Presenting: Melenor
Named for one of Tolkien's legendary eagles, Melenor is a lightweight eVTOL prototype designed to carry up to 1kg of payload at the smallest scale availible.
Done in Collaboration with [Transition Composites Engineering] (TCE)(https://https://www.transitioncomposites.com/)
The goal of Melenor is to develop a lightweight eVTOL prototype with payload housing capabilty, and eventually for the fusilage and wing to be made compatible for manufacturing into a molded carbon fiber part that TCE specializes in.

SPECS:
AUW: 600g (with 200g Li-ion battery)
Wingspan: 26"
Payload Capacity: 1kg
Flight Time: Variable, 10-30 minutes on Li-ion depending on payload
Software: Ardupilot - Quadplane Code
Frame: Carbon fiber spar supported wings and H-Quad structure
Prints: PLA, Lightweight Foam PLA
CAD: Designed Fully in Fusion 360

Where Melenor is at:
So this project has been on my radar for a while, but now in collaboration with my internship at Transition Composites, I had a great oppertunity to research, design, and build a fully functioning prototype independently of my work with the R&D team. At the current day Melenor has a few test flights with payload under its belt as well as sucessfull transition from quadplane to fixed wing mode. Current design you can see uses a few colors of PLA based upon my supplies, while the wings are utilizing lightweight expanding foam PLA for reduced weight. This is a test run of the foam PLA's capabilities, which I certainly look forward to in order using more of to shed additional weight. The images shown are the 2nd generation fusilage design, the 1st was a more basic conceptual layout which can be seen in one of the included images. At the current day, vertical takeoff and transition to forward flight is operational, as well as conventional fixed wing flight all in fly-by-wire mode.

Going Forward:
I've highlighted some main goals for the next generation design.

• Upgrade airspeed sensor for more efficient tranistions
• Refine internal and external wire routing
• Test and iron-out automous runs in ArduPilot
• Finish deployable payload-bay (current payload must be hand attached/removed, but current design has compatibility for automatic deployment)
• Complete Head Tracking Gimbal Installation (not really important, but fun nonetheless)
• Convert full fuselage to lightweight foam PLA
  Difficult thing is, university is starting up so I'm unsure If I'll have time to work on it this fall! Fingers crossed.

Check out more info, product updates, as well as the successful maiden transition flight on my insta @rose_fpv