FPV Plane Build

[hpiguy]

I've been itching to do this for a while now. Main reasons are the extended flight time vs a quad, and the fact that planes can glide, quads become lawn darts and the overall cost is super cheap compared to an FPV quad build. I'm pretty covered up the next few days, so it will likely be next week before I get it in the air. It will be flown LOS first with no gear onboard, then LOS with everything onboard and powered up, then FPV flight will come last. I will also be using my RF explorer to take as much of the risk out of the equation as I possibly can. Going old school on this one also, using 72mhz for control. It has more range then I will need, and with the older TX like I have running on a 3s lipo, they put out gobs of TX power. I have some special sites planned to hike n fly for video this summer if all goes well. I'll update as I go along. Advice and criticism welcome also.

Yep, that box contains just that



The goods;

RMRC sky surfer 1500mm with optional equipment shelf (I opted for the smaller version as it will be easier to pack into where I want to fly)
Futaba 72mhz TX module and RX for my T8UAF
Lawmate 2.4Ghz video TX and RX
VAS blue beam CP video antennas
SMA extension (just in case I want to move my video antenna around a bit for frequency separation)
new current sensor for my Skylark tiny OSD that will be migrated over from my FPV quad
prop adapter (in case I feel the need for more punch at some point)

[EeePee]

Neat. I totally want to do that so I can fly over the trees and feel like a bird. Or maybe even go to downtown, go up to a top floor, launch it and fly over the city.

[hpiguy]

Thanks EeePee, I'm more anxious about getting this in the air that I was my quad I think, for all the reasons already mentioned.

[hpiguy]

Got a little bit done tonight. Got all the control horns mounted (still need to trim the screws down), and got all the stickers put on. With any luck, it'll be airworthy for LOS flying by the weekend.

[hpiguy]

Finally getting back to this one now that things have settled down around here. I cut down and filed all those control horn screws, and starting getting my electronics installed. Hoping to maiden it Saturday morning if all goes according to plan this evening. Then I'll start adding my FPV gear.

[Bully2RockRomper]

Originally Posted by EeePee

Neat. I totally want to do that so I can fly over the trees and feel like a bird. Or maybe even go to downtown, go up to a top floor, launch it and fly over the city.

Flying over a city will have you arrested very quickly.

You never fly over citys or near people..ever.

[Bully2RockRomper]

Originally Posted by hpiguy

Thanks EeePee, I'm more anxious about getting this in the air that I was my quad I think, for all the reasons already mentioned.

Will be great fun and you'll get some great footage. Are you going UHF so you can fly long distance?

World record is 40km i think, but i could be wrong, still amazing when you think about it.

Yes much cheaper than building a quadrotor for sure, much lighter and if you crash nowhere near as expensive.

Which fpv goggles have you decided on?

I'm going to fly fpv next week, can't wait. We have a huge scene here in australia.

An australian went to the usa and won the drone nationals recently..but i really dislike the word drone, their quadrotors...so i hope they change the name next year.

[Habanero]

He said he was flying line of site - probably because to do otherwise is illegal in the U.S.

[hpiguy]

I already have FPV quads, and run Fatshark Attitude v2 goggles. And you can fly all the FPV you want in the US, provided you do so under the new regulations. Which is you have to have a spotter that has a visual on the aircraft at all times.

I did fly it LOS today, CG is way off, flew like ass. I played around with it a little bit, but I'm going to have to really mess with this one to get it flying right.