Testing of RC Mapping Planes

Hello,

My name is Nathan, and I am looking for your help to test medium-sized RC fixed-wing aircraft. Most professional mapping planes cost $10,000 or more, and I want to help professionals get better performing planes for less than $1,000. I'd like to publish these results to help the community (you) develop cost-effective solutions without spending your time scouring the web for reviews on each setup.

I'm asking for help because the initial testing of an array of components is somewhat expensive for an individual. Some of these planes have been reviewed and discussed online, but the data is not consistently collected, and technology is ever-changing.

I know that reducing the cost of a high-performance mapping setup can be done, because I have done it before. Maybe I was lucky, but I was able to build a twin-engine electric plane with 2 hours of endurance cruising at 35mph. Do the math, and you can fly 70 miles while carrying a camera. I spent about $600 on the whole setup (EVE-2000), and I surpassed the performance of aircraft that cost at least $10,000.

To narrow the focus of this mission, I will be testing electric aircraft in the 3500g to 7000g weight range. These planes should be hand-launchable and able to carry a medium-format camera horizontally in the fuselage. Most of these planes in this category are foam twin-engine traditional setups. I'm avoiding flying wings in this test due to the difficulty in hand launching and undesirable yaw characteristics. Current airframe candidates include the following planes:

1800mm MTD (My Twin Dream)
1960mm Believer
2160mm Skywalker Titan
2240mm Skywalker EVE-2000
1880mm X-UAV Clouds

Analysis of the planes will be well-documented/published online, and I will use QFD (house of quality) to determine the best design for aerial mapping. My mechanical engineering education will help communicate technical details and designs to you.

Now comes the honest part: I hope to begin manufacturing and selling a kit for the best performing plane. The kit will include engineered fuselage mounting components (for cameras, gimbals, flight controllers, batteries, etc). This kit may be available separately or as a pre-installed "custom" bundle with the airframe and performance components. I'd like to get this prject started ASAP so I can deliver results in the next few months (tentative project deadline is 3/4/2018).

If you have any feedback or requests, or if you would like to give an in-kind donation, please let me know! Your support means so much to me and to others. Thank you!