Hacker News Reader

Would it make sense as to build such a design where wings are integrated but Tilted at an upward angle, so when the drone is angled downward to improve forward thrust, the lift is generated by the wings and the motors are used mostly for propulsion, dramatically improving efficiency and getting the best of both worlds?

View on HN

That's what Amazon did with theirs, correct? It must be difficult to control or have some other drawback, otherwise it feels like such an obvious win.

Maybe stability in windy conditions? or additional mobility issues at low speed.

There are a number of factors. Size, for one. Wings are big. They are also heavy. And during a vertical take off and landing, they aren't wings. They're sails.

That does make a lot of sense. I wonder, would a better design include making the arms attaching to the rotors have the same aerodynamic profile of a wing, made of carbon fibre to reduce weight. For propulsion the rotors can rotate do different angles depending on desired speed?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com