back to article LOHAN avionics survive 27,700m stratospheric ordeal

It's beers all round today as we announce a successful final Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) test flight, which saw our Vulture 2 spaceplane's avionics rig sent to 27,700m over Colorado and return to terra firma in fine fettle. Video still from Saturday's Edge flight Our US allies at Edge Research Lab kindly …

  1. Peter Simpson 1
    Happy

    Do I smell another Kickstarter?

    ...we too need our own pursuit aircraft...

    // great video, great results...onward and upward!

  2. ElReg!comments!Pierre
    Pint

    Great. Gardenshed boffinry rulez

    Although with pursuit aircrafts on the table it's not really shed territory anymore...

    Anyway, have a cold one.

    1. Martin Budden Silver badge

      Re: Great. Gardenshed boffinry rulez

      Pretty sure aircraft are stored in sheds, no?

  3. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Boffin

    One thought on the servos

    They were working, but at no load. Which is fine on the way up, there will be aerodynamic loads on the control surfaces which the servos will have to work against on the way down.

    I wonder if this should be repeated with, say, a spring for each servo to work against? It's going to take a lot more current that way, as it probably will in the flight, and that's kinda critical...

    1. paulc

      Re: One thought on the servos

      the front ones (elevons) appear to be partially balanced in that control surface in front of the hinge moves as well. The rudder ones don't appear balanced at all, but shouldn't have such a large load on them anyway.

  4. ISYS
    Pint

    Still a shed

    At 1:05 on the video you will spot a lawnmower - it is a shed!

    QED

  5. A. Coatsworth Silver badge
    Joke

    L.E.S.T.E.R

    So, El Reg's own Haines has been elevated (pun? not intended) to the ranks of Paris and Lindsey in the Pantheon of Backcronyms Eternal Glory?

    I thought being burly and bald (or the German equivalents thereof) would automatically disqualify someone from receiving such an honor

  6. BarryM

    I noticed that this gear was put in what looks like a styrofoam box, not one built of the same 3D printed material the plane is made of.

    Do we know what the thermal characteristics of the aircraft's skin is like? Will it need extra insulation?

  7. Will Godfrey Silver badge

    Very pleased to hear it went so well. However I'd advise some caution if using zeners for spike suppression, get the power rating wrong (or get unexpectedly heavy and frequent spikes) and the zener goes S/C. This would not be an ideal situation!

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    IF YOU DO GET IT UP THERE...

    ...Can you please get some snaps of the stars and Constellations out there? NASA keep airbrushing them out of theirs.

    1. Pet Peeve

      Re: IF YOU DO GET IT UP THERE...

      Every dang time, someone posts this and I have to do a Not Sure If Serious. At least use a troll mask so we're in on the joke if you're trying to be funny.

    2. ElReg!comments!Pierre

      Re: IF YOU DO GET IT UP THERE...

      > NASA keep airbrushing them out of theirs.

      1) They don't airbrush them, they use content-aware fill, obviously.

      2) They don't do it to mask the "stars and constellations" but to hide all the alien spacecrafts that are out there. The stars are just collateral damage.

  9. Martin Budden Silver badge
    Trollface

    The reason LESTER didn't freeze is Global Warming.

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