Peter-Hans de Zwarte's Posts (3)

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The last journey of my EasyStar

I recently bought a GoPro (HD Hero2) for my EasyStar, but managed to crash it before I could mount the camera.
But I just had to see the HD footage from the sky's, so I glued the EasyStar together again.


I throw it in the air and immediately felt it was tail heavy and banked to the left.
I trimmed it a bit and managed to fly it reasonably well, I still never got comfortable whit it.

I still got some great footage from the flight for you to enjoy.


Sadly this EasyStar never got to fly properly with the ArduPilot Mega it was intended for.
I actually think the crash was caused by the wing/wings getting loose.

Luckily the tree branches and foam probably saved my GoPro. 

I don't think I will fix this EasyStar anymore, it is quit bent and like you can see from the video the top got cut clean off. I have ordered an TekSumo from HobbyKing and looking forward to learn to fly a wing, don't know yet if APM can handle the TekSumo?

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My first "major" crash!

I have never had a major crash (except some stupid nosedives) until today.

After the first waypoint ArduPilot suddenly decided my EasyStar was to high, and before I could recover control it disappeared behind some tress.
It was quit a loud bang when it hit, whatever it hit.

Lucky it wasn't dead, so I could track the plane from the sound of the engine.

So after walking about half a mile I found it neatly placed about 50 feet into the air, utmost on a branch:

 
dscn5528n.th.jpg dscn5526vm.th.jpg

 

First I climbed a ladder halfway up into the tree, and tried to free climb, but I just could not reach it.

I work as a linesman (I believe Americans call it that? Climbing in poles and maintaining the electric grid and so on.). So I drove all the way to work and back (1 hour drive) to get my climbing gear, some rope and a chainsaw.

 

Then I had to climb the neighbouring tree, and from there I tried to throw a rope around the branch the plane was wedged in. Finally, after almost an hour high above the ground I got it down.

Luckily I didn't need to use the chainsaw, which I would. Leaving the plane was not an option, even if the falling tree would have crushed it.

 

dscn5530o.th.jpg dscn5534.th.jpg

 

Amazingly, there are some minor dents here and there, but that's the only damage. The tail section has come a bit loose, but some glue and she is up flying again.

 

So, it turns out my major crash wasn't so major after all, only a lot of work and sweat.

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Replay XD1080

replayxd1080-1-hero.jpgMaybe this camera I found on the web would interest fellow aerial photographers.

 

It apparently doesn't weigh more than 85g, can take up to 1080p and it looks like a easy camera to fit on a plane compared to a bit more bulky GoPro.

 

It doesn't have a fisheye lens either, (is that a good thing or not?) 

It looks like it's still on pre-order, so I can't fiend any proper reviews yet.

 

Here is a link to the product site.

 

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