For the RC crowd

[Stuka]

It IS tempting ~

Lasers, quads, Buffo "Johnny Knoxville" Burns and his death-defying copter act, ...

[buffo]

Buffo "Johnny Knoxville" Burns and his death-defying copter act, ...

I can see it now... "Hi, I'm Buffo, and this is Jackass - Helicopter style!" (cue intro music)

Nah... I've already (narrowly) escaped serious injury once on my 450 series bird. I'm not about to try that again! That thing scares me now.

As for you guys with the 600 and 700 series units - you're nuts! (And I'm so envious it's killing me...) But yeah, the first time you screw up with one of those, you lose a leg - or worse.

I think I'm going to be very careful in the future. So no death-defying stunts at SELEM for me. (Don't even think I'll be able to make my goal of hovering inverted by the time SELEM comes around. )

Adam

[Lazerjock]

It IS tempting ~

Lasers, quads, Buffo "Johnny Knoxville" Burns and his death-defying copter act, ...

I almost spit Mountain Dew on my monitor that was so funny!

[masterpj]

I build a drone with my own 32 bit flight computer and it has more goodies on board still in the works (adding gps to the board still)

It has flown before and works but I'm still doing more development on it so I removed it again from the quad.

Drones are a lot of fun but the flight times could be better
Variable pitch drones all the way!


My drones carrying capacity is 4KiloGrams
however the rule of thumb is to stay under half of the carrying capability.

Regarding a gps fail You can freeze your quad in loiter mode to stay put at one location so you have time to find it again if it cannot auto return to home because of bad gps signal.
I'm still working on my drones safety aside from those features. I want my drone to purposely fail in air and crash safely.
I have a few plans on the table that exactly can make this happen.

Off course a octocopter is safer but so power hungry.. charging times with those are rediculous

[lasersbee]

I build a drone with my own 32 bit flight computer and it has more goodies on board still in the works (adding gps to the board still)

It has flown before and works but I'm still doing more development on it so I removed it again from the quad.

Drones are a lot of fun but the flight times could be better
Variable pitch drones all the way!


My drones carrying capacity is 4KiloGrams
however the rule of thumb is to stay under half of the carrying capability.

Regarding a gps fail You can freeze your quad in loiter mode to stay put at one location so you have time to find it again if it cannot auto return to home because of bad gps signal.
I'm still working on my drones safety aside from those features. I want my drone to purposely fail in air and crash safely.
I have a few plans on the table that exactly can make this happen.

Off course a octocopter is safer but so power hungry.. charging times with those are rediculous

If the GPS fails.... you can not loiter...
You can hold altitude if you have an on board barometer
but the Quad will still drift.


Jerry

[norty303]

This is currently a news item on the Hobbyking page...

Important changes to model aircraft laws in the USA
14th July 2014

The world of FPV is an exciting area of the hobby. With technical innovations and more affordable equipment, it is one of the fastest growing areas of the hobby that thousands of modellers worldwide love.

However, FPV as we know it is in jeopardy.

The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in the USA have announced that they are modifying the way that they interpret legislation relating to model aircraft flying. This announcement has many implications, but the two points of note that many of our customers will object to is that:
1) Flying a model FPV using goggles will become illegal
2) The FAA are able to further regulate all forms of model aircraft flying.

As the hobby has come into the mainstream over the last few years, the FAA have come under pressure from community groups and the media to address safety concerns. This is their solution.

These changes however are simply a knee-jerk reaction that is flawed and doesn’t address the issue of safety. The AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) have been setting rules and regulations regarding to safety of model aviation for decades and have been doing it extremely well for all parties involved. Members are required to follow these safety rules as a part of membership. Non-members who were not following rules will continue to do so, largely unpoliced, and those who were doing the right thing will no-longer be able to fly FPV legally.

What can you do to stop this?
The easiest (but still effective) method to make your voice heard is to submit a comment to the FAA through regulations.gov showing your opposition to this change and let them know why you think these changes are flawed.

If you are in the US, we would also suggest you show support to the AMA, by becoming a member if you have not already signed up. They are on the side of the hobbyist as well as being large advocates for safety. This is the group you want representing your interests.

Not a US citizen so you think this doesn’t affect you?
Think again. There is a chance these changes could become a model that other nations will adopt.

Not an FPV flyer so you don’t really mind?
You should. This change sets a precedent that could very quickly expand to other areas of the hobby.

Please get your thoughts heard now, this stuff matters.

Links:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketD...=FAA-2014-0396
http://www.modelaircraft.org/