HawkMoth

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BTC - HawkMoth

The HawkMoth vehicle is an in-house R and D project that features a retractable BTC-88 matched to a flying wing with a removable tail boom with battery compartments located within the wings. This vehicle is designed with modular wings and propulsion units to offer different flight characteristics in order to be flexible for changing environmental conditions and/or mission specific configurations. The different modules include duration and speed motor/prop combinations and a set of long (duration) and short (speed) wings. We have successfully test flown the short wing high power combination and are continuing to test fly in association with Emman Aerospace and Procerus Technologies.

The HawkMoth is an electric powered flying wing tractor. Although in many respects the HawkMoth is a R/C Zagi type flying wing there are some advantages from the tractor power and longitudinal stability enhancement afforded by the long tail boom, like a tight rope walker on a wire with a balancing bar. The HawkMoth tracks well in pitch at speed. The wing mounted batteries offer significant advantages. Battery mass is concentrated outside (toward the wingtip) of the joining spars. This allows use of lightweight blade joining spars that can flex and disengage during extreme landings. Other than maintaining rubber attachment, the wings can pop off during severe impact sequences such as cart wheeling. The fuselage, light weight yet robust construction, is unique in that the structural skin is thermoformed over a durable foam core then sealed and chemically bonded and reinforced at the seams. Hard points are throughout for anchoring components. Wings are composed of a durable EPP foam core strengthened with a combination of laminated wood fiberglass and carbon spar blades then covered with a woven skin.

The HawkMoth R/C Plane can be flown with less batteries (2 @ 6000 rather than 4 @ 6000). The HawkMoth weighs approximately 7 lbs. With a burst power of over 1500 watts the HawkMoth exhibits specialty performance.