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Caleb James DeLisle

*sigh*

Just invented a variable pitch propeller hub. These are typically 10-20k$ systems and my design has no oil, no seals, no pressure, no roller bearings, you can just throw grease in it. Probably 500$ to manufacture. And I'm *extremely* confident that it will have absolutely heroic strength and vibration properties.

Should I chuck in a patent application and see where life takes me, or should I dismiss it as head-noise?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Zeb 摆烂

@Zeb@merovingian.club remote

@cjd
Patent it. But I suggest you build a prototype first so you can work out the inevitable materials adjustments and deviations/distortions that come from real life use into your patent.

Caleb James DeLisle

@cjd@pkteerium.xyz remote

That's a bit of a challenge because then I need an aircraft - at least an RC... But that would be fun because it would give me a business justification to have one...

Cliff "It Never Happened" Secord 🇺🇸🇦🇹

@CliffSecord@nicecrew.digital remote

Be sure to read "Helicopter Theory" by Wayne Johnson. There you will get great insights on refining your concept and dynamic scaling for any modeling work you intend to do.

Additionally, you can also validate the aerodynamic modeling of your rotor in QBlade (open source).

Caleb James DeLisle

@cjd@pkteerium.xyz remote

I'm not a aerodynamics guy, I'm a machinist (well, these days I'm a programmer, but I did have 4 years of it). So I'll just take the blade off of a ground adjustable prop and clamp them in. Then all I need to care about is balance, soundness, and making sure my joints don't max out their travel.

Caleb James DeLisle

@cjd@pkteerium.xyz remote

Alright Cliff, here's my pitch, tell me what you think:
* You're making an SLSA and you've decided it's time to go proprietary engine route (lets imagine)
* I have a hub that will clamp existing ground-adjustable prop blades and all you need to adjust them is to wire up a brush to get power down the prop shaft to a servo motor in the spinner.
* You can get this thing made at PCBWay, it's just CNC lathe and milling work, every shop knows how to do this.
* It uses ball joints so basically all of the load is centrifugal. My invention is the way to pitch the blades while they're being held in ball joints.
* EAB and non-commercial gets CNC codes for free, anyone selling the hub to the public can license it for 20% of their sale price, if you're selling it as part of your plane, you pay $100 per unit. With the license you get all of the test results that I have, so you have a head start to your MOSAIC documentation.

Does this sound attractive?

LisPi

@lispi314@udongein.xyz remote

@cjd @Zeb > anyone selling the hub to the public can license it for 20% of their sale price

That makes it impossible to sell it at-cost/non-profit, that's not okay.

Caleb James DeLisle

@cjd@pkteerium.xyz remote

How do you imagine people deal with VAT or sales tax?

LisPi

@lispi314@udongein.xyz remote

@cjd @Zeb By including it in the price. That becomes at-cost + VAT.

You're implying that's an acceptable outcome. It isn't.

Sales tax is harmful and shouldn't be encouraged.

Zeb 摆烂

@Zeb@merovingian.club remote

@lispi314 @cjd
Interestingly, sales tax is the only fair tax. Ideally it's the ONLY tax any society should have, as it's a tax on consumption.

All other taxes distort the economy negatively and hurt everyone involved in the transaction by providing the wrong incentives.

Replying to @Zeb@merovingian.club

Caleb James DeLisle

@cjd@pkteerium.xyz remote

Sales tax also distorts, it reduces division of labor. Hard to get away from distortion...

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Replying to @cjd@pkteerium.xyz

Zeb 摆烂

@Zeb@merovingian.club remote

@cjd @lispi314
You're right, but IMO sales tax is acceptable because you gotta have one tax to fund the essential functions of the government (military, courts, police).

Europe has divised a solution to the distortion of reducing division of labor by having incremental VAT, where each step of the production only pays the difference between output tax (received) and input tax (paid).

It adds quite a bit of red tape but it doesn't let the whole burden fall on the seller. Tax is always shit.