[Toolbox]

Wow, Love it!! Neat looking platform and setup Good luck and make sure to post some vids when you have a chance

[buffythesaint]

The weather cleared up this weekend so I ran some props on my setup.

4s 5000mah battery, Spin44ESC, Axi2826/12

13X8P 51amps 786watts (too much)
12X8P 44amps 678watts (not bad)
12X6P 38amps 600watts (perfect)

I'll be flying at half throttle, so the draw on the battery will be low. Good for extended flights and enough power to get out of trouble.

Buffy

[jmstech]

I see you took Scott's (Crash9) idea and improved it ethically, looking great! If this is your first attempt to FPV (total immersion), I recommend you have a spotter beside you.

JMSTech

[buffythesaint]

I took my FPV plane out to the field tonight for some taxi runs. The camera was removed, but the rest of the gear was installed but not powered. I taxied for about 4 minutes, trimming out the nose steering for a straight roll out. I pointed into a light breeze and powered up to full throttle. It picks up speed quickly and tracked staight. After about 5 steamboats, I pulled back and it jumped into the air. I had too much elevator, being in the prop wash, and was sensitive to inputs (I'll change it for next flight). Climbed up to about 200 feet and had to add up elevator for level flight and a little left aerleron. I turned the auto leveling system on and the plane smoothed out very well. I need to re-asign that switch to the left side for easier on/off. The plane seemed to climb a bit when the auto leveler is on. I'll move the battery back a bit to remove the up trim I applied earlier. It flew very nice at half throttle and needs a little power, up elevator in the turns to keep a nice level turn. I'll look into mixing some up with aerlerons. I lined it up on final and brought it back to about 1/4 throttle. It sinks nice at this setting. Cut throttle about 2 feet and flaired in smooth as silk.... Whewwwww!!!!! Success!! I'll put the camera back on and try some more test flights, with out camera powered. Once I'm comfotable with the setup, I'll start to record some visual flights and see what kind of reception I get. In total, I ran the motor for 9 minutes( 5 minute flight), I had 47% left on my 4s 5000 battery (using my cellmeter eight). A safe 15 minute flight should be possible. I'll update with more test flight info and perhaps some ground in-flight pics.

Buffy.

[tech1]

Good luck. Sounds like it will make a nice platform.

[Rob]

Hey Brian if you want to try the FPV I would gladly be your spotter let me know maybe sometime saunday weater permitting that is. Give me a call let me know.

[buffythesaint]

Rob, It's been a while. Are you done school? Didn't get much indoor flying this year. Every Friday seemed to have bad weather to get to Owen Sound.

The FPV plane isn't ready for FPV flight. I need more test flights and to get the auto leveler working for easy flight. I need to set the gain for a moderate correction rate that allows me to over-ride it to make a course change, without having to input and hold alot of aerlerons. You need to hold the aerlerons in for a course change or the leveler will level the plane as you centre the stick. All my flights will be at our field for now. When I'm comfortable, I can come to Owen Sound. If you want to come to our field to spot for me, no probs. I'll give you a call when I'm ready for a spotter.

Buffy.

[buffythesaint]

I picked up a new FPV plane from Curtis at Easytiger models. Cessna 185. It's much lighter then my first project. It came RTF. I used my own rx(72mhz) and ESC(plush60)and BEC. My first video flight was with a 3s battery but was just enough to keep it airborne. I ended up with a 4s 3200 flight battery and a 3s 1500 for video gear(12v system). It's equiped with an EZOSD, 2.4ghz 1w video system and a HAL2100 auto leveler and a Sony550 camera. It's 4lbs 2oz RTF. I may go to a smaller video battery to save some weight. I have alot left on the video battery after a 10 minute flight. Here are some pics and some in-flight shots. I was using a standard lawmate rx with the stock 3dbi for reception. It picked up the signal very well. As I start to venture out I have two cell towers nearby. We'll see if I get any interference from them. I have an Oracle diversity rx with another 2.4 rx and a 11dbi diversity patch antenna. I also picked up the EZ tracker sytem. I have all the hardware to set up the motorized antenna mount. I'll get it together in the next two weeks for a test. If it tracks the plane well I can start to go out a little further(with John and Daniels help). This will be done with a spotter crew, flight plan and objectives. Saftey is always paramount!
I made a 6 minute video(mpeg2,avi) with some music(wav) and text overlay. Its 866megs. I tried to upload it to youtube but it kept crapping out. The best I got was 60 megs. Anyone have experience in uploading as this is my first time? Any help would be appreciated.

Buffy.

[eyeinsky]

Try www.vimeo.com you can load 500mb every week and it much better quality too.

Cheers Jerry

[tech1]

The limit for regular video is 100meg on Youtube. Save the video as mpeg and try again.

I read through the post on your first FPV plane. At 7 pounds your safe flying time should have been only 10 minutes. Basic flight requires 50 watts per pound so at 7 pounds, you would need around 350 watts or 25 amps from a 4 cell pack. This would give just over 10 minutes while consuming 4,000mAh. (based on 80% discharge)

For a small load (camera and downlink) it looks like the foam plane would be a much better fit. Your wattage readings on the first plane are enough to take up a full video camera and downlink with power to spare. Ever consider doing that?