Author Topic: Model aircraft  (Read 7078 times)

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Offline Ian

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Model aircraft
« on: February 28, 2012, 04:32:36 pm »
For anyone who likes models and flying, this is for you:

R/C SR-71 JET
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2012, 05:02:51 pm »
Brilliant!  $good$
A pigeon is for life not just Christmas


Offline SteveH

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Re: Model aircraft Drones
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2014, 11:06:31 am »
Drones flown in London and Liverpool despite CAA laws

I have seen these drones before, and thought they were a bit of harmless fun, but after reading the article, the question of safety is obvious, but in this day and age of "security" I do not like the idea of a drone or model plane being able to roam freely, but how do the authorities control this issue.?

"Drones which could seriously injure or kill are being flown over cities and towns across England, despite laws designed to protect the public.
Dozens of YouTube clips show the aircraft, which can be bought for £300, over populated areas including London, Liverpool and Nottingham.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) prohibits the flying of drones over or within 150m of built-up areas.
But there have been calls for it to do more to raise awareness of the law.

Videos uploaded to YouTube show the remote-controlled aircraft, which have become cheaper in recent years, being flown above bustling areas of London, Liverpool FC's Anfield stadium and towns including Margate and Broadstairs in Kent."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29687769


Offline Yorkie

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2014, 11:56:10 am »
Llandudno missing out again by the looks of it.  We must set up a "We want a Llandudno Drone Committee"!

 WWW

Video has disappeared by the look of it.   Maybe flew into a black hole.

Of course, video cameras slung on RC model helicopters have been around for ages.

 ZXZ
Wise men have something to say.
Fools have to say something.
Cicero

Offline Michael

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2014, 08:26:09 pm »
   Yes, but the price to buy one has dropped to earth faster that a drone out of control. About seven years ago they were around £9000 or so. Now you can get them, probably far better technically for £800.

Offline squiggle

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2015, 09:32:57 pm »
Anyone been into any of this in more recent times.

I thought I'd like the helcopters having found a 3 ch concentric rotor job easy to fly but to my (dis)credit, have crashing a 5ch collective pitch job beyond useful life in its first outing in my enthusiasm...

I still have  Walkera cb100 that would fly with batteries and a mini quad thing (Balde mQX) I was given one birthday that does fly.  I believe it can be very aeorbatic but it also has a safe mode of flying..

Between crashes, wear and tear including the small batteries dying, I found it far too expensive for me. The maintaince seems worse than initial outlay for the cheaper affordable things anyway.   Maybe not a lot for others but it seemed to be each week something or other heli needed a tenner each week.

Of passing interest these days are projects like arducopter but, while I'm interested,  it's unlikely I'll venture that way.



Offline squiggle

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2015, 09:33:40 pm »

Offline DownUnder

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2015, 09:41:59 pm »
From a 'DownUnder' perspective!

I have just begun an adventure into Quadcopters, which are machines which come in a variety of sizes but all of which have four motors driving four propellers. They indeed can be quite dangerous.

The model I have started with is a palm sized one (Hubsan). These are relatively cheap so are the best option for beginners like myself. Better to crash these tiny models rather than a larger one with all the expensive bells and whistles. In addition, you soon learn to keep your fingers clear of the props if there is a chance of them being throttled up. They can also be flown indoors which makes them good for gaining flying experience.  It is interesting flying outdoors, but it is very hard to see what the orientation of the copter is in when it gets some distance away.

My ultimate aim is to fly a much larger version which has a camera mounted on the front, a TV transmitter to beam the camera's signal back to the ground, and a display unit or special goggles which allows you to see the image thus effectively putting you in the driver's seat - (known as FPV or First Person View).  The danger with these larger models is that they use large props which spin at an incredible rate and the damage that they could potentially cause could be horrific. In addition, the Lipo battery packs they use can potentially explode into flames after a substantial crash.

However, used safely, they look like they can be a ton of fun.

Offline squiggle

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2015, 10:37:46 pm »
Just to expand on some things a little.

Doubtless there can be badly made models but by nature, a concentric rotor (two rotors one above the other) design is stable.  You may have to make adjustments to get the heli to hover "hands off" without the thing rotating but I believe big (not that I've owned one) or small they are not too demanding on the "pilot".

From there, one can move to 4ch jobs which unlike the above ones are capable of the side to side motion a real helicopter can do.  I find that difficult enough and never got beyond that but the ultimate models have collective pitch adjustment (the angle of the rotor blade changes).  These involve constant "micro corrections" by the pilot. A really skilled flyer could have one flying upside down and all sorts but it takes learning and abilities I don't have to get there.

I'm under the impression that some of this can be learned on computer simulators and that really good pilots can spend a lot of time practising this way when they can't take their craft out. This type of helicopter is not one for a beginner on his own and I dread to think what damage could be done with a big one out of control!

I'm not sure how things work out with the quadcopters in general but the almost fit in the palm of your hand model I have has two modes of flight.  The easy/safe mode is one where the electronics helps you a lot with stable flight.  The other mode makes the device more responsive but does so at  the expense of requiring more user input in flight. You can actually switch modes in flight.  I just stick with easy but if I was to try to fly it the other way, this particular one would allow me to switch back to something I parhaps could control if thing went wrong.

You get the picture, there always seems to me to be some trade off between agility and stunts and easy flying.  I would guess a quadcopter build for photography leans heavily towards the latter.  As far as I understand it, things like the arducopter I mentioned before can be programmed to perform flight paths so I would again thing that inbuilt stability is a requirement.

Offline squiggle

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2015, 10:54:07 am »
  It is interesting flying outdoors, but it is very hard to see what the orientation of the copter is in when it gets some distance away.

My mini quad has different colour rotors front and back but even when I can see this, I can forget which way round it is!

How do get on with orientation in the sense that when it is flying towards you left and right have sort of swapped over?

With the more responsive helicopters, I don't believe there is time to go through the thought process "it's facing this way so I need to do this with the joystick". If it's say veering a fraction left, it's likely to accelerate further left and you need to make the small adjustment sort of instantly (and get it right - even with lesser craft I've panicked and/or lost orientation and say added a hard left to correct a left drift and crashed as a result).

I think ideally for the advanced stunt craft, everything would be as automatic as say riding a bicycle or even walking - we make loads of balance adjustments without even realising we are doing it.

Offline DownUnder

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2016, 09:31:46 am »
Hi all,

I found a few interesting websites whilst exploring the R/C world.

For general information the following are great:

Andy RC (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheAndyRC)
A British based website covering a number of R/C categories and includes build guides and lots of interesting information

Flite Test (http://flitetest.com/)
A US based site that covers many R/C aspects. Of particular interest is a vast series of builds using foam board which is extremely cheap in the US (but not so much here in Aus). The concept revolves around a "Power Module" which contains the motor, ESC, battery etc., which in turn can be inserted into a variety of models from biplanes to flying wings.  Being extremely lite, they are both cheap to build and can be flown in small areas such as parks etc.

For purchasing assorted R/C bits and pieces, the two websites I have used are:

HobbyKing (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/index.asp)
This company has warehouses in a number of countries including the UK and provides a large number of R/C related kits and accessories. I have used them and have not had a problem. Some feedback I have seen on the web is that they can be a bit difficult when goods are not delivered or incorrect goods have been supplied.

Bang good (http://www.banggood.com/)
This is a China based organisation supplying some very cheap products (but be careful as some 'cheap' products come at a cost). I have purchased a number of items from this website and have been mostly satisfied. Some issues have been a Multiple Recharger unit for batteries for my Hubsan quadcopter. There are six socket leads for the batteries, but only four actually fit the battery plugs. The unit was extremely cheap so I decided not to pursue it.  However, I ordered 4 replacement motors for my Hubsan and eventually received some "Sock Puppets".  After sending a photo of the goods received and the shipping label, they sent me the motors which arrived okay and left me with four Sock Puppets to make use of.

I understand that there is a push to regulate the use of 'drones' i.e. quadcopter/hexcopter etc., particularly where camera facilities are involved (privacy issues), and where the general public may be exposed to injury.  Hence my interest in quadcopters which can be flown at low levels through parks etc, and/or low powered models which can fly at low levels and low speed through parks or similar areas.

I am very much the 'Novice' in this area so the above information is a snapshot of my journey so far.

Offline DVT

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2016, 09:52:25 am »
Some drone footage taken off the Orme on the recent Cambrian Rally.

http://www.sidewaysmedia.net/#!2016-videos/k7m5z

The drone operator (Lawrence Clift) is the only one accredited by the Motor Sports Association to use a drone for rallying - and there are very strict rules about where it can be used!

Offline hollins

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #12 on: October 22, 2016, 04:31:18 pm »
We happened upon this model helicopter club while we were on a walk today.

Offline Ian

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Re: Model aircraft
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2016, 08:16:18 am »
They're the seriously expensive models,  I think.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline SteveH

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Re: Model robots
« Reply #14 on: March 06, 2022, 01:22:41 pm »
Not model aircraft, but there are a few science fiction fans on here that might appreciate this article .........

North Wales dad builds Star Wars and Short Circuit robots - and his next project is mind-blowing
Electronics whizz Dave Stapley taught himself metalworking so he could build fully functioning bots - including the UK's most advanced Johnny 5

His next mind-blowing project, already begun, is to build a lifesize version of the Viper fighter spacecraft operated by the Colonial Fleet in Battleship Galactica (below)

cont   https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/north-wales-man-builds-star-23270951