About

Gender

Male


Location

Mill Valley, CA


About Me:

I have been building and flying and crashing both standard pod and boom helis as well as coaxials, for about 10 years. Semi-retired high end home theater guy, and all around gadget guy.


Please tell us a bit about your UAV interest

My main object in building helis is to gain enough knowledge to create a "heavy lift" heli, (cameras and long duration), that is an AUAV. (autonomous unmanned....). I know of every heli auto-pilot available to civilians, and they are all high dig, and made in other countries. I need a product like this....


Hometown:

Mill Valley, Ca.


Activity Feed

Thomas Rutter replied to peter christian's discussion 10000mah Battery capacity - seriously?
"Euan,
It's a whooping 3 lbs, it is a brick. It's 6.75x3.75x2.75", or 600x300x200mm.
That's a real close measure, as I double-stick taped fiberglass to the outside, and then covered it it in foam, and then wrapped it in gaffers tape. This one is a…"
Mar 5, 2014
Thomas Rutter replied to Stephan Noller's discussion Is my Mac the Problem? in ArduCopter User Group
"Stephan,
I also use Mac, but also being into regular helis, I was forced to get a Windows machine cuz' everything (esc's, TX's all the firmware), is written on it. Not!
Have you heard of Bootcamp? It will turn 32G of your Mac into a Windows unit,…"
Mar 3, 2014
Thomas Rutter commented on Rob_Lefebvre's blog post Helicopter Presents Attractive Alternative to Multi-rotors and Fixed-wing UAVs
"The tail can not produce enough power to keep up with a main in FFF."
Feb 7, 2014
Thomas Rutter commented on Rob_Lefebvre's blog post Helicopter Presents Attractive Alternative to Multi-rotors and Fixed-wing UAVs
"OK, gear ratios, and motor kv. The lower the kv, (volts/rpm 830kv with 2 volts=1660 etc.), the lower the rpm. That's your pinion rpm. (just in case you don't know what that is). So # of teeth in main/# of teeth in pinion x kv = your headspeed.
That…"
Feb 7, 2014
Thomas Rutter commented on Rob_Lefebvre's blog post Helicopter Presents Attractive Alternative to Multi-rotors and Fixed-wing UAVs
"Austin, That's an OK unit, but it's got a plastic all over the head. It is also set up for trick flying, thus the 6S battery. I use 4S and have plenty of power, even enough to do tick-tocks, which that Blade is designed to do, boing-boing in the…"
Feb 7, 2014
Thomas Rutter commented on Rob_Lefebvre's blog post Helicopter Presents Attractive Alternative to Multi-rotors and Fixed-wing UAVs
"Like I said, we need a "special" camera. The new Powershot does almost all of it, and it's not "huge".
Austin, I fly an HDX-500, with flybar. That has been replaced by the HC-500. Both are very well made, but, going back, I would have just gone with…"
Feb 7, 2014
Thomas Rutter commented on Rob_Lefebvre's blog post Helicopter Presents Attractive Alternative to Multi-rotors and Fixed-wing UAVs
"Austin, retire that 450 and go to a 500. They're not squirrelly like 450s. I skipped learning to fly on a 450 and went straight to a 500, after learning the basics on cheap coaxials. BTW, I get jealous just even hearing about Vario. I have their…"
Feb 7, 2014
Thomas Rutter commented on Rob_Lefebvre's blog post Helicopter Presents Attractive Alternative to Multi-rotors and Fixed-wing UAVs
"Nice work Denny!"
Feb 6, 2014
Thomas Rutter commented on Rob_Lefebvre's blog post Helicopter Presents Attractive Alternative to Multi-rotors and Fixed-wing UAVs
"Oh yeah, and a really fast wifi external antenna output so 41.5 MPs get to the ground in real time. Is that even doable yet?"
Feb 6, 2014
Thomas Rutter commented on Rob_Lefebvre's blog post Helicopter Presents Attractive Alternative to Multi-rotors and Fixed-wing UAVs
"The other cool thing about that old Canon PS is that the external DC input is 7.2V. I wired their connector from a stock power supply, (only place I could find it), to an Anyvolt adjustable VR, and got rid of 4 AA batts.
Canon or Nikon or someone…"
Feb 6, 2014
Thomas Rutter commented on Rob_Lefebvre's blog post Helicopter Presents Attractive Alternative to Multi-rotors and Fixed-wing UAVs
"Oliver is 100% correct. If you are not scared, you should go home before you hurt someone.
Here's some of the stuff I was building before I started with multis. This camera carrier did a good job of isolating vibration, thanks to the big draggy…"
Feb 5, 2014
Thomas Rutter commented on Rob_Lefebvre's blog post Helicopter Presents Attractive Alternative to Multi-rotors and Fixed-wing UAVs
"Wow, I switched to multi rotor, and you're switching back. Excluding the details, this is the argument I have been having with myself for a long time, which platform is better? After my fly-away and crash with a custom quad, (I did repair it, can't…"
Feb 4, 2014
Thomas Rutter replied to Thomas Rutter's discussion Arducopter or Russian Roulette?
"Wow, this crash turned into a big deal. And again, I'm impressed that so many stepped up to figure out what went wrong, and Randy trying to write out the possibility of it ever happening again, to anyone.
I read instructions, but I did not see the…"
Jan 20, 2014
Thomas Rutter replied to Thomas Rutter's discussion Arducopter or Russian Roulette?
"Wow, I didn't know I was gonna cause a such an outbreak.
Obviously, when I wrote my rant, I was pretty feakin' angry, but putting the blame totally on me is not fair, (some of you). You would have crashed too. I HAD NO TIME to make an informed…"
Jan 10, 2014
Thomas Rutter posted a discussion
OK, THIS IS A RANT!!I am done with Arducopter! I have been trying to get this platform to be reliable for way too long.I don't even want to add up all the damage, time and money I have wasted trying to get this flightcontrol system to work as…
Jan 7, 2014
Thomas Rutter replied to saba's discussion HexaCopter Electronics Help Required in ArduCopter User Group
"Saba,
I have built a unit with aircraft 6061 wing spar square tube for arms. It's a quad right now, has been a hex. I used 3.18mm carbon fiber for the center plates, sample pieces from ProTech Composites, cheap.
Check out Monto RC. I've talked to…"
Jan 4, 2014
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