Eagles hunt my Skywalker!

Hi everyone,

Two years of research and dozens of hours building and tweaking and my Skywalker 1900 has finally flown

. Absolutely awesome. Everything seems to be working just fine at the moment( except HIL ever since upgrading from 3.4 to 3.5)

My biggest problem however are birds of prey in my area are wanting to take out my Skywalker! I am on constant guard and now too scared to do a cross country trip for fear of not seeing my bird return in one piece or more than likely not at all.

Has anyone else had similar problems. I would love to be able to utilise the onboard pezzo speaker to pulse a high frequency shrill at programmed intervals but I don't know how to write code. Could I put an ultrasonic sensor on the wing facing upwards to pick up the approach of these Kamikazes,and then trigger the onboard speaker somehow?

From studying these predatory beasts of the air, it seems that you either have to fly low and fast or at high altitude and nothing in between.

What solutions if any have you guys come up with?

Regards, Julian.

Excellent! Thanks for your input and the pic. Justin. I love those eyes, they look very realistic. I'm going to google for a set of those as soon as I get a chance. Hopefully I can find a similar set only slightly more evil/scary looking.

I have decided to hold off on doing my first "out of site" cross country flight until the hot summer period is over. My theory is that cooler temperatures equal far less thermal activity and therefore, possibly less activity by the big predatory Wedge Tailed eagles that so love to take a free ride from A to B on such thermals. I just think they would be less likely to dive from a great height if they knew they had to actually flap there wings for a change to get back up to altitude.

Like I said in my original post, it's the cross country flight that i'm worried about most, as I have no way of knowing what is around me and therefore no way of knowing when to take evasive action.

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Julian March 6, 2016 at 3:12am

Excellent! Thanks for your input and the pic. Justin. I love those eyes, they look very realistic. I'm going to google for a set of those as soon as I get a chance. Hopefully I can find a similar set only slightly more evil/scary looking.

I have decided to hold off on doing my first "out of site" cross country flight until the hot summer period is over. My theory is that cooler temperatures equal far less thermal activity and therefore, possibly less activity by the big predatory Wedge Tailed eagles that so love to take a free ride from A to B on such thermals. I just think they would be less likely to dive from a great height if they knew they had to actually flap there wings for a change to get back up to altitude.

Like I said in my original post, it's the cross country flight that i'm worried about most, as I have no way of knowing what is around me and therefore no way of knowing when to take evasive action.
Julian March 6, 2016 at 1:41am

Here we go gentleman.

This is how the multi-billion dollar Australian mining company BHP Billiton protect there UAVs.

"sporting $2 stick-on cat’s eyes to keep the local hawks at bay"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/drones-take-...
- Justin L > Julian March 6, 2016 at 2:41am
  
  I put eyes from toothless (a dragon on the show how to train your dragon) on my x8. It hasnt been attacked by a eagle but it hasnt been attacked by a tiger either. Not sure how effective it is. The speaker system i rigged up on the solo works ok but the solo itself scares most birds. I also have a speaker system mounted into the bottom of my ranger.the sound chip on both are predator hawk/eagle attack sounds. I believe that it actually attracts eagles. Forked tail kits anyway. Had 5 follow it to the ground. They didnt attack it, just curious i think. The most effective method i have found is a good old fashioned fpv dog fight. Havnt tried it with a wedge tail eagle tho. I cant see them being scared of a 2-3m plane no matter what you do or put on it. My advice is if you see a wedgie,try to outrun it and land.
  - Justin L > Justin L March 6, 2016 at 2:51am
    
    This is the ranger. It also has carbon fibre leading edge to help protect it from bird strike. It is mainly used to scare birds from crops.
    - Justin L > Justin L March 6, 2016 at 2:54am
      
      Try that again.
      - Justin L > Justin L March 6, 2016 at 3:12am
DG March 4, 2016 at 8:17pm
Richard Kennedy March 3, 2016 at 4:54pm

Cloaking device mode? Come on devs get with it!!!! lol
Justin L March 2, 2016 at 2:51pm

Speakers, lights etc dont really work. I have even tried massive eyes. I have found with birds of prey, the best method is to turn the tables, become the bigger predator.
Jay March 2, 2016 at 1:27pm

My tiny toy quads (x5c) get attacked by hummingbirds regularly. I don't know what to do about big or small birds other than take their picture and hope for the best.

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Eagles hunt my Skywalker!

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