Posted by Alex Smith on October 30, 2009 at 1:22pm
Hi, I'm very new to the UAV scene. I was interested in buying a plane that would give me a flight time of well over 1 hour and still have a payload capability to support a camera,GPS, and transmittor (for video streaming and controls). It seems hard to find something that can fly this long, or maybe I'm just not looking in the right direction. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!
Thanks again for the responses, yea these are the 2 planes I hear about most in the RC world when it comes to UAV, the EasyStar and Maja. I'm wondering why the EasyStar has to be modded with EasyGlider wings; why not use the EasyGlider itself, what advantages does the EasyStar have over the EasyGlider?
And it looks like like the Maja is designed to carry all that payload and airframe size/weight and still be able to achieve a 1 hr flight time, and has a 1.5ft longer wingspan
When it comes to long flight time, what components have to be considered other than the motor, batteries, propeller? I'm still very new to all this science and terminology in the RC world, lol. This may sound very elementary, but what prevents us from implementing the most powerful battery back and motor in a plane if they can fit?
You should try to keep your airframe as small as possible. Double the size of your airframe and the power you need to keep it aloft will get multiplied by 10. So if you're really going for long flight times you should go for as small airframe as possible. The only reason to make your A/F bigger is because of payload which in your case is the camera.
The "EasyStar with EasyGlider Wings" is a really good example of what I'm trying to say here. And it might even be able to carry your camera and still have well over 1h flight time. This is the setup I'd go for if I were you.
I'm personally very fond of EasyGliders; I carry as payload 250grams digital camera and PPZ autopilot and with 4,4Ah 3S LiPo I get flight times of about 45 to 50 minutes and without the camera a little over 1 hour. Quite not 1h+ with the payload but then again I'm using a real over kill 400W motor in it and therefore I have to run it at low throttle settings all the time which with existing brushless ESCs is really, really inefficient (and besides it adds weight to the setup).
Thank you very much for the help (esp Thomas). I really like the Maja since I think it will give me what I'm looking for. Really the main things I had in mind was if it could handle my requirements for range (between 100m-1000m) and flight time of 1+ hour and it looks like it can do that if I get the full package. Any idea of the max altitude and speed for this model?
Hi Alex,
Please have a look in the following discussion: http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/penguin-uav-airframe
Penguin could give you 'well over 1 hour and still have a payload capability to support a camera,GPS, and transmittor '. Please email me if you are interested and I will provide detailed configuration options, delivery and pricing (http://www.uavfactory.com/contacts/).
I should have 45-55 minutes with my "old school" SIG Kadet Senior e-conversion running a 6s lipo with 9000mAh. But I never stayed in flight that long until now.
You might want to try the Borjet Maja (Not cheap: basic kit ~300USD).
A user on RCGroups said that he had it in the air for 1/2 hour on a 3S 5000 mAhr battery. So if you parallel two, you should be able to stay in the air for 1 hour at a low throttle setting. Borjet claims one hour for their motor/ESC/battey accessory kit.
Replies
And it looks like like the Maja is designed to carry all that payload and airframe size/weight and still be able to achieve a 1 hr flight time, and has a 1.5ft longer wingspan
When it comes to long flight time, what components have to be considered other than the motor, batteries, propeller? I'm still very new to all this science and terminology in the RC world, lol. This may sound very elementary, but what prevents us from implementing the most powerful battery back and motor in a plane if they can fit?
The "EasyStar with EasyGlider Wings" is a really good example of what I'm trying to say here. And it might even be able to carry your camera and still have well over 1h flight time. This is the setup I'd go for if I were you.
I'm personally very fond of EasyGliders; I carry as payload 250grams digital camera and PPZ autopilot and with 4,4Ah 3S LiPo I get flight times of about 45 to 50 minutes and without the camera a little over 1 hour. Quite not 1h+ with the payload but then again I'm using a real over kill 400W motor in it and therefore I have to run it at low throttle settings all the time which with existing brushless ESCs is really, really inefficient (and besides it adds weight to the setup).
So in short: try keep it small and lightweight!
Sami F.
found this link on it:
http://www.borjet.de/xtc/product_info.php?info=p31_MAJA-UAV---RPV.html
Please have a look in the following discussion: http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/penguin-uav-airframe
Penguin could give you 'well over 1 hour and still have a payload capability to support a camera,GPS, and transmittor '. Please email me if you are interested and I will provide detailed configuration options, delivery and pricing (http://www.uavfactory.com/contacts/).
Regards,
Konstantins
You might want to try the Borjet Maja (Not cheap: basic kit ~300USD).
A user on RCGroups said that he had it in the air for 1/2 hour on a 3S 5000 mAhr battery. So if you parallel two, you should be able to stay in the air for 1 hour at a low throttle setting. Borjet claims one hour for their motor/ESC/battey accessory kit.
RCGroups: www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1095996&page=5
RCGroups: www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1118600&highlight=maja
Regards,
TCIII