Lately I've mainly been working on getting foamies out for customers... all but two have been profile F-22's with simple thrust vectoring (essentially elevon counterbalances behind the prop). The other two were profile Eurofighters, which have unreal roll rates and a full-speed turning radius of about 4 feet 
I have almost all my orders filled, and I'll quit building RTF's when that is done. Waaay too time consuming getting all that junk together!
My Wild Hare Sukhoi is sitting in the shop waiting for servos. I picked up an MT57 engine and props for it, and it's ready for final assembly. I've had it for months, just haven't gotten around to finishing it up... hopefully next month! My 25% Velox is in the same condition but waiting on servos AND engine.
Since I've had limited RC funds lately, I've been working a lot with foam and small motors and have come up with some interesting planes, including a profile 3D plane with reverse-tapered wings (based on this 2006 thread, which has been closed https://www.flyinggiants.com/forums/...hlight=tapered).
The interesting thing about that thread is that NOBODY DID ANYTHING. All that was accomplished was a large-scale argument with no action. I'm pleased to say that the plane actually performed very well, but needs further tweaking which will happen down the road. I've picked up more inexpensive power systems so I can do more tests
Also due to using cheap foam, I've gotten (over?)confident with the inexpensive planes, which has allowed me to push the envelope as far as stunts are concerned. Let's just say that flying lengthwise down our pit cover is no longer a challenge
I do have an interesting *stunt* (I suppose it's a stunt) coming up shortly that I've seen discussed, but not done (at least not this way). Whether it will work in practice remains to be seen, but my radio is capable of the mixes I need and I think my fingers are nimble enough, so we shall see. Rest assured there will be a video
Now that a lot of our club members own or are building foam parkjets, we're finally ready to take our first baby steps into E-combat. There are two prevailing schools of thought for our guys: Full-contact and streamer. I'm a fan of both, though I see full-contact as a waste of good planes... a fun waste, of course
Streamer combat looks to be a good alternative, so we'll be trying it out unofficially for a while before settling into rules and classes.
On that note, I've also convinced a couple of the guys to try some formation flying with me, which should be interesting. I've done it before, but not with more than one other plane (at least not planned)... but it's a heck of a lot of fun. I'm going to be filming it from onboard cameras, so keep an eye out for that.
Speaking of filming, I've been doing some FPV flying lately and I'm building a second ship specifically for that purpose. The first time I turned my Parkzone Trojan to final with the FPV gear on it, it was the closest thing to magical I've ever experienced, and I was instantly hooked.... especially now that I have a system that WORKS! Now to save up for video goggles and a new radio!
I also got my Leadfeather Yak-55 from WMParkflyers finished, and have been flying it. It's a blast! But I'm REALLY craving some giant-scale flying again... I miss my old Ultimate, and can't wait to get my Su-26 up and running. I feel like my skill has dropped a bit flying 3-channel planes over the last few months.
That's it for now, hopefully I can post more regularly now. Looks for pics and video next time
I have almost all my orders filled, and I'll quit building RTF's when that is done. Waaay too time consuming getting all that junk together!
My Wild Hare Sukhoi is sitting in the shop waiting for servos. I picked up an MT57 engine and props for it, and it's ready for final assembly. I've had it for months, just haven't gotten around to finishing it up... hopefully next month! My 25% Velox is in the same condition but waiting on servos AND engine.
Since I've had limited RC funds lately, I've been working a lot with foam and small motors and have come up with some interesting planes, including a profile 3D plane with reverse-tapered wings (based on this 2006 thread, which has been closed https://www.flyinggiants.com/forums/...hlight=tapered).
The interesting thing about that thread is that NOBODY DID ANYTHING. All that was accomplished was a large-scale argument with no action. I'm pleased to say that the plane actually performed very well, but needs further tweaking which will happen down the road. I've picked up more inexpensive power systems so I can do more tests
Also due to using cheap foam, I've gotten (over?)confident with the inexpensive planes, which has allowed me to push the envelope as far as stunts are concerned. Let's just say that flying lengthwise down our pit cover is no longer a challenge
I do have an interesting *stunt* (I suppose it's a stunt) coming up shortly that I've seen discussed, but not done (at least not this way). Whether it will work in practice remains to be seen, but my radio is capable of the mixes I need and I think my fingers are nimble enough, so we shall see. Rest assured there will be a video
Now that a lot of our club members own or are building foam parkjets, we're finally ready to take our first baby steps into E-combat. There are two prevailing schools of thought for our guys: Full-contact and streamer. I'm a fan of both, though I see full-contact as a waste of good planes... a fun waste, of course
Streamer combat looks to be a good alternative, so we'll be trying it out unofficially for a while before settling into rules and classes. On that note, I've also convinced a couple of the guys to try some formation flying with me, which should be interesting. I've done it before, but not with more than one other plane (at least not planned)... but it's a heck of a lot of fun. I'm going to be filming it from onboard cameras, so keep an eye out for that.
Speaking of filming, I've been doing some FPV flying lately and I'm building a second ship specifically for that purpose. The first time I turned my Parkzone Trojan to final with the FPV gear on it, it was the closest thing to magical I've ever experienced, and I was instantly hooked.... especially now that I have a system that WORKS! Now to save up for video goggles and a new radio!
I also got my Leadfeather Yak-55 from WMParkflyers finished, and have been flying it. It's a blast! But I'm REALLY craving some giant-scale flying again... I miss my old Ultimate, and can't wait to get my Su-26 up and running. I feel like my skill has dropped a bit flying 3-channel planes over the last few months.
That's it for now, hopefully I can post more regularly now. Looks for pics and video next time
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Last weekend I finished up all the little bits on the EZ Star UAV and headed for the field late Sunday. The wind had died down to nothing, which is not that common for spring in DFW.
I performed the maiden without the camera so I wouldn't risk a few hundred bucks extra on the plane
It flew just about perfectly, but it was slightly tail heavy due to the layout I had selected. Once I landed and installed the camera, TX, and battery however, it was perfect. Here's some pictures.
Completed plane
Me and my silly mug
Very basic base station setup... it's going to change a lot before the Airsoft event this thing was made for
And a couple of in-flight pics
Flyby
Flaps down for landing
So far it's a success. The event is coming up in two weeks, so we'll see how it goes! I think I'll modify one of the Wild Hawk kits I have for a backup airframe, just in case. Don't want to risk it all on one plane!<object width="425" height="344">
</object>I took off again with my base station on, and got a couple of minutes of video. Here's the results... I didn't have a way to directly record from the receiver, so we had to film my monitor. We'll have better quality next time!
<object width="425" height="344"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2Tp5bKWz4mU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></object>
I performed the maiden without the camera so I wouldn't risk a few hundred bucks extra on the plane
It flew just about perfectly, but it was slightly tail heavy due to the layout I had selected. Once I landed and installed the camera, TX, and battery however, it was perfect. Here's some pictures.
Completed plane
Me and my silly mug
Very basic base station setup... it's going to change a lot before the Airsoft event this thing was made for
And a couple of in-flight pics
Flyby
Flaps down for landing
So far it's a success. The event is coming up in two weeks, so we'll see how it goes! I think I'll modify one of the Wild Hawk kits I have for a backup airframe, just in case. Don't want to risk it all on one plane!<object width="425" height="344">
</object>I took off again with my base station on, and got a couple of minutes of video. Here's the results... I didn't have a way to directly record from the receiver, so we had to film my monitor. We'll have better quality next time!
<object width="425" height="344"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2Tp5bKWz4mU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></object>
I was contacted by the North Texas Airsoft organization based here in DFW to get a small UAV system put together for an upcoming event.
A while back I decided that if I have a talent for something, I might as well use it as often as I can, and this is a prime example. The airframe will be very, very loosely based on the RQ-11 Raven observation drone... I'll be using a Multiplex Easy Star ARF with a hot EDF motor/ESC combo from Grayson Hobby (with a prop). The airframe will be modified to include aileron control, and the battery compartment will be enlarged to carry two batteries, one for flight and one for the camera equipment.
Since I'm in a time crunch, this version will be super-simple... one or two cameras, LOS remote control only (no autonomy or FPV flying), and easy to set up. It's possible that I'll use gyro stabilization, too (after all, we're trying to pick out camoflaged individuals from a few hundred feet).
I'll start ordering parts over the next couple of weeks, and hopefully begin flight tests late this month or early March. I'll keep the blog updated.
After this one is finished, I'm considering building a couple more.. a Global Hawk (EDF) with a head-tracking camera and autonomous flight capability, and a Reaper hunter-killer with a gyro-stabilized Airsoft gun turret (and possibly Nerf missiles).
Should be fun projects even if they suck at actually working
A while back I decided that if I have a talent for something, I might as well use it as often as I can, and this is a prime example. The airframe will be very, very loosely based on the RQ-11 Raven observation drone... I'll be using a Multiplex Easy Star ARF with a hot EDF motor/ESC combo from Grayson Hobby (with a prop). The airframe will be modified to include aileron control, and the battery compartment will be enlarged to carry two batteries, one for flight and one for the camera equipment.
Since I'm in a time crunch, this version will be super-simple... one or two cameras, LOS remote control only (no autonomy or FPV flying), and easy to set up. It's possible that I'll use gyro stabilization, too (after all, we're trying to pick out camoflaged individuals from a few hundred feet).
I'll start ordering parts over the next couple of weeks, and hopefully begin flight tests late this month or early March. I'll keep the blog updated.
After this one is finished, I'm considering building a couple more.. a Global Hawk (EDF) with a head-tracking camera and autonomous flight capability, and a Reaper hunter-killer with a gyro-stabilized Airsoft gun turret (and possibly Nerf missiles).
Should be fun projects even if they suck at actually working
