#but the drone did cope with a little wind and the small amount of shaking. though the sleigh is about 2/5 of the drone's mass

[myothertardisisonthemun]

Last year, I had the idea to make a Santa Sleigh I could fly beneath my drone. This ended up not happening as my computer was away for repairs. This year, I don't have that problem.

Here's the cad model, drawn up based on some clip art I found.

Everything needs to be outlines to minimise air resistance, and keep it as light as possible.

As you can see, this Santa is being made with an Australian twist.

Here's the Santa in print:

And the first "Boomer" (Kangaroo)

Several hours of printing later, and it was time to stick it together. Wanting strength, I used skewers, even though they were a little thicker than I originally planed for.

I'm balancing the roos on the back, to make sure

It must be wide enough to not confuse the drone's downward sensor.

The morning of Christmas Eve, I awoke to this weather forecast.

I proceeded with final assembly anyway. There were gaps in the clouds, it was only bucketing down some of the time.

The strings need to be equidistant from the balance point, and all the same length.

Launch has to be done very carefully. Going to have to fly very smoothly to prevent twisting.

It flies!

I took it down to the park.

Here is the view from the air:

Maybe if the weather holds, there'll be people in the park to see it.

Merry Christmas!