151–160 of 167 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is why true "failsafe" mechanisms tend to be mechanical more than electrical: less prone to failure.
How do you provide this in a quadcopter? The rotors are too small to allow autogiration...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the intent was that he joined an RC club so he knew what planes/parts/tools/etc were quality and which were junk. Not that he had to actually join a club in order to purchase anything.
Sure. That still sounds much worse in many ways than all the info being up on Tom's Drones or wherever.
Local clubs were a much better experience, because they could tell you about the local stores, or lend you the tools and supplies that you only need once (I'm looking at you, green loctite), or help you assemble that tricky part that has terrible instructions.
Also, in a time before ready to fly models, everything came as a broken down, or partially assembled kit. Having someone who knew what they were doing check that you had assembled your very expensive model correctly was an enormous benefit. For a new pilot, having an experienced pilot fly your airplane for the first time, and sort out the trim, etc saved a lot of people a lot of time, money and heartache.
You don't really need any of that with a multicopter - they're so much simpler mechanically. I can see how they've gotten away without that kind of community, but i still think it's a major loss.
I used to fly remote control aeroplanes as a hobby. There's a really strong culture of having a licence and insurance before you're allowed to fly solo. You have to pass a test before you can get insurance, and there are more tests if you want to fly around spectators (stunt shows, etc). This seems to be completely missing in the drone community. I quizzed some drone enthusiasts about it and they responded with "meh"…
Well drones are ideally suited to eventually being equipped with light weight sensors to prevent collisions. If the tech could be on cameras, I think it was ultrasonic, surely it has improved enough that even simply avoidance systems are possible.
I used to fly remote control aeroplanes as a hobby. There's a really strong culture of having a licence and insurance before you're allowed to fly solo. You have to pass a test before you can get insurance, and there are more tests if you want to fly around spectators (stunt shows, etc). This seems to be completely missing in the drone community. I quizzed some drone enthusiasts about it and they responded with "meh"…
What remote control model aircraft license are you talking about? I'm not aware of such a thing in the USA.
There are three tiers that I remember. A, B, and C. You get insurance through the BMFA, and an A licence allows you to fly solo. B is required for performing at shows. C is for bigger models and teaching/exams etc (iirc).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the intent was that he joined an RC club so he knew what planes/parts/tools/etc were quality and which were junk. Not that he had to actually join a club in order to purchase anything.
Sure. That still sounds much worse in many ways than all the info being up on Tom's Drones or wherever.
I went Christmas shopping today and saw various £200+ drones for sale in high street shops. You can walk in, buy one, and walk out no questions asked.
Great in many ways, terrible in others. It gives no opportunity to raises issues about liability and the fact that these things are not really toys.
One of the first things I learnt at my club was just how easily a prop will take off your finger (by way of a carrot). They are not toys.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is only a matter of time before decent pilots make mistakes. So what you are saying is that the risk-taking pilots are closing the "window of unregulated flying" a little bit faster than you'd like to see. Eventually, that window will be closed nonetheless.
If decent pilots make unavoidable mistakes, then they will make unavoidable mistakes when its regulated too?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven't read the FAA regulations in extreme detail, but from what I've surmised, RC copters would count as needing to be registered. So if that makes it a drone -- and I don't see why not, as it is an unmanned aircraft and whether it had a camera or not doesn't seem to matter to the FAA -- then yes, people have been killed by them. I remember in Brooklyn a couple years back a teenager was killed quite gruesomely in…
Yep, the FAA does not distinguish between an RC aircraft and a drone. There's also been accidents with larger UAVs: http://www.suasnews.com/2012/05/15515/schiebel-s-100-crash-k...
Which is kinda funny, because congress have expressly forbidden the FAA from rulemaking about rc aircraft. the FAA have gone and tried anyway.
I used to fly remote control aeroplanes as a hobby. There's a really strong culture of having a licence and insurance before you're allowed to fly solo. You have to pass a test before you can get insurance, and there are more tests if you want to fly around spectators (stunt shows, etc). This seems to be completely missing in the drone community. I quizzed some drone enthusiasts about it and they responded with "meh"…
Well drones are ideally suited to eventually being equipped with light weight sensors to prevent collisions. If the tech could be on cameras, I think it was ultrasonic, surely it has improved enough that even simply avoidance systems are possible.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure. That still sounds much worse in many ways than all the info being up on Tom's Drones or wherever.
The info was on rec.models.rc.air and rec.models.rc.heli and flyinggiants.com for scale enthusiasts, and runryder for heli enthusiasts, and .... etc. They are fantastic resources,but they aren't in-person help. Local clubs were a much better experience, because they could tell you about the local stores, or lend you the tools and supplies that you only need once (I'm looking at you, green loctite), or help you assemb…
Now you can walk into Maplin (UK electronics store) and buy a £200 drone as a Christmas gift for your 12 year old. The rep who sells you the drone won't tell you about insurance, or how dangerous they can be, or anything...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you provide this in a quadcopter? The rotors are too small to allow autogiration...
you might use something different, like a parachute.
* They're only effective from quite some altitude, much higher than you typically fly multicopters
* They'll still just soften the landing somewhat anyway
* Multicopters are much more fragile than, say, EPP planes,
* You have to make sure they don't get caught up in the props
* Also you need to find a reliable way to trigger them -- for model aircraft in general and multicopters in particular, humans are way too slow and sudden high accelerations in arbitrary directions are common for multicopters.