FPV Heron: Two Hours of Thermal Soaring (2 hr 4 min 42 sec)

Good ol’ 2.4 control and 5.8 ghz video

Upgraded 2.4 and 5.8 is shaping up to be my all-time favorite link. It’s not that great when used within a few miles of houses (wifi emissions I think) and not that great when used in it’s plain ol’ vanilla form, but upgrade it up a bit, go out into the wilderness and it works impressive enough that I would call it “long range” gear.

Why I like it:
-Telemetry: I like my “high precision variometer” beeps and I like audible warnings over OSD warnings. I have had a heck of a time trying to make a variometer work worth a darn with 1.3ghz video and that kinds seals the deal for me as a soaring pilot.
-channel choices: 1258mhz in my area is almost always fuzzy/unusable. If 1280 is in use by another pilot or just plain getting stepped on by an outside source then it’s time to pack it up. 5.8 always has something that’s working.
-antenna gain and antenna size: while it’s possible to mount high gain 1.3 antennas on your head it’s a much more manageable to mount high gain 5.8 antennas like the pepperbox on your goggles instead.

Why I don’t like it:
-range: I can never get my 2.4/5.8 gear to go as far as my 433/1.3 gear
-fuzz out: while 1.3 ghz tends to fuzz away before you lose your link, 5.8 will be go from rock solid perfect to dead hard snow in a heartbeat. It’s very sensitive to having...Continue Reading

XUAV Talon: The Talon has proven itself to fly smoother, resist wind turbulence, fly farther, sustain higher cruise speeds than my mini-talons. Judging by the way my Photon, Heron, MTD and my Skyhunter flew I am led to believe that the bigger planes fly smoother than the small wingspan fliers. It seems that the smaller you go, the greater the affinity for waggle/getting thrown around by wind.

SK3 - 5045-500kv, 6s 10ah to hold 32mph
12x8 TGS: 125 watts
13x8 TGS: 100 watts
14x7 APC: 115 watts
14x10 APC: 115 watts
15x8 APC: 115 watts

pros: quiet-ish, tracks like an arrow, bulldozes though thermals and chop, fits fully assembled in the trunk of my car, surprisingly easy to launch despite it's 3225g all up weight. Although 32mph yielded the best wh/mi numbers the Talon cruised nicely at 50mph, consuming only slightly more energy. When demanded to do so it held 100mph better than any airplane I have owned. It took about a 1100 watts to get there, but it really flew smooth at that speed.
cons: doesn't want to slow down, needs a long runout or circling to prep for landing, you can feel the weight of the plane, bulky, boggy, feels less nimble than the Skyhunter, takes up the entire car, no room to carry multiple planes.

current state: destroyed likely due to ET Vector's stock bank angle settings

Talon over Loy (2 min 41 sec)

My Twin Dream
The successor to my Talon build. I liked the way a Talon can do a bit of both speed and endurance and hoped to repeat that same sort...Continue Reading