A FUN hobby I thought I'd share with you guys

[keakar]

Originally Posted by fishfighter

Get one with some pontoons to land in the water and i can scout around to find the boats that are catching fish, then i could become the ultimate potlicker

I don't think they can do that without flaps and stuff, just too much going on to control it from flipping to do it remotely.

they do have Styrofoam planes and flying wings and flying disks so at least its retrievable if it goes down on you.

[Swamp Critter]

Originally Posted by keakar

I don't think they can do that without flaps and stuff, just too much going on to control it from flipping to do it remotely.

they do have Styrofoam planes and flying wings and flying disks so at least its retrievable if it goes down on you.

If you're referring to RC planes using floats, taking off from and landing on water, they can. And that's without flaps. Just rudder, throttle, and elevator. The yellow plane is a HobbyZone Champ like mine, with a set of homemade floats. The white and blue plane is a HobbyZone Super Cub (much larger plane) and is shown with a set of optional factory made floats. You'd be surprised at what these simple, foam, trainer type RC airplanes can do.

[keakar]

that's amazing, I would have thought the water drag would flip them over as soon as they landed

I guess that's why people shouldn't assume things lol

[Swamp Critter]

Just out of curiosity, did any of you check out the video clips? I was just wondering because nobody has mentioned them so far. By the way, if any of you were wondering what that square device is on the bottom right corner of the transmitter in this picture it's a digital timer. I get it going on take off and it starts beeping when it's time to land. When I have the camera attached to the plane I set it at 4 minutes 30 seconds. Without the camera I can stretch it out a good bit longer, but with the camera I'm probably using at least half the battery running at full throttle to climb up to altitude with the extra weight, and about half throttle or even power off at times to just glide around once it's up there at a good height. But 4 minutes 30 seconds usually leaves enough battery to get back to my "runway" (usually the street right in front of my house) and if there's a vehicle coming or something happens where I can't line up for a good landing, I have enough juice to power up, come around, and make another approach. If the battery does get too low (it happens occasionally), it's designed to cut off power to the motor but still leave current to the controls for steering / elevation. The motor can still be restarted in the air, but it's really just for enough power to get back and land right away. It's better to cut the flight short and save some battery, because if the batteries are run down too often below, I think it's 3.7 volts, it can kill them. In other words, they won't recharge. It's sort of the opposite of a deep cycle battery. It's high output, but they're only designed to be "topped off" when charging. Anyway, I thought I'd post another picture from a video I got a few weeks ago, it's the Iberia Bank building in New Iberia. That was some fun flying that day.

[fishfighter]

yes i looked a little bit of the videos it is cool, i thought i recognized some stuff, now i see you ARE in new iberia so i will watch some more videos and see what kind of stuff i recognize hahaha, that is awesome looks like a lot of fun

[Swamp Critter]

Originally Posted by keakar

that's amazing, I would have thought the water drag would flip them over as soon as they landed

I guess that's why people shouldn't assume things lol

Actually, your assumption is correct. There is lots of drag and rc planes do flip over on the water. I've never used floats and I'm not sure about takeoffs, but from what I've read it's easy to flip them over on landings. It requires a different technique than landing with wheels on the ground or a paved runway. I'm pretty sure it has to be close to spot on perfect to prevent going nose-over, or skipping and bouncing it around on the water. I once saw a cool YouTube video where these guys were taking turns flying a Champ, same plane as mine, taking off and landing on a large pond. One of them flew the plane a little too long and ran the battery down, too far out and not enough power to make a proper landing. So it ended up nose down, motor submerged, just floating out there dead in the water. Luckily, they had an rc boat for just that scenario. It had a block of styrofoam tied on a string trailing some three or four feet behind the boat. They ran it out to the plane, circled around and "snagged" it with the string and float, and towed it back to the shore. Kinda slow, but it worked. The water didn't even damage the electronics. They just shook the water out, put in a fresh battery, and kept flying.

[marshrunner757]

Looking on eBay, I see there are a few different types. Which one did you get. Videos are really good!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk

[Swamp Critter]

Originally Posted by marshrunner757

Looking on eBay, I see there are a few different types. Which one did you get. Videos are really good!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk

First off, thanks! Second, the camera I got is called an 808 keychain camera, version #16 with lens B. There are three choices of the #16, and besides the lens B I think the other two are the original lens A, or the wide angle lens D if I remember correctly. It's a slightly larger field of view than the original, but it's not the wide angle lens either. The wide angle lens produces a "fish eye" effect. Some people like that but I prefer a more normal image. Also, these cameras take one of those little micro SD memory cards, up to 16 gb of storage. There's other cameras beside the #16. There's the #3 which is the cheapest but has the least quality. There's the #11 which is a step up in quality from the #3, and as of now I think the highest quality one of these cameras is the #26. That one is about $100, where my #16 is about $40. Hope that helps. And again, thanks.

[marshrunner757]

Thanks! I have a buddy that has a plane, but I can think of all kinds of uses for this.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk

[Swamp Critter]

Originally Posted by marshrunner757

Thanks! I have a buddy that has a plane, but I can think of all kinds of uses for this.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk

Next time I go bowhunting I'm going to attach the camera to my bow. That way if I get to shoot I'll be able to get it on video.

[marshrunner757]

Sounds like a great idea. I'm thinking this would be a cheap alternative to a go pro or at least allow someone to see just how much they would use it before dropping the cash on a go pro.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk

[Swamp Critter]

It occurred to me that some of you may read this, get all fired up, take the plunge and get into RC flying. If you do, be warned, it's addictive! Seriously though, if you do decide to do this and you've never flown an RC plane before, take my advice and to NOT go out and buy a big bad azz WW2 fighter plane like a P-51 Mustang or an F4U Corsair. Sure, they look so cool hanging from the ceiling at the hobby shop, or doing those high speed low passes, loops, dives, and snap rolls on YouTube. But it won't look cool at all as a very expensive pile of debris on the ground. Start off with a high wing trainer, preferably with some dihedral. Dihedral is a slight, upward angle in the wings. This will help stabilize the plane and make it MUCH more "forgiving". Have PATIENCE and WAIT for a day when the wind is either FLAT DEAD CALM or just a MILD breeze at the most to fly the first few times. TRUST ME on this. If it's too windy, YOUR PLANE WILL CRASH. Hopefully where you can at least find it. OFTEN the wind will just take it to where you'll never find it again. So wait until it's calm. Pick a wide open area, preferably with grass about knee high if possible. Don't be afraid to get it up there at least 100 feet or so, or about twice as high as the trees. This gives you time to recover from your mistakes. You will make them, and you will crash. Everyone in this hobby does. If you can't find someone to teach you to fly, try a simulator. There's even some free ones you can download, and some let you use the controller you actually fly with. There's way too much advice to post it all here, but I suggest going to rcgroups.com and read "Six keys to success for new pilots". It's worth a read. And above all, have fun. Later guys!

[Swamp Critter]

I want to expand on my last post, specifically about the wind. I'd said to wait until it's dead calm with no wind, or just a MILD breeze at the most when learning to fly. It's not that these planes can't fly in the wind, it's just that when you're learning there's no way to see if it's properly balanced, flying straight and true, if the wind is bouncing it around up there. The best times are around sunrise and sunset, and we all know those days in the summer here in Louisiana when there's just no wind, not even the slightest breeze. Just plain HOT. Put up with the heat a while and fly then. If there's A LITTLE, MILD breeze, take off and land into it. A LIGHT breeze, once you KNOW how to fly, can actually be a good thing. Keep the plane in front of you and upwind. Letting it get behind you can mean trouble.

[Loneshark]

This is a good starter plane which you can grow into. It is a four channel but you can unplug and secure the ailerons until you are comfortable flying it as a three channel. It is a decent size so wind won't bother it as much and you can mount a go pro on it if you wished. A lot of people use this platform to fly in first person view( FPV).
http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ind...roducts_id=505

[Swamp Critter]

Originally Posted by Loneshark

This is a good starter plane which you can grow into. It is a four channel but you can unplug and secure the ailerons until you are comfortable flying it as a three channel. It is a decent size so wind won't bother it as much and you can mount a go pro on it if you wished. A lot of people use this platform to fly in first person view( FPV).
http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ind...roducts_id=505

Looks like a really cool plane. And with the prop being a "pusher" behind the wing, you don't get the annoying stripes effect on the video from the prop, with the camera mounted forward.

[Swamp Critter]

One thing that's sort of amusing when flying these small rc planes is that birds sometimes try to "attack" them in the air. And for some reason, the small birds seem to be the most aggressive. One morning last summer I took my plane out to fly over a large open area, with grass about six inches to a foot high in some places. It was still early, no wind at all, very quiet. Perfect conditions. Flying about 50 or 60 feet off the ground, this small bird flew up to my plane chirping and tweeting like crazy. Next thing I knew there was two, three, and in no time it was something like ten to fifteen of them all trying to peck at my plane. The only way I got rid of them was putting it in a quick little dive, then a loop. That made them scatter, at least temporarily. They came back, but seemed to lose interest after I got it away from the field. I guess they figured it was some weird looking yellow bird intruding on their turf, and they were probably satisfied they'd showed it how "fierce" they were and ran it off.

[Swamp Critter]

Another thing worth mentioning about flying a small rc plane like this in the wind, is it's just not that much fun constantly trying to keep it from crashing. As I said before it will fly in a MODERATE wind, but it's like flying a very bouncy little kite with no string. On the other hand when it's calm and the plane is properly trimmed and balanced, it flies BEAUTIFULLY. It looks very much like a full size aircraft in the air.

[Swamp Critter]

Well, looks like there won't be much rc flying this weekend. Looks like rain, and maybe even severe weather. Oh well, some other time.

[Swamp Critter]

Well I was able to get in a little flying time this morning. I did get some video but I find that getting video of morning flights on bright, clear days like this tends to produce a lot of unwanted prop image on the video. Much better either before sunrise or after sunset. Or, for that matter, on a somewhat overcast day. So I reviewed the video I got this morning, but it was nothing special. I thought I'd post this picture from a flight I'd filmed last week, I thought it was sort of amusing. It's my dog staring at me through the gate across my driveway as I'm flying my plane. To give it a bit of perspective, he's a Boxer and he's a little over 100 pounds. His name is Mac and he's spoiled rotten. Lol!

[Fishbum]

Funny video of a friends, friend running a RC boat on avery island
http://youtu.be/0c0logg16bQ