I know there are a few gliding fans on here, so I thought I would post what I have been up to recently - learning to aerotow both flying the tug and the glider. My mate John and I spent most of last summer focused on this as it is not easy. It has cost us one tug and three gliders so far but we now consider ourselves reasonably competent and have taken part in a number of major aerotow events across the country. A few weeks ago I decided that the ultimate challenge was to FPV a glider from aerotow launch to landing. I chose a rather tatty DG300 which I had bought second hand as it was not too heavy, was very stable and had loads of space for FPV gear once the pilot was ejected. I fitted it with an Eagle Tree OSD Pro with Guardian expander, 650TVL mini camera and ImmersionRC video tx. I used my trusty Eagle eyes tracking antenna system with a 11dbi CP helical to ensure a good video feed to the goggles. We followed a logical step by step flight test programme to get to this point, including testing the stabilisation and RTH, which takes some thinking through on a glider. I used the airbrakes on the throttle channel so I could induce the proper failsafe condition which is airbrakes fully deployed (to prevent a flyaway) plus 15% mix from a switch. This worked well with the airbrakes retracting as the OSD Pro throttles up in RTH mode. However, if the glider was above the set RTH altitude of 150m then the brakes would be deployed i.e. throttle closed. This worked well. We have now achieved the objective of a launch to landing FPV flight and the proof is in the video....
https://youtu.be/jRFa6YVY58o
This was the second all FPV flight as I forgot to press the record button on the first - a sign of nerves? The wind was blustery and blowing 15-20mph, not ideal but OK. The launch, directly into wind, achieved 320m or 1000ft with the glider immediately going into strong sink which bottomed out at 138m. Therefore, there must be a thermal about which I eventually found climbing back up to 300m. The flight then was a slow descent, with occasional weak lift, to a conservative landing with great relief in getting it down. Subsequent flights proved that the glider is happier with just a little bit of stabilisation on to damp out the bumps from the blustery conditions, it certainly makes for more relaxed flying.
I am not convinced that FPV gliding holds any advantages as it is difficult to find thermals and lack of peripheral vision appears to be more of a handicap than with a powered aircraft as it hardly penetrates into a strong wind. My spotter was very active and ready to take control at any time. Perhaps a few more flights in better conditions will change my view.
Mick
Very nice...
Mick,
Very nice. I notice from your youtube channel that you fly in France. I'm heading there on hols this summer nd was wondering whether to pack my 250. What are the rules on FPV and am I likely to offend the Gendarme?!
Really enjoyed that Mick, the tow was spot on, catching that thermal nicely.
QuoteI am not convinced that FPV gliding holds any advantages as it is difficult to find thermals and lack of peripheral vision appears to be more of a handicap than with a powered aircraft as it hardly penetrates into a strong wind.
On the contrary, the world FPV record 100km/62.13mi which still stands today by R. Montiel was done using a thermal glider.
Yes he used power for the first initial climb ( but could have used a tow ) but then the whole flight after that was thermal only and he set the record that nobody else has even got close to.
Charles ( Myflydream ) managed a 100km out and back flight with the MyFlyDream but it was packed full of huge lipos, lost rc control way before half way and didnt land so much as crash nearby making it null and void.
Looks perfect.
Regarding the lack of all round vision. I think a headtracker and a pan tilt roll camera mount really helps. (Might even fit in the cockpit!) That is my impresssion from flying passenger on Rob Thompson Ogar maiden flight which you can see in this thread (http://www.fpvhub.com/index.php/topic,36851.msg207944.html#msg207944)
regards
Andy
Do you ever bump into my old club mates tony h and John g on the airotow circuit
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That's really cool.