To those flying with FPV cam and gopro, where did you place them and do you regret the placement?

I have seen some people cutout the little cam slot on the nose of the plane to fit the gopro and there are others that simply place it atop the fuselage. Then there is the gopro compartment provided within the fuselage.

It would seem ideal to place the gopro within the fuselage but people seem to think that the area is not too practical due to impact on landings. Have people completely written off the area or can the hole be protected by some kind of impact resistant glass/plastic?

It also seems that gopro black hero3 is not suitable for FPV due to image delay – is that the consensus? Just trying to determine if I can do without the FPV cam.

Thanks!

What's the best tow hook position ion relation to the CG for an X8 for bungee launching?

Jimmy

Tahj33: I have GoPro2 on the carved nose hole. The GoPro wifi is not suitable for FPV, the latency is 2-3 seconds. There is no real reason why that long latency would be needed, but it is just about the video coding done wrong way for this application in mind. It would be possible to make digital FPV, even with high HD quality with low latency, but seems that nobody is working towards it and I don't have the time.

My X8 is reinforced from inside with glass epoxy matrix and that holds the nose together despite being agressively carved to fit the GoPro with the protective housing flush with the nose of the X8.

Originally Posted by mordega

Hi Kiwikid, very nice job. But just a question, what is the purpose of the wing extentions,
Is it tecnical (what advantages) or just for good looking (looks awsome btw)?

Thank you. Yeah, it's just me playing silly buggers with a Luft '46 theme - see BV 215 pic below. The X-8 is in the paint shop now getting a similar treatment. The winglets are from a HK Parkjet so probably add a modest amount of lift. I set them up so the bottom of the main wing touches the ground just before they would and landings have been OK so far.

one more X8 vid

Jarun i okolica iz zraka, part 1 (5 min 11 sec)

regarding this:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...1#post22995456
and all those hd cameras have lower sensitivity than small fpv cameras.

at the end there is a comparison of an cheap FPV cam (30$ Sony 0.1 lux 520 TVL gfrom HobbyKing) and GoPro HD on the right

The GoPro live out has always let it down. I tried a few times, useless especially in the lower light of the UK.

I`m the same as Ian though, put it in the intended place and it will only get smashed to bits. I have mine on the fuse joint line pointing slightly down ( less boring sky in shot ) and its fairly safe there

Ya, HD and H2 live out has extra contrast added for no apparent reason.
The Hero3 Black's live out (especially in Protune mode) can see in the dark as well
as any security camera (excluding low-lux lenses), but the H3 is still a little too flaky
to trust as a primary flight cam.

ian

in terms of tow hook....about 3 inches back from where the lump starts on the underside.

I launched it with the hobbyking bungees for first time (was using other bungees) and they are great. dont know the tension as lost my scales but i just decided to stretch it to twice its length (2 x 10m lengths of bungee side by side) and it launched it with no trouble at all....took off with ease.

Originally Posted by KiwiKid

Thank you. Yeah, it's just me playing silly buggers with a Luft '46 theme - see BV 215 pic below. The X-8 is in the paint shop now getting a similar treatment. The winglets are from a HK Parkjet so probably add a modest amount of lift. I set them up so the bottom of the main wing touches the ground just before they would and landings have been OK so far.

Thanks mate, I like your way of thinking(and playing).

All of my EDFs that are bungee launch have the tow hook 50% - 60% from the nose to the CG ( 60% being closer to the CG)
This gives A LOT of forward velocity with a gentle rise.

My bungee sailplanes are about 10 % - 15% from the CG ( closer to the nose )
this sends the sailplane almost straight up, with very little forward velocity. To get some altitude and start thermal hunting.

Cheers,
Brian

Thanks, Brian. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the "50-60%" Are you measuring the nose and then putting the hook 60% back (if the distance from the nose to the CG is 100mm you put it at 60mm) or using another measurement to calculate the distance?

Thanks again,

Jimmy

Originally Posted by TooSLow2Care

All of my EDFs that are bungee launch have the tow hook 50% - 60% from the nose to the CG ( 60% being closer to the CG)
This gives A LOT of forward velocity with a gentle rise.

My bungee sailplanes are about 10 % - 15% from the CG ( closer to the nose )
this sends the sailplane almost straight up, with very little forward velocity. To get some altitude and start thermal hunting.

Cheers,
Brian

Trying an off the shelf solution Jimmy?

-Mike

Jimmy,
You are correct. Measure the distance from the nose to the CG. This will be X

Take X multiply that by the percentage back 60% ( 0.60 )

If we take your example of 100mm from nose to CG.
100 x 0.60 = 60mm back from the nose

Or 300mm for my Maxi Swift
300 x 0.60 = 180mm back from the nose.

I don't recall off hand what the actual measurement of my X8 is, but I'll measure it when I get back home. (Business Trip) that should be Thursday evening or Friday. That way you'll have my exact measurements are.

Cheers,
Brian

Originally Posted by Daemon

It's 1.7oz Kevlar cloth, sold here.
http://www.acpsales.com/OnlineStore.php?cat=252 It ain't cheap, but I use it for lots of stuff.
There's a way modify any pair of cheap scissors to cut Kevlar.
I use a dusting of Super77th spray adhesive on the cloth to stick it down to the foam and
smooth it out by hand, and then thin CA to bond it to the foam (in a well ventilated area).

ian

Great. Thx !

Mike - Have an X8 and want to do some experimentation with it. Not really happy with the flexy wings so we'll see. May have to make my own wings for the fuse.

Brian - thanks for the explanation. I'll set it at 60% and see how it does. Not sure if I want to use a stomp launcher with it or if I'll just hand launch it with the bungee.

Jimmy