Conceptual Modeling of a Freewing as an Add-On to a Multirotor

Through a low-order fidelity simulation study, it was determined that adding a wing does indeed have the potential to increase the range of a multirotor unoccupied aerial system (UAS). A modular, parameterized system model was developed and validated over a range of platform speeds, then used to explore the potential range extension that could be realized by adding a wing to a multirotor vehicle. Over the small range of wing sizes explored in this first study, the range extension was as high as 2:1 compared to no-wing. The study elucidated that the effect of adding a reasonable size wing for the platform, however, can induce undesirably high pitch angles. The next step is to examine wings that can perform well under multiple flight conditions (no payload and with payloads, cruise speeds lower than the optimal speed for the wing) to extend the platform range while maintaining a reasonable pitch during forward flight.