So... I did not have a gopro when I got my 3dr solo and I did not want to pay $250-$300; so instead, I got me another solo and hacked a foxeer legend 2 so I could get some aerial video with my new quad. It worked really well to my surprise; I opened the case and bored a hole the size of the lens and turned the ccd sensor 90degs on the Y axis and then rotated it 90 degs on its Z axis; I then found a long enough ribbon cable (incidentally, the elanview cicada camera ribbon cable has the same amount of pins and fit just right). To make the story short, everything works (even the hdmi connection trough the solo gimbal). I just had to add a bit of weight to the right side of the camera and that was pretty much it. Even though the hdmi connection worked for a couple of flights, it ended up breaking since the connector would fit very tightly and at a slight angle; you could remedy this issue by taking the screws off the rear weight pressing the hdmi cable and hot gluing that same weight to the right side to counterbalance the gimbal; that way the hdmi ribbon cable has more rage of motion and you can easily connect it to the legend 2 without damaging it. Here are a couple of pictures and a video test:

3DR Solo quadcopter flying over Bull Creek Cabin (recorded with foxeer legend 2) (2 min 11 sec)

The images show the legend 2 setup with a 5.8ghz video transmitter since I had broken the hdmi connection; not as clean as with the hdmi but it works nonetheless.

Flying the new addition to the fleet.
This ZMR250 is a nice agile little quad that is making FPV learning alot of fun!!!

ZMR250 Quadcopter with Sony as100v fpv /Flying after the snow storm part III (1 min 53 sec)

I went to my local state forest to try to capture some of the majestic fall colors around West Virginia. I am happy with the footage I got...

Flying my apm v3.1 fpv quadcopter @ Coopers Rock, WV (State Forest) (6 min 1 sec)

I got my mini APM v3.1 with GPS all dialed in and working perfect!
I used my old crius AIO frame and electronics; needless to say, this tiny APM FC blows the crius AIO out of the water (especially on set up and configuration)
I am really happy with it and I will be converting the rest of my quad fleet (250 size,330size and 600custom size copters) to this system.
I am also working on a skysurfer FPV platform which will house one of these mini APM FC's for automation.

I have attached a couple of pics...
here is my maiden flight with fpv gear:

mini APM 3.1 with gps, gimbal, sj4000 aerial footage / maiden flight (2 min 9 sec)

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I am always looking to modify and gettorig new devices so when I saw banggood.com started carrying rope neon lights I order a couple to experiment with.
I am pretty happy with the result (It looks much better in person ) The only thing I don't like is the fact that there is a coil that boost from 12v input to 124v output required by these lights. The coil is kind of heavy too





I cannot wait to get it finished
Paisa

It has been a while since I flew slow rudder and elevator planes, since I moved up to aileron planes; however, this little plane made by flyzone made me fall back in love with the old tail dragger WWI planes. Now I just have to go back and dust off my tail dragger collection hanging from my garage walls and wait for a break on the incessant snowy and freezing weather


Here is a video I took of the Dr.1 flying around my driveway while dodging the "snow flak" being fired from a mobile targeting system

RC Plane Flyzone UM Fokker dr.1 maiden flight in my driveway (3 min 51 sec)

I have been flying (mostly crashing) for over two years. During this time, I have collected a bunch of footage from my RC flying adventures which I have uploaded to my youtube channel; here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/user/jorregoHD

Let me know what you guys think...

I built an edf plane from wonderful dollar tree foam. I had built a couple of foam prop planes before with great success so I decided to try an EDF jet this time.
The plane was built based on mikeys RC F-22 plans but heavily modified to fit a 64mm EDF. I took absolutely no measurements when fitting the EDF and building the ducting; to my surprise, this thing flies extremely well and gives respectable 5+ min flights on a 1000mah 3S battery.
The following are a couple of videos of the plane flying and an onboard camera fitted under the fuselage... Let me know what you guys think...

64mm EDF Scratch built DIY with HD camera #808 16 lens D & foamboard from the Dollar Tree (3 min 27 sec)

RC Scratch built edf jet made out of dollar tree foam (4 min 25 sec)

...Continue Reading

When my brother's T-28 went down like a dart and shattered into pieces, I took whatever was salvageable and went to work . The outcome is an ugly yet extremely stable frankenbird. I made the wings and canopy out of 1" thick foamcore (the green insulation foam they sell at lowes) and a motor mount out of a crate plank. The control horns are made out of servo horns and the control rods made out of ground marking flag wire. The landing gear is made out of flag wire, telephone wire and rubber bands for a smooth yet sturdy landing/takeoff. The Tail wheel is steerable and fully functional (I'll take a pic of how I gethoriged it later )
As far as electronics go, I went cheap since I did not have much hope for it to fly or return back home. I used a suppo 1500kv and a 20a hobbywing esc; the control surfaces are hooked up to 4 cheapo 9g servos; and finally the bird is powered by a 1300mah 35-50c genace 3S battery.
Needless to say, after 5 flights and a terrible crash due to my dumb thumbs, this bird still flies and flies great (even in 21mph winds O_o )
I'll post some flying shots later

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9187568...n/photostream/



Paisa

My friend Jakub wanted to fly his beautiful plane but there was way too much wind, which proved fatal when his big gasoline J3 cub crashed while attempting to land. At the end of the day, the damage was minimal despite the spectacular crash (which I did not capture on camera, ARGH)

J3 piper Cub RC Gas plane Crash (5 min 19 sec)

This past week I finally got to fly some.
I went and tried my rs-352 3D profile; I never really liked how they look and thought I would never buy one of them. However, a couple of weeks ago an rcgroups member whom I had purchased from previously, sold me a great collection of planes (5 total), an rs-352 was one of them. I really did not want to buy it but the seller insisted that it was a great flier and I would not be disappointed... well, he was right, this plane flies extremely well and it is so precise; I flew in 10mph winds and it held up nicely much better than I had expected. This plane really transformed my view of 3D profile planes for sure (though I still they look funny up close )

RC rs-352 3D plane maiden flight (3 min 32 sec)

A couple of weeks ago I took my two new planes to a local school to fly them for the first time. I was joined by family and friends to add to the pressure
Needless to say I had an amazing time flying for the first time... I was butt clenched for the entire flights which did not help with my already amateurish skills. even though I had a tragic ending with one of my planes (f22 EDF jet) I am now definitely hooked on this hobby. Things that fly have always been my passion and I will now continue to explore this hobby even more as time permits.

The following is a video of that day were I got the chance to maiden my planes as well as crashing one of them (it is repaired and waiting for take off again )

RC planes being flown and crashed at UHS in Morgantown WV (5 min 25 sec)

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