wing area than a Squirrel but actually less balsa parts. It also has a lot of space to add a message which I think will be very exciting. People can decorate the banner with markers and so forth and then attach it to the plane.

I’m going with a fixed wing attachment rather than a sliding one (since I haven’t figured out how to make it slide). It’s difficult for prototyping since I have to add ballast or move the propeller fore and aft. But in the end I think it will be predictable to fly without trimming. We’ll see if I can get that to gel. I need to spend at least another a hundred hours or so on this. I’m pretty excited as I see some potential here.

The working name “voice” is a little dry. But it’s a cool working name since the plane can deliver a message through it’s banner. “Tweet” is nice. Since a tweet is short and limited to physical proximity. I will name it after the design is finished.

My original idea was that this plane could make some rounds at various protests and public events and carry peoples’ messages. That’s where the working name “voice” came in.