Sub Forum: Helicopters

[John Kim]

This sub forum will cover:

Nitro Helicopters
Electric Helicopters
Micro Helicopters

[askman]

well, I also fly electrics. I am up to to 6-7 at last count


Ikarus Eco 8 (full aluminum/cf) on with mega 22/20/3HTDS and CC45 on 4S3500 lipo with UBEC. (also AP setup for it) Headspeed of 1900rpm on governor.

Robbe Eolo pro on hacker C40L9 and Jazz 40/6/18 on 4S3500 lipo. Headspeed is 2400rpm on governor

BT (www.ballistictechnology.com sells LMH corona upgrade. I've been working with the owner on CP head for Corona)

BTCP Prototype ( I helped design this heli) one of kind at the moment. runs trex 335, LMH 110,120 blade and can run upto 420mm blade with stretch. runs mega R600/28/5 at the moment with CC45 on 3Spack. 2400rpm headspeed.

BT Corona AP setup. Runs Hacker C40S14 on 3S pack and CC45 and parkBEC. .

BT Corona shorty. runs Mega 16/25/3 on 3S and CC45. runs short LMH 110 blade. small compact lightweight setup.

BT Corona (in process of being built) will run Hyperion 3019/10 motor and CC45 with parkBEC. I may build it into CP though...

I use Greatplanes triton charger and Polycharger 4.

[John Kim]

Askman (Andrey Kim),

Do you use only a helicopter to carry AP (aerial photo) camera?

In Korea, they are using an electric glider to carry camera as you have seen on www.rcgroups.co.kr when they search a lost plane.

[askman]

most popular AP platform is Slowstick in this country. if you go to AP forum here, you will see that electric airplane is very popular for carrying camera. GWS Slowstick, Magpie, Multiplex Easystar. this is due to electric being clean, and lower vibration. I also use Slowstick .(since I have a full product line for SS) I also use heli and Pole camera. glider and wings can also be used for AP. on many of these, the camera has to be fixed, while I have slowstick mount with pan/tilt control.

Airplane is great for high altitude wide angle shots. Slowstick can carry upto 1lb payload, slow flying and very stable. I use Video downlink and video glasses for lining up the shot. I am working on GPS downlink as well as other projects that I can't talk about right now.

For most lower altitude shot where positioning is critical, I use helis. I run two mini heli, but I sell units for large heli like Raptor 90 or Joker. eco8 can carry about 1-2lb payload and so will upgraded corona. Heli is good for altitude from ground to about 200' for miniheli and higher for larger heli.

Pole cam (long 10m stick with camera at the end) is great for hard to get to location where flying is not possible. 10m pole is also very unwieldy and you have to be careful with powerlines.

at least in US, there are commercial opportunities for Aerial photography. also, it is very fun to do...

[John Kim]

Who are your main customers?
Are anyone buying your AP camera and platform (plane/heli) to be used for searching a lost plane?
comurang lost an expensive F5B electric this summer and we were wishing we had such an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to search the lost plane.

I think your Korean counterparts will be greatly interested in your enterprise when they see your post here and I am sure they will show their faces soon.

Please show your website here again so they can click easily.

The wooded Gold Mt. in Korea is swallowing up expensive gliders. This summer, one flier lost a $600 Opus (landed cost including shipping charge and customs duty would be nearly $1,000). Perhaps, club members would desire a joint purchase of your UAV with camera. It would be a more practical solution than just praying to the mountain god.

[askman]

You should start a separate AP thread.

www.askmanAP.com

My main customers are people doing aerial photography, mostly for fun and profit. In US, real-estate aerial photos are becoming popular as houses become bigger and more expensive. so for real estate agents, this is becoming a good way to attract clients also, taking AP is a fun hobby, and we get a new perspective on the area. . also, people with high end gear is going into commercial video work. I also had people taking scenery pics, event pics, etc for fun and profit.

In US, www.rcapa.org is a organization for Aerial photographers . there is enough of us around to help out. I have read several people helping to find lost airplane. some of us are helping in aftermath of hurricane for search and rescue. (I know couple rcapa members who has thermal Infra red gear mounted on helis) IR gears are 15-20K plus 5k heli, so it is big investment but great for search and rescue. Good Video Cam heli system can cost 5-10k with gyro stabilized camera mount.

If the area is fairly windy, I would think easiest would thing would be to use electric flying wing with downward shooting video cam or digital camera with wireless downlink. the downlink can be connected to a video glass, monitor or dvd player. if wind is not an issue , i would recommend GWS slowstick with simple tiltable camera mount. with good lipo pack, you can have upto 1hour flight, so it has good loiter time. Now, you do not need video downlink. you could set the digital camera up to take a picture every 3-5sec. you can fly over the area several times as it takes pictures and review after you land.

AP can be cheap or expensive. really depends upon need and funds. this is my second job, but i enjoy it.

lately, I am working on GPS video overlay system. I've seen APer have flyaway when they get too engrossed in taking a pic. So, I have a raised motormount and wider LG , so you can mount the camera facing forward for the SS. this will let you FFOV (forward field of view ) flight. combined with GPS data, you can fly back easily. (as long as you are in range of video and transmitter signal) Now AMA rule does state that you are suppose to be within sight of vehicle, so don't fly your airplane out of your sight. :)

I've been very busy developing new product. some of these will become available through my website soon.

[John Kim]

Wow, you provided abundant information on AP for our member fans. Thanks.

I hope some feed back from them.

한국 AP fan들의 반응을 기다립니다.

[John Kim]

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