I had a request for details of my HDZero Camera/VTX/Antenna Mount, so here is a sketch. The mount is made up from plywood and balsa. See blog entries below for photos of the mount. Plus, here are several recent screenshots from my FPV flying in formation with a Vulture and low inverted flying.


John

I recently purchased an Ultrix 600, with my main objective to fly it FPV. My friends were telling me what a great plane it is, and I have been very impressed with my UMX Ultrix. The recent sale price sealed the deal. The Ultrix 600 has exceeded my expectations for the type of FPV flying I like to do - close-in aerobatics, proximity flying, all within VLOS. I’m a full-scale pilot and really enjoy fixed-wing FPV because you can do things that would be too dangerous and/or illegal with full-scale aircraft. Here is some information on my Ultra 600 modifications/enhancements, flying experiences, and FPV setup.

Many of the things I did are similar to modifications in the RG Groups thread: The ALL-NEW E-flite Ultrix 600mm – The Uniquely Capable Model You Never Expected!, link below, so thanks to those who have presented their ideas - especially to those who included photos.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...er-Expected%21

Before flying the plane, I did several things. I made elevon pushrod guides as in my opinion, and others posting in the Ultrix 600 thread, the pushrods are much too flexible in compression (up Elevon). My pushrod guides are simply half of a large R/C model hinge cut to make two guides. Cut out a small portion of the knuckle so the pushrod can be snapped into place or removed, see photo. Cut a slit in the wing in line with the pushrod. Snap the pushrod into the guide, insert the guide in the slit in the wing, and glue the guide in place....Continue Reading

I recently upgraded my Nano-Goblin to HDZero digital FPV. It’s a big improvement over the original analog all-in-one Sinopine FPV Transmitter/Camera RMRC marketed with the Nano-Goblin. Here is some information on my FPV setup.

My FPV flying is geared towards close-in aerobatics and proximity flying, all within VLOS. I’m a full-scale pilot and really enjoy fixed-wing FPV because you can do things that would be too dangerous and/or illegal with full-scale aircraft.

I wanted something quick and easy to install that wouldn’t require major surgery to the plane, could be easily modified, and switched to other planes. I didn’t want the camera to be the part that hit the ground first, and knew airflow was essential for transmitter cooling. So, for the HDZero setup, I made a plywood mount for the camera, transmitter, and antenna that sits just above the canopy. The mount is attached to the canopy with standard Nylon M3 standoffs. One standoff is glued into the canopy. Additional standoff(s) are screwed into the standoff in the canopy to position the plywood mount far enough above the canopy for good cooling airflow. The camera/transmitter/antenna mount is fastened to the standoffs above the canopy with a Nylon M3 screw. Although I haven’t really tested this feature yet, I’m hopeful a Nylon standoff will fail in a severe crash, allowing the camera to break away from the canopy and not take the full force of impact.

The canopy was a little more flexible than I would...Continue Reading

After several years of on and off work, I finished the refurbishment and recover of my 20-year-old original design inverted V-Tail glider. This model has spanned many significant improvements in model aircraft technology - from brushed motors, NiCad batteries, and 72 MHz radios; to brushless motors, LiPo batteries, and 2.8 GHz radios with integrated telemetry. I recovered it with MonoKote, and the plane now has the spoilers it really needed.

The uncovered airframe weighs 9.9-oz, 12.5-oz covered, and 19.8-oz with motor, radio, and a little nose ballast, but without battery. The weight increase compared to the original configuration is about 3.3-oz, mostly attributable to the heavier MonoKote and added spoilers. With an 1,800 mAh 3S LiPo, it weighs 25.5-oz, and wing loading is a fairly light 7.11-oz/ft2.

The wing seems stiffer in torsion with the MonoKote, and that will hopefully reduce tendency to flutter at high speed. In the limited flying I’ve done so far, the wing hasn’t shown any tendency to flutter.

Retrofitting the spoilers to the existing wing was a little tricky. I knew it's not a good idea to have the spoilers in the wing center section as they will disrupt airflow over the elevator. However, it would have been even more difficult to install spoilers in the outer wing panels, and I thought a good portion of the inverted V-tail would be above the disturbed airflow. I ended up having to use two small servos, with servo arm extensions to push the spoilers out and rubber bands to hold the spoilers against the arms and against the wing when closed. The spoilers are effective, but I was a little surprised by the pitch change, which required considerable up elevator to keep the nose from dropping. I minimized pitch changes with spoiler/elevator mixing, and landing approaches are much smoother now.

I found some thermals on the first flight and was soon soaring with the local hawks. It’s great to have this glider back in the air.

OVERVIEW:

I designed and built this 3 channel, 2-meter electric powered glider – which I call E-fficiency – in 2002. I designed it to be capable of soaring in weak thermal conditions, and for long-duration flights under power. The three-view drawing in Figure 1 and Photos 1 and 2 show the configuration and construction, and give overall dimensions. The configuration is uncommon, but I like to experiment and try different things in my original designs. Based on my design objectives, the twin boom, inverted V-tail configuration made sense. The glider flew well right off the drawing board, and I didn’t have to make any modifications to the airframe. However, the structure is very light, and if I were to make another one, I would use a stiffer structure less prone to flutter, and include spoilers to make it easier to descend out of thermals and to improve glide path control for landing. I did upgrade the power system, changing from a brushed motor to a geared brushless inrunner motor, and later replaced the NiCad and NiMH batteries with LiPo batteries. I have spent many enjoyable hours thermal soaring with this glider as well as relaxed puttering around in calm conditions. I instrumented it with an Eagle Tree Systems Flight Data Recorder PRO and associated sensors to measure performance, and then analyzed the measurements with techniques I developed. I learned quite a bit from that, and I believe the performance measurements are fairly accurate....Continue Reading

While deciding what to bring to the Horizon Indoor 2015 event, I got the crazy idea to put floats on my UMX Radian so I would have something to fly off Spektrum Lake. Unfortunately, other things took priority, so I didn’t complete the float installation until early January 2016 - which isn’t a great time for flying off water in New England. So, initial flights were in a sports dome and off snow. I was finally able to try flying off water during some unseasonably warm days in early February, when we had a lot of rain and large puddles at our flying field.

The float setup works well. The plane has taken off from artificial and real grass, snow, and water, so I guess it truly is an amphibian. Being slow, it can be flown in confined areas – possibly a large swimming pool if you are lucky enough to have one handy. The primary shortcoming is there isn’t a lot of excess power with the stock motor. The plane requires a strong battery – a 200 mAh battery works best. The UMX Radian is very light and the wind can flip it over easily when on floats, so should only be flown off water in calm or light wind conditions.

I call the plane a Radiam, for Radian Amphibian. Early flights can be viewed here:

UMX Radian on Floats (3 min 37 sec)

My float installation uses a single center float and two outrigger floats. The center float is from an E-flite UMX Carbon Cub Float Set (EFLUA1190). The built-up outrigger floats are made from 1 and 2 or 3mm Depron sheet. The...Continue Reading

My first blog entry describes a method to make thin Depron sheet similar to Durobatics from readily available 1 mm Depron sheet.

Background:

In late 2007, I designed a small aileron, elevator, and throttle airplane around the radio system from a Park Zone Minium Cessna 210, and a more powerful GWJ 7mm Gearbox w/SS Blue motor from Bob Selman’s BSD Micro RC. The fuselage was built up from 1 mm Depron and a few pieces of balsa and plywood in high stress areas. The symmetrical airfoil wing consisted of a balsa root rib, tip rib, and a balsa spar covered with a single piece of 1 mm Depron wrapped around the leading edge.

The model flew satisfactorily and would perform basic aerobatics, but it was clear the wing was much stronger and heavier than needed, thus performance suffered. So, I decided to see if I could lighten the design by thinning the 1 mm Depron sheet wherever possible. Most of the weight in the 1 mm Depron sheet is in the skins, so removing one of the skins reduces weight significantly. I developed a simple method to machine and sand the 1 mm Depron to a thickness of about 0.025 inches. I used this material to build the next version of the plane, called the TinE Dancer V2. Performance was much improved due to the lighter weight. This plane is shown in Photo 1, alongside the PZ Cessna.

I received many positive comments about the plane, its flying characteristics, construction, and materials I made it from. More information and a video can be found...Continue Reading