Hey,
Been a while since I posted here, but I'll start contributing more now I'm back FPV'ing now we have an extra hour to fly after work now ;D.
I built a ZII a while back and have only really flown it line of sight so far but enjoyed it immensely. It's by far the quickest and biggest plane I've built so it look me a while to get used to launching it on my own, and it's size and speed for me took some getting used to (especially when I live in South London I don't have much time or space to fly it).
I purchased two kits, and originally intended to build the 2nd as the FPV version once I was comfortable with how it handled. But what I don't like about the Z2 is:
- It doesn't seem to fly slow very well and very hard to control at slow speeds.
- There's not much space in it for components and alternative battery sizes without having to dig yourself into the foam.I'm looking for a plane I can tweak and modify components a bit more flexibly.
- My flight time with a stock Ritewing setup and 2x3300 4S was approx 15 minutes at 70-100% throttle type speeds (this to drain the batteries to about 25%, but not the freshest of LIPOs either). What I'm hoping to build will be a medium/long range build so I'd like 30-40+ minutes.
So because of the above I started to look at the Z3 (and maybe even the Drak, but 60" is just too big for me I reckon and summer will be over by the time they start making them). It clearly has a lot more space to play about with and I'm (hoping) it can handle slower speeds better. How are people finding the Z3 in comparison to their Z2? Or maybe you could suggest a totally different alternative that I have not thought of!
Cheers!
If you want a smaller wing that'll still do some distance then the Falcon Evo from FlyngWings will be out soon, it's a good fun wing and will run on a 3S 2200.
or a Multistar 4000 3s from the company that shall never be mentioned
Rob
Who's that Rob? Hobby something?
Erm I think its Hobby Prince, run by IP Freely (copied)
Not bitter or owt
Ha!
Quote from: iPeel on April 05, 2015, 04:18:13 PM
If you want a smaller wing that'll still do some distance then the Falcon Evo from FlyngWings will be out soon, it's a good fun wing and will run on a 3S 2200.
This wing looks great. Thanks I'll keep an eye out on this. The Venturi FPV Evo looks like it's got a bit more room in it though.
Quote from: Amorgos on April 05, 2015, 07:14:13 PM
Quote from: iPeel on April 05, 2015, 04:18:13 PM
If you want a smaller wing that'll still do some distance then the Falcon Evo from FlyngWings will be out soon, it's a good fun wing and will run on a 3S 2200.
This wing looks great. Thanks I'll keep an eye out on this. The Venturi FPV Evo looks like it's got a bit more room in it though.
Based on what you have said some of your requirements contradict each other and IMO some aren't entirely feasible :)
There aren't many wings that you can fly at 70-100% throttle and still expect to get long flight times from. However a zephyr should cruise at perhaps 10-12A which should give you much longer flights than 15 mins.......
Wings, being notoriously sensitive to CG, don't really lend themselves well to various battery combinations as the battery bays are usually cut to a specific size and it's nearly impossible to move them fore and aft to take into account the change in battery weight.
It should be able to fly fairly slow, but most wings don't work that well close to their stall speed.
Yes it's always a shame to hack away at the foam of a wing. Some wings half compartments built into them now- flying wings Venturi for one. Monkeyblunt tek sumo being another.
The z3 is IMO over rated. It does most things OK- but doesn't excel at anything- and it builds heavy. It's only real advantage is it collapses. Unless you intend to travel with a plane a lot, this is a bit pointless IMO.
The size of the plane really makes a huge difference. My light lofty 37" wing makes a few football fields feel fairly big and a fun playground. But I wouldn't dream of flying my zephyr in there. It's too big heavy and fast.
As you intend to fly in London in smaller flying areas- I would suggest a smaller lighter wing. As its a "do everything" style wing- perhaps something with a bit of a dual personality would be suitable? Something that can be built with a light small 3s battery and floated around quite slowly around a park, and you can practice slow agile maneouvers at an acceptable speed? But make it 4s suitable- so you can make it faster and more aggressive with just a battery and prop change? And a long nose so you can fly it with different battery sizes and can move its position to hit the CG?
If the above sounds good, then the HK skyfun would be a good choice. Check out coyotes build on it. It will fly with a 4000 4s or a 2200 3s!
Alternative would be a tbs caprihana (2 or 3s)- I love mine and it's great for parks. It's not good in wind though. And, as its a wing, the CG is pretty fixed.
Maybe even the happy flyers wipeout? But that's expensive and pretty hardcore and serious I reckon.
Or just convert your current zephyr to fpv- bit of a bodge job without cutting too much foam away and see how you find it? Easiest solutions first! If you like it, try and build the second z2 super light. Fairly lowish kv Motor really far forward, one battery in the very front and you should get longer flight times and a loftily floaty light plane.
Also- did you say you wanted to fly in London in parks etc? IMO Venturi is too big for this. You could probably do it, and a skilled pilot would do well, but it's just not as fun as a smaller plane.
Phew!
Finally- a normal plane not a wing is about 100 times easier to change batteries and hit CG with. Reasonable wingspan means they can be flown light and glide forever and be fine in a smaller area, or load with batteries so they handle wing better and get long flight times. The skywalker is everyone's go to solution, and it will certainly carry lots of batteries, but perhaps it's too big for regular park use. In which case, something with a smaller wingspan would be better, like a bixler 3 or something?!
Hey Billy,
The ZII for me was a project that I would take to proper open country and not fly around London parks. I'm originally from North Wales and try and visit Snowdonia as much as I can. I would probably get arrested flying a ZII around some parks!.. But there are a few places that I have flown it here for testing. Croydon Airfield for example is a designated space where you can fly RC aircraft, and the space is huge.
Very good point about wings and CG. I guess I'm just looking for something that isn't possible and I should just be looking at a normal plane if gliding at slow pace is important to me. An AXN Floater was my first plane, but I've always been drawn naturally to delta wings! I'm assuming something like a Skywalker (what model were you suggesting?) would be no where near as acrobatic as a wing at high speed.
I have flown with various size wings in the past. I started with a Bonsai, then a TekSumo and now flying with a ZII :-)
Basically my aim is to have two wings I'm really happy with. One large(ish) that has long flight times with RTH (probably with an EagleTree Vector), and another that I can fly much slower at close proximity.
My feeling is that 2nd craft will probably end up being the TBS Caipirinha (as you mentioned) for close to the ground slower flying. It seems like a very good candidate for that sort of thing, and relatively quiet engine is very important to me so I hope flying that with 2S will be quiet. But the Falcon EVO looks interesting now, albeit a considerably more powerful aircraft. Flying a ZII close to the ground at high speed is terrifying! :-D
What flight times do you personally expect from your ZII if you're drawing 10-12A?
Thanks a lot for your reply. It was extremely informative!
A ZII in Wales? I'm dead jealous!
I think the only wing style plane that allows a variety of plane weights is one with a long nose. Z3 (hugely overrated in other areas) and skyfun spring to mind.
Your aim is very similar to mine in truth. I don't actually have a Z2. I have a 60" Z1. But they will be 95% the same.
Flight times are a bit over rated IMO. Anything over 20 mins is enough. But I expect I could comfortably get 30 mins. I use Zippy Compact 4000s. Almost the same size and weight as standard Zippy 3000s.
If you have now decided you don't need that much room in a wing, and will fly with the same battery setup, then a Z2 is a damn good choice. I think the Venturi will be equally good. But if you have a z2 stick with it.
I love my Cap. I bought it second hand with the electronics package. I run it on 3S as my board cam needs 3s. It's designed to handle a 3300 2s but a 3300 3s fits too with 3mm protruding from the surface of the wing. It's a very robust wing and will fly nice and slow and is capable of being very agile. Flight times are 15-20 mins with both the 2s and 3s package. I reckon the 3s is faster so, whilst the 2s does very well, I reckon you can cover more ground with the 3s in the same amount of time.
My fave thing for it is to hoon around rugby fields. My flying has improved hugely since I started doing it bending it under football posts etc. I wouldn't want to cover any real range with it. It's not that powerful, and in wind it gets tossed around quite a bit. Whilst TBS promote it as a 10k range IMO there are far more suitable planes out there for this IMO. In standard power form it's not fast. But I fly mine 1-2 feet off the ground and so 40mph (estimate) feels plenty quick enough. My Z will do at least double that easy. But the cap is more fun 90% of the time.
It's not worth paying RRP for the Cap though. It's £180 with the electronics package. They go used for around £100 on ebay which ain't that cheap for a couple of tiny servos, a rubbish esc (it's a 12A the size of a fingernail, I Uprated to a 18A) and a weak but good quality motor. Mine is running a 6x4 prop and is pretty quiet when cruising at half throttle or so.
Cap was designed by Ritewing and TBS bought the rights.
Everyone rates the flying wings products. A 40" flyingwings wing with a simple OSD would be nice and way cheaper. Skyfun isn't that robust.
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 05, 2015, 09:44:26 PM
A ZII in Wales? I'm dead jealous!
I think the only wing style plane that allows a variety of plane weights is one with a long nose. Z3 (hugely overrated in other areas) and skyfun spring to mind.
Wish I had time to go back there more often. :( I miss decent green space being down here. But l'll be moving out to the edges of London soon where there are big fields everywhere. :) But separately I think you have quickly talked me out of a Z3 without probably even trying.
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 05, 2015, 09:44:26 PM
Flight times are a bit over rated IMO. Anything over 20 mins is enough. But I expect I could comfortably get 30 mins. I use Zippy Compact 4000s. Almost the same size and weight as standard Zippy 3000s.
If you have now decided you don't need that much room in a wing, and will fly with the same battery setup, then a Z2 is a damn good choice. I think the Venturi will be equally good. But if you have a z2 stick with it.
I think I will just stick to the ZII now. I would really love more battery life though but I guess I'll just have to live with it.
I opted for TBS' plywood battery bay which seemed a good little investment and on a crash it keeps the centre of the frame very strong. But I'm putting 2x GensAce 4S 3300s in there and space is VERY tight. You need to cram the power and balance cable right in. I had to cut down the size of the power cables to about 2 inches because they just didn't fit otherwise. I would love to get a bit more mAH in there somehow. I'll look into these Zippy compacts.
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 05, 2015, 09:44:26 PM
I love my Cap. I bought it second hand with the electronics package. I run it on 3S as my board cam needs 3s. It's designed to handle a 3300 2s but a 3300 3s fits too with 3mm protruding from the surface of the wing. It's a very robust wing and will fly nice and slow and is capable of being very agile. Flight times are 15-20 mins with both the 2s and 3s package. I reckon the 3s is faster so, whilst the 2s does very well, I reckon you can cover more ground with the 3s in the same amount of time.
My fave thing for it is to hoon around rugby fields. My flying has improved hugely since I started doing it bending it under football posts etc. I wouldn't want to cover any real range with it. It's not that powerful, and in wind it gets tossed around quite a bit. Whilst TBS promote it as a 10k range IMO there are far more suitable planes out there for this IMO. In standard power form it's not fast. But I fly mine 1-2 feet off the ground and so 40mph (estimate) feels plenty quick enough. My Z will do at least double that easy. But the cap is more fun 90% of the time.
It's not worth paying RRP for the Cap though. It's £180 with the electronics package. They go used for around £100 on ebay which ain't that cheap for a couple of tiny servos, a rubbish esc (it's a 12A the size of a fingernail, I Uprated to a 18A) and a weak but good quality motor. Mine is running a 6x4 prop and is pretty quiet when cruising at half throttle or so.
I agree the Cap seems very expensive. In fact really you could probably build a Zephyr 2 with the same FPV gear for the same price! TBS do sell stuff at a very high markup and quite often the quality certainly doesn't justify it (although this is certainly not always the case). I purchased a load of stuff off them and one thing was their ZII pushrod set. The clevises on them are really poor and they've failed on me twice. I'm surprised they sell them at all as they are so flimsy.
TBS released a 3S electronics package quite recently but I will probably end up getting the standard 2S setup first and seeing how that goes. But good point about the potential distance with the 3S. TBS website suggests a possible 35mins flight time :laugh:
Quote from: Amorgos on April 05, 2015, 10:36:45 PM
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 05, 2015, 09:44:26 PM
A ZII in Wales? I'm dead jealous!
I think the only wing style plane that allows a variety of plane weights is one with a long nose. Z3 (hugely overrated in other areas) and skyfun spring to mind.
Wish I had time to go back there more often. :( I miss decent green space being down here. But l'll be moving out to the edges of London soon where there are big fields everywhere. :) But separately I think you have quickly talked me out of a Z3 without probably even trying.
I think if it's the only plane you have space for and like to travel with it a lot the Z3 does most things pretty well so I suppose it has it place. But I think a Z2 and Cap combined will do everything better.
Quote from: Amorgos on April 05, 2015, 07:14:13 PM
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 05, 2015, 09:44:26 PM
Flight times are a bit over rated IMO. Anything over 20 mins is enough. But I expect I could comfortably get 30 mins. I use Zippy Compact 4000s. Almost the same size and weight as standard Zippy 3000s.
If you have now decided you don't need that much room in a wing, and will fly with the same battery setup, then a Z2 is a damn good choice. I think the Venturi will be equally good. But if you have a z2 stick with it.
I think I will just stick to the ZII now. I would really love more battery life though but I guess I'll just have to live with it.
I opted for TBS' plywood battery bay which seemed a good little investment and on a crash it keeps the centre of the frame very strong. But I'm putting 2x GensAce 4S 3300s in there and space is VERY tight. You need to cram the power and balance cable right in. I had to cut down the size of the power cables to about 2 inches because they just didn't fit otherwise. I would love to get a bit more mAH in there somehow. I'll look into these Zippy compacts.
Is it easy to extend the size of the battery bay? Measure the length of the gens ace batteries I will do the same for my compacts. High discharge rate batteries are always bigger and you don't need it with planes with parallel batteries. Even if they only discharge at 10c that's still 66A you can draw.
What motor are you using?
Quote from: Amorgos on April 05, 2015, 07:14:13 PM
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 05, 2015, 09:44:26 PM
I love my Cap. I bought it second hand with the electronics package. I run it on 3S as my board cam needs 3s. It's designed to handle a 3300 2s but a 3300 3s fits too with 3mm protruding from the surface of the wing. It's a very robust wing and will fly nice and slow and is capable of being very agile. Flight times are 15-20 mins with both the 2s and 3s package. I reckon the 3s is faster so, whilst the 2s does very well, I reckon you can cover more ground with the 3s in the same amount of time.
My fave thing for it is to hoon around rugby fields. My flying has improved hugely since I started doing it bending it under football posts etc. I wouldn't want to cover any real range with it. It's not that powerful, and in wind it gets tossed around quite a bit. Whilst TBS promote it as a 10k range IMO there are far more suitable planes out there for this IMO. In standard power form it's not fast. But I fly mine 1-2 feet off the ground and so 40mph (estimate) feels plenty quick enough. My Z will do at least double that easy. But the cap is more fun 90% of the time.
It's not worth paying RRP for the Cap though. It's £180 with the electronics package. They go used for around £100 on ebay which ain't that cheap for a couple of tiny servos, a rubbish esc (it's a 12A the size of a fingernail, I Uprated to a 18A) and a weak but good quality motor. Mine is running a 6x4 prop and is pretty quiet when cruising at half throttle or so.
I agree the Cap seems very expensive. In fact really you could probably build a Zephyr 2 with the same FPV gear for the same price! TBS do sell stuff at a very high markup and quite often the quality certainly doesn't justify it (although this is certainly not always the case). I purchased a load of stuff off them and one thing was their ZII pushrod set. The clevises on them are really poor and they've failed on me twice. I'm surprised they sell them at all as they are so flimsy.
TBS released a 3S electronics package quite recently but I will probably end up getting the standard 2S setup first and seeing how that goes. But good point about the potential distance with the 3S. TBS website suggests a possible 35mins flight time :laugh:
The quality of the cap is pretty good I have to be honest. It's really quite a robust wing. It builds so light too. The big gopro holder at the front is an aero brick however, you're mad if you risk a gopro in a small wing for risky low down fast flying IMO.
I'm running the 2s motor package on 3s batteries and its fine. Took the prop down from 8" to 6". It's Not a speed demon but def not slow and it's the right speed to fly around under goal posts etc. Take a look at the motor and spec of the 3s package you will prob be able to buy the motor elsewhere and run 3s.
Keep an eye for a used tbs airframe cap on ebay. They come up fairly often in near mint condition. just add a pair of £5 metal servos and perhaps a slightly more powerful motor and you're fine :) she will fly fine with 2200 3s too, although the 3300 3s compacts fit better in the existing cut outs. Be careful with the motor she builds tail heavy. I have a fair bit of nose weight in mine which is a shame. Would balance well with a gopro.
She's extremely CG sensitive though. Loads of vids on YouTube of people bashing them into the ground.
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 05, 2015, 11:02:53 PM
I think if it's the only plane you have space for and like to travel with it a lot the Z3 does most things pretty well so I suppose it has it place. But I think a Z2 and Cap combined will do everything better.
Being able to fold the Z3 would be very attractive if I was going abroad or something. But I'd probably stick to smaller wings if I was to do that.
I was just thinking about the Z3 and I reckon the biggest mistake of the Z3 is it's actual name! The Z2 is an extremely well known FPV plane (I've had two people coming up to me not knowing anything about RC and asking me if my TekSumo was a Zephyr!) so it really has a big part of the history of FPV so far. It's also a classic and simple design and has a big following...
Ritewing then coming along with what is really quite an experimental design and calling it the Z3 almost eliminates that heritage immediately. If Ritewing is really crazy about the Z3 design then great, but better to call it something totally different and to keep the Zephyr lineage a simple delta wing and just improving it little by little every year. You'd have people queueing outside their door like Apple fans.
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 05, 2015, 11:02:53 PM
Is it easy to extend the size of the battery bay? Measure the length of the gens ace batteries I will do the same for my compacts. High discharge rate batteries are always bigger and you don't need it with planes with parallel batteries. Even if they only discharge at 10c that's still 66A you can draw.
What motor are you using?
Dimensions of a GensAce 4S 3300mAH 25C: 136 x 41 x 28
Dimensions of battery bay slot: 148 x 41.5 x 32
I'm using the Ritewing stock motor (http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=112_116_128&products_id=1092) for a ZII and an APC 10x6 prop.
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 05, 2015, 11:02:53 PM
The quality of the cap is pretty good I have to be honest. It's really quite a robust wing. It builds so light too. The big gopro holder at the front is an aero brick however, you're mad if you risk a gopro in a small wing for risky low down fast flying IMO.
I'm running the 2s motor package on 3s batteries and its fine. Took the prop down from 8" to 6". It's Not a speed demon but def not slow and it's the right speed to fly around under goal posts etc. Take a look at the motor and spec of the 3s package you will prob be able to buy the motor elsewhere and run 3s.
Keep an eye for a used tbs airframe cap on ebay. They come up fairly often in near mint condition. just add a pair of £5 metal servos and perhaps a slightly more powerful motor and you're fine :) she will fly fine with 2200 3s too, although the 3300 3s compacts fit better in the existing cut outs. Be careful with the motor she builds tail heavy. I have a fair bit of nose weight in mine which is a shame. Would balance well with a gopro.
She's extremely CG sensitive though. Loads of vids on YouTube of people bashing them into the ground.
The GoPro is important to me to fly with. Bit of a concern if you see risk in flying with it. So I guess you don't fly with a GoPro on yours? How well is it protected in a collision do you reckon?
Will keep an eye out on eBay.
Quote from: Amorgos on April 06, 2015, 12:14:55 AM
Being able to fold the Z3 would be very attractive if I was going abroad or something. But I'd probably stick to smaller wings if I was to do that.
I was just thinking about the Z3 and I reckon the biggest mistake of the Z3 is it's actual name! The Z2 is an extremely well known FPV plane (I've had two people coming up to me not knowing anything about RC and asking me if my TekSumo was a Zephyr!) so it really has a big part of the history of FPV so far. It's also a classic and simple design and has a big following...
Ritewing then coming along with what is really quite an experimental design and calling it the Z3 almost eliminates that heritage immediately. If Ritewing is really crazy about the Z3 design then great, but better to call it something totally different and to keep the Zephyr lineage a simple delta wing and just improving it little by little every year. You'd have people queueing outside their door like Apple fans.
I agree with your thinking on the zephyr. Calling it a zephyr piggybacks the strong reputation of the Z2- which makes sense as few people have heard of Ritewing, but it suggests it supersedes the Z2.
They should have called it a different name and worked on the Ritewing brand. Although, if it wasn't for trappy, Ritewing wouldn't be 10% of the success that it is today. Based on how he's marketing the Drak at the moment, I don't think Ritewing have much business sense. Great engineers, reasonable salesmen, but poor strategy and marketing IMO.
Quote from: Amorgos on April 05, 2015, 07:14:13 PM
Dimensions of a GensAce 4S 3300mAH 25C: 136 x 41 x 28
Dimensions of battery bay slot: 148 x 41.5 x 32
I'm using the Ritewing stock motor (http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=112_116_128&products_id=1092) for a ZII and an APC 10x6 prop.
Zippy Compact 4000 25c 146 x 43 x 28
Looks like you will struggle with the length unless you can extend the bay a bit.
The Ritewing motor is supposed to be quite efficient. Guess you have to be more careful with your throttle! I think the Ritewing motor will fly well with a 9x6 prop. Perhaps try one as at full throttle a 9" prop will draw less current than a 10"- may help you use the mah more sparingly?
Quote from: Amorgos on April 05, 2015, 07:14:13 PM
The GoPro is important to me to fly with. Bit of a concern if you see risk in flying with it. So I guess you don't fly with a GoPro on yours? How well is it protected in a collision do you reckon?
Will keep an eye out on eBay.
Aside from the fact they very occasionally freeze up mid flight.......It's a £300 fragile camera it's obviously a risk when flying with it outside of its protective case. Particularly when it's right in the front of the plane on the nose. And even worse when you are flying the plane fast and low taking risks and having fun.
The plywood cases most suppliers provide aren't bad- although the lens is still prone to damage- rough landings will be fine. But a real nose dive crash, or hitting a rugby post when hooning around and IMO a gopro is very likely to break. The cap will struggle to carry the additional weight of the hard case IMO. Well, it will, but the stall speed will increase and some of the charm of the cap will be lost.
IMO fly with a £30 board cam and/or £60 mobius. If you're flying really high up on a gentle trip then a gopro is a safe bet- but low down flying it's risky IMO and the low down twitchy footage is rarely that fantastic to justify a £300 camera.
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 06, 2015, 04:48:43 PM
I agree with your thinking on the zephyr. Calling it a zephyr piggybacks the strong reputation of the Z2- which makes sense as few people have heard of Ritewing, but it suggests it supersedes the Z2.
They should have called it a different name and worked on the Ritewing brand. Although, if it wasn't for trappy, Ritewing wouldn't be 10% of the success that it is today. Based on how he's marketing the Drak at the moment, I don't think Ritewing have much business sense. Great engineers, reasonable salesmen, but poor strategy and marketing IMO.
Likewise, I agree with your opinion that Ritewing have a LOT to thank for to TBS as they wouldn't be anywhere without them. I guess at the time, it was very hard to find similar products in Europe so they looked to Ritewing. They're lucky to be involved with such a forward thinking company colaborating on products like the Capy, and I'm sure Ritewing could be much more successful if they had a better understanding of their customers and a healthier marketing strategy.
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 06, 2015, 04:48:43 PM
Zippy Compact 4000 25c 146 x 43 x 28
Looks like you will struggle with the length unless you can extend the bay a bit.
The Ritewing motor is supposed to be quite efficient. Guess you have to be more careful with your throttle! I think the Ritewing motor will fly well with a 9x6 prop. Perhaps try one as at full throttle a 9" prop will draw less current than a 10"- may help you use the mah more sparingly?
I'm going to have a proper look ok HK soon for alternative battery sizes to see if I can stuff more mAH in those slots. I'm very keen on the battery bays as they are very well built and fits perfectly so I don't want to do without it or build another one from plywood.
I flew the ZII again today, and launched it 4 times. Once it was a dodgy launch and ALMOST nose-dived it again but narrowly missed the ground. I want to be really happy with the way I launch it before I build the 2nd version with all the FPV (GoPro etc.) kit on it.
Yeah I have to be more careful with the throttle. It will be interesting to test with a smaller prop as well, but also flying FPV will probably mean you're more careful with the throttle. I suppose I'm naturally more liberal with the throttle when I'm flying LoS.
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on April 06, 2015, 04:48:43 PM
Aside from the fact they very occasionally freeze up mid flight.......It's a £300 fragile camera it's obviously a risk when flying with it outside of its protective case. Particularly when it's right in the front of the plane on the nose. And even worse when you are flying the plane fast and low taking risks and having fun.
The plywood cases most suppliers provide aren't bad- although the lens is still prone to damage- rough landings will be fine. But a real nose dive crash, or hitting a rugby post when hooning around and IMO a gopro is very likely to break. The cap will struggle to carry the additional weight of the hard case IMO. Well, it will, but the stall speed will increase and some of the charm of the cap will be lost.
IMO fly with a £30 board cam and/or £60 mobius. If you're flying really high up on a gentle trip then a gopro is a safe bet- but low down flying it's risky IMO and the low down twitchy footage is rarely that fantastic to justify a £300 camera.
I've had loads of trouble with 3rd party batteries and the latest v2 version of the firmware with my GoPro Hero 3+. But never had trouble mid-recording or flight. I downgraded again and I've never had trouble.
I have a Mobius already that I use for my miniquad. But I love recording at 60fps as it makes a big difference. Only the GoPro and the new Xiaomi Yi cam does that as far as I am aware. The latter is far cheaper and comparable to the price of a Mobius. It's allmost the same size as the GoPro, but the lens is in a different location.
Mobius records at 60 fps at 720p. For low down twitchy flying this is perfect IMO. For less risky higher up flying- use the gopro if you want better footage.
I have just changed my launch method on my big wings and it's brilliant. I used to javelin launch then hammer the throttle. But I have used this method on my cap from day one
http://youtu.be/2TWHTzUhXlo (http://youtu.be/2TWHTzUhXlo)
The cap doesn't have much power, so it needs a big throw overhand/overhead. But it works every time.
I tried it this weekend with my bigger, heavier, more powerful wings and it's great. Less risky than the javelin throw for sure. Try this with the zeph. The wings I used it with were if anything heavier than your Z2.
Thanks for this. Good vid. I will try this technique.
So far I have been launching using an underhand grip and yes, you'd probably call it a javelin throw. I found it unpredictable and I've probably failed like 15% of the time which leaves me shit scared of launching it at all!
I'll try playing about with throwing it like that holding the nose end.
Quote from: Amorgos on April 08, 2015, 12:38:20 AM
Thanks for this. Good vid. I will try this technique.
So far I have been launching using an underhand grip and yes, you'd probably call it a javelin throw. I found it unpredictable and I've probably failed like 15% of the time which leaves me shit scared of launching it at all!
I'll try playing about with throwing it like that holding the nose end.
Full throttle, damn good throw overhead. Not directly up, perhaps 70 degrees. I cruising wing would stall probably, but a decent power:weight and it zooms along. As soon as you get your hand on the sticks you can level it off, although it seems to self level pretty much anyway. I throw with my thumb underneath and fingers on top, with my hand as close to the centre as I can. Others make a real point of having their thumb on top and fingers below, although I don't know why this is favoured by some.