CatholicFlyer

Active member
We have all read the poem about St. Nicholas and his sleight and reindeer, well, to the @flitetest @fliteadmin I have an idea for a build and flight review, a full size RC St. Nicholas and his flying reindeer and sleight, even use electronics to move the legs of the deer. I am not sure how to make it all fly, but wondering under the sleight could have either a gas engine or electric, but to have it where the props clear and be able to move may be a challenge.
 

b-29er

Well-known member
I see a few problems with this. It'd be a pain to do as a quad because there isnt much width with all 9 reindeer and a sled, so roll authority would be almost nil. As a plane, you could do profile, which would give you a decent amount of wing area, especially if you did the sled like they do with the flying trucks/lawnmowers, and slot the propellers in the back, but you would need a beefy CF spar to keep those reindeer pointed in the right direction, which would be...interesting.

Doing the individual components as either a drone or as a profile aircraft would be very doable. Hardest would be the reindeer, because antlers and front legs would give you a rudder thats forward of the cg, which is unstable, but not something that can't be overcome with gyros/good pilots. As soon as you start combining the two, you're gonna run into some issues pronto.
 

CatholicFlyer

Active member
I see a few problems with this. It'd be a pain to do as a quad because there isnt much width with all 9 reindeer and a sled, so roll authority would be almost nil. As a plane, you could do profile, which would give you a decent amount of wing area, especially if you did the sled like they do with the flying trucks/lawnmowers, and slot the propellers in the back, but you would need a beefy CF spar to keep those reindeer pointed in the right direction, which would be...interesting.

Doing the individual components as either a drone or as a profile aircraft would be very doable. Hardest would be the reindeer, because antlers and front legs would give you a rudder thats forward of the cg, which is unstable, but not something that can't be overcome with gyros/good pilots. As soon as you start combining the two, you're gonna run into some issues pronto.

Yeah, totally understandable, I was thinking after I posted this show Idea for Christmas, not sure how it would work, images of the World War One Flying Zeplin kept popping into my head, be about that size or larger, and boy, that thing didn't fly well, not to mention if the back end was full of presents. How or Where can the CG be on Santa's ride and if it does get off the ground, like you say about the antlers and legs, because that be the rudders, I know in the Santa Clause movie with Tim Allen, the first one, it lifted off the ground like a hover craft, then once in the height for flight, it went to propelled motion.
 

CatholicFlyer

Active member
when we look at a deer, their four legs create thrust when they push down, which causes them to be able to jump and run, I've been in a pick-up when deer were jumping over me, my dad and my uncle. So we have nine deer and in their legs, must be something extreme to push down and then allow them to release, which it need to be push hover lift like real deer and then once high enough for flight, then propellers on the legs to cause thrust and flight forward. Then their hips are the rudders. @b-29er @Hai-Lee @cranialrectosis