i would like to fly my plane and experience the same sensation as if i were in the pilot's position; to see the same that we see in those videos filmed with a camera, but with me piloting the plane.
some have started threads on long distance piloting, the so-called first person view (FPV), but that's a completely different idea, and also requires other kind of equipment, and most of it has to be made or adapted by the user.
it all started when hobby king sent me a notice of a product that they were releasing, so i went into the threads on fpv, but realized that i wanted a completely different thing. after some research i decided for a ready-to-use product (that was also way less expensive) that is easy to add to the regular gear, and start experiencing that sensation of flying the plane inside of it, not watching it from a distance. the idea is to fly within eyesight, not beyond that. i will install it in a kind of trainer plane and will keep bringing comments as it goes. as soon as i get the package i will bring comments. in the meantime am preparing my plane for that. stay put...am adding details at the end of this post.
>>>the plane i choose was my 60" Elf, an all-balsa and tissue (litespan, really) high winger with undercamber airfoil (i will post pics) that is just an enlarged version of my 48" Elf that you can see somewhere in page 1 of this blog. it was electric when i 1st built it back in the 80's, and is in perfect shape despite so many...Continue Reading

today went flying at dawn. did 6 flights until the sun raised. there was fog at ground level, up to 15 ft (5 meters), and above was clear and no wind.
all went well. until...on my 7th flight i climbed and cut motor and started to glide. then moskitos (yes, with k) decided to swarm on me and i got distracted for about 10 seconds. but when i tried to see my plane it was gone. fog had raised at the moment the sun raised too, and there was all around. so fast as i never have seen.
looked around but it was fog all over. put the plane in a spin, in hope that it would show, but at no avail. it should be nearby, but could not find it.
and 5 minutes later, the sky was clear again. not a single cloud or fog around. nice.
o well, i had plans to build a 2nd version of that plane anyway.
the only thing that occurs to me to avoid this is never take your eyes from your plane.
even if moskitos are diving on you en mass.
but it's hard to avoid them and keep controlling your plane...
by the way, as i was checking the readings on my telemetry (quanum) and noticed they were getting close to the limit, i was thinking that this would be the last flight.
i think the gremlins were listening to my thoughts...
i said somewhere in my blog that if you say that it is going to be your last flight, it will be. i should remember that.
april 5, 2014-an update: 2 months later, a tractor pulled in the field and the guy handled to me the plane. he said that just found it. it was all well weatherized-if you...Continue Reading