DeaconEye sUAS: The latest from the Skunk Works

Well, it has been quite a while since the last time I posted on here, huh? It looks like the last time I was posting about endurance quads. Well, I still hate quads but we do have some updates since then.

First of all, the more mundane stuff. We have a fully functional Ritewing Drak. I built one earlier this year for a client and since then the lab has picked one up. It is a really excellent platform that carries more payload, faster, longer than a Z3. It is basically better in every way. The only downside is that it is significantly bigger (1.5 vs 1.2 m wingspan). Here is a picture:

This isn't actually ours, this is the one I built for a client and currently resides in Canada. But you get the idea.

Ok, now on to the really exciting stuff. We are gearing up for another campaign in Peru but, this time, it won't be with any anemic little electric plane. We are building V2.0 of the 3m Mugin and it is shaping up to be pretty incredible. A lot is different from the first, including the airframe. The newest version of the Mugin airframe has a lot of improvements including, but not limited to:

Carbon fiber fuselage frame (formerly wood)
Thicker fiberglass fuselage skin
Fiberglass wing and tail skin (formerly wood)
Improved fuel tank (so we might not be throwing this one away immediately)
Beefier main landing gear (unfortunately still the same crappy nose gear)
Flaps! (split flaps, at that)
H-tail providing redundant elevator and rudder

And then there are the improvements I'm making to the guts. Again, including but not limited to:

DA70 motor modified by HFE International for fuel injection
Sullivan UAV 300W alternator and power module
Microhard pDDL broadband data links (for telemetry and video)
TriadRF RF amplifiers (to boost that pDDL and get us 100km range with the help of...)
Actively tracked 23 dB parabolic grid antenna on the ground
All around better avionics mounting, layout, wiring, etc and a variety of custom 3D-printed mounts for different bits and pieces

So, it is shaping up to be pretty exciting. I've put some picture below to show off the goods and I'll post again sometime soon(er than last time).