When Solomon Spector was just seven years old and growing up in Cherry Hill, NJ, his parents took him to see a play at Cheltenham High School in nearby Philadelphia. Whether he enjoyed the show is not what he remembers. Rather, that was the day when he had an epiphany about what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
“I knew right then and there that I wanted to build a flying car factory,” Solomon enthusiastically relates.
Of course, such aspirations don’t immediately materialize, especially for a kid who was only in elementary school at the time. But at least he had somewhat of a head start -- as a youngster that meant building flying machines out of his LEGO sets. “It was the time of Star Wars, and I remember how much I loved building the Millennium Falcon. I wanted to be like Han Solo (the heroic character played by Harrison Ford in the mega-blockbuster film series).
While some kids outgrow their childhood passions, Solomon’s never wavered. In fact, his dreams only got stronger. In high school, he and his friends would take rulers, duct tape, glue, Styrofoam, and other materials to make planes.
“We really enjoyed making them and trying to fly them,” he recalls. “One time we built a circle plane out of foam core. Like all the others, it crashed after a few seconds, hitting a tree. But that was okay. We were elated, euphoric. It was the eureka moment. Those few seconds it was in the air were like the juice of life, ‘so awesome’ to us.”
One can just imagine how ecstatic and exhilarated Solomon must feel now. Indeed, the 47-year-old Baltimore resident is working feverishly to finish building the CARGO BEE ALPHA, his entrant in GoAERO, the global challenge to create an entirely new class of emergency response vehicles – flyers that are more effective, efficient, and accessible than helicopters, small drones, and ambulances during natural and man-made disasters, extreme weather catastrophes, and medical emergencies when every second counts.
“GoAERO is right up my alley,” Solomon says. “In fact, building a drone that could better respond to emergencies, that would be big enough to carry a First Responder to an emergency site in a matter of minutes, has been on my vision board for many years.”
What is ironic, then, is the fact that Solomon has no formal training in aerospace engineering. He attended the University of New Orleans, then began his professional career at Lockheed Martin,working not on aircraft but in computers. “I found myself working alongside rocket scientists atthe company’s Missiles and Space division, navigating clean rooms and collaborating with colleagues whose pocket protectors were as standard as their morning coffee.”
Nevertheless, as a software test engineer, he did contribute to navigation systems for the US Navy's UH-1N Huey helicopters. His professional achievements also include coordinating supercomputer research at the National Science Foundation and presenting on Wiki Technology at the White House.
Moreover, as founder and lead inventor of Maiden Wave Energy, he captained a team that captured the $275,000 First Prize in a competition run by the Department of Energy and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to devise unique ways to capture marine energy to power hurricane-monitoring systems. Maiden Wave Energy won for its development of an autonomous drone boat, beating out MIT and other universities, as well as companies like Google. He has also done well in several other competitions, including being a finalist in one for a process he invented to use sunlight to create clean drinking water.
Solomon says it is his spirit of adventure and passion for learning that propel his inventivenessand drive him to compete in challenges like GoAERO.
Embarking on the journey to create his CARGO BEE ALPHA has been nothing short of an adventure—"filled with highs, lows, and a few crash landings,” he says. “But each mishap was a lesson in disguise, teaching me that belief in myself and taking the next step, even without all the answers, is the key to innovation.”
For the CARGO BEE ALPHA, Solomon and his team – he’s partnering with Airgility, a College Park, MD-based company focused on unmanned aerial systems – are building a hybrid quadcopter, which he describes as a “flying gurney.” It will be a battery-powered vertical take-off and landing vehicle with gas engines sitting centered beneath the gurney. The team’s patent-pending technology features a bottom-boosted propeller with small motors for balance.
The team’s iterative process led them from a 1/15th scale model to a 1/2 scale prototype, capable of carrying up to 70 pounds. Along the way, the team discovered that keeping battery cables short might necessitate moving a landing gear leg a few inches—the type of revelation, Solomon notes, that is not uncommon during the development of any vehicle he has built and often occurs mid-assembly.
“It's a reminder that the first prototype might not work, nor the second. Planning for at least three prototypes and being willing to learn and adapt with each is crucial,” he explains, adding that the team unveiled its design at the Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas.
Through trial and error, Solomon says he’s gained expertise in tuning complex PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) loops (a type of feedback control system) and flight stabilization systems. Despite hiring multiple experts and conducting extensive analyses, the path was challenging.
“I wish I had known then what I know now: you don't have to figure it all out to take the next best step,” he relates. “I learn from my experiences and by doing so, I hope to be able to get a scale model flying successfully the first time.”
Solomon acknowledges that he doesn’t have all the answers and there is no shame in seeking out advice from experts. As one example, “EAA flight advisors offer invaluable insights and assistance for wiring and fabrication.”
Further, he’s learned not to overthink and overcomplicate – “Inspired by the Rutan philosophy I admired at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, simplicity often leads to better solutions.”
For his GoAERO flyer, that solution may require “seeking savvy business partners to help develop our concept into a larger version, accommodating four persons and 800 pounds of cargo. I believe it's possible, and with the right team, we can make it a reality.”
Ultimately, Solomon’s goal, after GoAERO, of course, is to be his generation’s Henry Ford.Ford, he notes, didn’t invent the automobile, Carl Benz did. “What Ford pioneered was making the automobile affordable for middle-class Americans. That’s who I want to be – the regular guy who makes low-cost and safe flying cars for the common person.”
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