Notes on As Drones Evolve

• AS DRONES EVOLVE: FICTION?
• I was thinking this morning as I was waking up that Bret and Silver were born: Bret 2001 and Silver 2000. So, when I had them built the eagle when Silver was 15 it would have to have been 2015 instead of 2013. Also, Bret would be 14 in 2015 as well. But, when I thought about what I wrote about Hurricane Sandy the whole thing doesn't work unless it was the summer of 2013 when they get together to fly their Eagle Drone Creation from Central Park in New York to Beverly Hills, California. So, even though I know this doesn't completely work I decided to use artistic license to leave it this way anyway.
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• Also, I wanted my readers to know that this work is a combination of science, Technology and science fiction. So, what I'm writing about is likely possible to actually do. However, because of the existence of the Swiss Solar Impulse, by duplicating their technology in a smaller drone form it likely would be technologically feasible to miniaturize it in drone form much easier than building what Silver and Bret built. It likely would cost less because you would have to customize technology less and be more feasible on a smaller scale because the Swiss have already built something that carries two human passengers 26 hours straight on just sunlight.

However, like I said before, what the Swiss built likely wouldn't withstand storms. So whenever the winds were too high you are going to have to land it. Whereas the Eagle built by Silver and Bret is the size of an actual Eagle with similar glide characteristics and might withstand buffeting in an extreme range of 100 mph and possibly up to 130 mph or higher. The main structure likely could withstand this if it were slowed down when heavy weather was encountered to under 50 mph in it's forward travel. You have to allow that the Eagle would be already traveling around 50 then if a 100 mph gust from the front hit that would increase the wind from the front to 150 mph and the Eagle might withstand such a gust without ripping the wings off. But then the control surfaces might not be as strong as the wings, so that might be another matter as well. If you bent a control surface or broke a control wire it would bring down the Eagle eventually because of the loss of control of that surface.

To understand why Bret and Silver didn't build further with their A. R. Drone modifications, one needs to understand that a quadrotor will burn up power very quickly. So, if you wanted something that could actually make it across the country you would need enough speed (30 to 50 mph) and you need lift (good glide characteristics) that keep it aloft even if the motor isn't running. Good glide characteristics means something that doesn't need much power to stay aloft and then can take advantage of thermals, and solar power as much as possible.

Actually, building a hybrid aircraft, the biggest problem with this is weight in relation to the lifting capacity of the wings. So, if weight can be minimized while still building a strong aircraft then it would be possible to built a hybrid aircraft that was both solar powered and had a back up gasoline engine to recharge the battery at night or when the sun wasn't out.

Also, the name Bret for me was inspired by the name Bret Maverick from the 1950s TV show called Maverick. So, in this sense Bret is all over the place in his creativity sort of like his father is all over the place from L.A. to Japan in his job. Also, Californians tend to live in a more Controlled Chaos sort of thinking process and lifestyle which make them incredibly innovative and adaptable more than most other groups on Earth. There is something about coastal Californians and the way they think that is everything about innovation and trying new things and yet being pragmatic enough to survive the new things they try. So, a coastal Californian is more likely to try new things and survive them more than people in other places generally on earth because of their inherent pragmatic psychology.