Here are a few of my FPV videos:

1st Annual FPV Fly-In at the PecanPatch:

FPV Fly-In at the Pecan Patch Airfield - April, 2011 (4 min 9 sec)

FPV EasyStar over a Mountain Lake:

FPV EasyStar Mountain Lake Flight 2011-12-26 (5 min 31 sec)

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Here is a description, with some videos, of the flaps I made and have been flying on my EasyStar RC airplane models.

Why I made flaps for my EasyStars: I wanted to be able to land slowly and gently, in small, confined areas, with my FPV EasyStar, and the flaps have helped me a lot with this.

I like the flaps so much, that I now move the one set of wing-halves, with the flaps, back and forth between both of my EasyStars, so that I always have the flaps available. :)

Since most of this info has been discussed in the EasyStar forum, I decided to post it here, in a FAQ/discussion format. Perhaps someday I'll edit all of this down into something more concise, but until then, here it is.

Thanks to all of my friends who have encouraged me along the way with this project.

Who Taught Me: I especially must thank Teccer & Marckossa, for leading the way with building flaps for their EasyStars, and for guiding me through this process... and for allowing me to copy their flap designs... Thanks!

I edited some of the postings, for conciseness.

If I quoted you in a post, and you'd prefer not to have your name in this FAQ, just let me know, and I'll remove your name, and/or what you wrote, from this FAQ.

I hope this is helpful information,
Kevin

A Few Details:
1. The dimensions of my EasyStar flaps are copied directly from Teccer's excellent design:
-start 3” from fuselage
-14” long
-1.75” wide
-fully deploy downward to about a 45...Continue Reading

This is my best landing because it has a nice, long glide, a great flare, and because I didn't hit the guardrail.

My Best Landing (0 min 45 sec)

And this is my worst landing... and my best crash:

My Worst Landing Ever (0 min 31 sec)

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I had my fourth FPV flight, with no damage ... and I learned ways to improve for my next FPV flight, so I'm happy.

Here's a video, along with some photos.

Clear Skies,
Kevin

FPV Flight #4 10-18-2008 (2 min 15 sec)

This is where I fly...

Clear Skies,
Kevin

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...00443848&hl=en

And here'e my Geekbox http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...1165267&hl=en#

Well, I finally built an EasyStar biplane which actually flies. My previous attempt didn't work, but this one does.

Getting the CG right, as well as reducing the cross-sectional area of the supports which connect the second wing to the first wing... these changes made all the difference.

And doing this for my ROG (roll off ground) EZ* makes it even more fun.

GingerAdam & MarkJayne, Thanks for the inspiration to build and fly an EZ* bipe!

And thanks also to my friend, MechRick, for teaching me RC flying, providing biplane engineering advice, and photography.

Clear Skies,
Kevin

Here's some info about my small fleet of RC aircraft.

I began flying RC in the summer of 2006, and I have five aircraft, all electric, foam, park flyers. Here they are in order of aquisition and building:
-GWS Beaver
-GWS E-Starter
-GWS Formosa
-Multiplex EasyStar #1
-Multiplex EasyStar #2

Each of these planes has been destroyed (i.e., broken into at least two major chunks) at least a few times... And all are still flying. I guess I don't mind taking calculated risks with these foamies, I just repair them and they are ready to fly again. I don't fly near other people or their property, but I do fly near trees and the ground.

I have been learning to fly "Video Pilotage" aka "FPV (First Person View)", i.e., with a miniature, wireless video camera mounted in the plane, near the cockpit location, to fly by the imagery radioed down from the plane. I have had a few successful FPV flights, and a few "non-successful" FPV flights (i.e., crashed). FPV has brought the newbie excitement back to me, shaking hands, the adrenaline pumping, etc.

Here are some pix of the planes.

Clear Skies,
Kevin

PS - Here's my hobby web site about robotics, I should update it with RC flying info: www.RoanokeRobotics.org...Continue Reading