Angry flier rants

Aireal Anarchist

Elite member
Duck Hunters....

As they go by my docks during bird season when I am flying my beaver they slowdown, stand up and point their shot guns at the Beaver float plane overhead, yeah its a joke I get it ....its happen so often I now reply with ...$350 bucks if you hit it buddy, they let out a nervous laugh and leave but I know if I were not there its a matter of time before one of them shoots one down....

so for my long range planes I cant yell at them not to shoot it down so I employ the trick of using what I call "Red Neck Camouflage" the coastguard flies up and down the columbia river gorge a couple times a day and coastguard boats run the river with all the ocean freighters headed upriver to Portlandia so the locals are used to seeing the Coastguard Colors every day!....so I feel if it makes them think twice before running to their shot gun for target fun its a win for me if they think it maybe a Coast Guard Search & Rescue Drone.....the plane Im building today just got the same color scheme....jeesh seems like everyone is out to get us RC guys lately


C1 Chaser.jpg
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
I have much to rant about but will confine my outburst to the very poor quality of radio equipment used for radio control.
All systems have serious issues including how easy they are to hack on air.
It reminds me of the early days of wireless LAN technologies which was only truly settled when the WiFi consortimum was formed and now WiFi is almost a necessity and is extremely stable.

A loss of network connection cannot kill someone but a model flying off out of control can!

As a communications and WiFi engineer I find it ridiculous that one pile of :poop: can be seen or adjudged to be better than some other pile of :poop: simply because of its name or its aesthetics is so lame!

Using the development of WiFi as an example by now we should have radio systems that not only provide telemetry as standard but our radios should have multiple antenna arrays with software controlled transmitter beem steering, full encryption security, and ranges of around 10 Klm at the low data rate we use. All of this at a price of less than $100. Instead we are to accept a plethora of radio equipment which is not always compatible or interoperative, (often when even supplied by the same manufacturer).

Unfortunately we are provided with :poop: systems, (all manufacturers), that are very short range, subject to poor antenna design and, installations and programming methods that would not be out of place on the Apollo Space program. There are radio systems that suffer from blocking and can even suffer from interference in some extreme circumstances.

Binding errors and problems, (including shared secret setting and any future implementation of encryption key), could be exchanged if the binding was done by cable connection and not by an open Tx signal mode, (which can be easily interfered with at this time). Setup issues could become a thing of the past with a setup checklist driven by the Tx software.

Some people will point to the cost but I remember the early days of Wireless LAn technology where an ISA card cost $1000 at the time and an accesspoint cost $4000 and now an access point can be obtained for around $200 and a WiFi card effectively zero as they are embedded in almost everything we buy, (except radio control equipment).

Sadly most will still fight over the brand of crap they use and there will be no push to have a truly modern control platform!

Just venting at the lack of technology in the :poop: we are forced to use and accept. To misquote Ralph Nader, Unsafe at any distance!

Have fun!
 

JasonK

Participation Award Recipient
Sadly most will still fight over the brand of crap they use and there will be no push to have a truly modern control platform!

Have fun!

I here you here. Radios locked down to x channels (with how capable any basic MCU is, there isn't any reason to have '6 channel' TXs any more).

I would _Love_ to get see a modular TX/RX system were you can connect your own modules to a TX system - for example, I would love to add on a Google Glass type thing to provide a HUD for telemetry from the plane (battery power, receiver signal quality, etc) so I wouldn't need to glance down at my radio to read that info off (if my TX/RX even support that at all).
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
I here you here. Radios locked down to x channels (with how capable any basic MCU is, there isn't any reason to have '6 channel' TXs any more).

I would _Love_ to get see a modular TX/RX system were you can connect your own modules to a TX system - for example, I would love to add on a Google Glass type thing to provide a HUD for telemetry from the plane (battery power, receiver signal quality, etc) so I wouldn't need to glance down at my radio to read that info off (if my TX/RX even support that at all).
You are correct and what you would like ot see could be intergrated into the telemetry stream with the right camera design. On the FPV screen could also be included the distance and direction from home in the case of a loss of video feed! That would improve safety but would require the addition of a GPS unit designed for the purpose!

Have fun!
 

Guy S.

Well-known member
People with no self preservation instinct. My local club is on a state college campus. There are walking, hiking, and mountain biking trails all around. But people feel the need to park, walk, sit. ect...... on the runway, near the runway, or will just walk out in the path of planes, quads, or what ever is flying at the time. We have had to move people out of the way of giant scale 150cc 3d planes. They are so oblivious they will just try to walk out into the path of them. Meanwhile anyone with any sense is back behind the flight line, ready to move out of the way if something goes wrong. Because what could possibly go wrong with a flying lawnmower going 65mph upside down 3’ off the ground.
 

Ranger_107

Elite member
Duck Hunters....

As they go by my docks during bird season when I am flying my beaver they slowdown, stand up and point their shot guns at the Beaver float plane overhead, yeah its a joke I get it ....its happen so often I now reply with ...$350 bucks if you hit it buddy, they let out a nervous laugh and leave but I know if I were not there its a matter of time before one of them shoots one down....

so for my long range planes I cant yell at them not to shoot it down so I employ the trick of using what I call "Red Neck Camouflage" the coastguard flies up and down the columbia river gorge a couple times a day and coastguard boats run the river with all the ocean freighters headed upriver to Portlandia so the locals are used to seeing the Coastguard Colors every day!....so I feel if it makes them think twice before running to their shot gun for target fun its a win for me if they think it maybe a Coast Guard Search & Rescue Drone.....the plane Im building today just got the same color scheme....jeesh seems like everyone is out to get us RC guys lately


View attachment 169026
Love the paint job. looks legit.
 

"Corpse"

Legendary member
@Guy S. Too much of this "safety first " nonsense... people have forgotten how to take responsibility for their own wellbeing....
Natural selection is the only scientific theory I believe from Darwin.

What I think is stupid is how people never look up! I'm flying orbits around people with a micro quad doing about 20-30 mph and they're completely oblivious! PEOPLE NEED TO BE MORE OBSERVANT!
 

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
Mentor
As a communications and WiFi engineer I find it ridiculous that one pile of :poop: can be seen or adjudged to be better than some other pile of :poop: simply because of its name or its aesthetics is so lame!

Dude...

You just defined politics in the 21st century. ;)

Too much of this "safety first " nonsense... people have forgotten how to take responsibility for their own wellbeing....

I think you and I are both solidly on the safety first side of things. The tools we use can be deadly. I totally concur with where you are coming from Hondo.

I think the issue isn't safety. The issue is tyranny in the name of safety. Politicians and other 'authorities' make the case to ASSUME safety in the interest of granting power to one of Hai-Lee's ridiculous piles of :poop:.

Rules and laws do not make anyone safe anymore than owning a firearm makes a person safe.

The only thing that contributes to safety is personal responsibility to be safe that is practiced and repeated daily and in everything we do.

'Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you can hold in your hands.' -Cooper

Anything else is safety theater and that is the most dangerous place to be.
 
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Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
This is a sort of reverse rant but I have been battling to be able to use the safest setup I can for my models but the local self appointed expert on all RC matters refused to even evaluate my requests. For the past three years i have been the target of his anger and insults as I refused to blindly comply with his demands. At the same time inadvertent motor starts and fly-away models have been regular occurences under the experts rules.

I raised the matter with the national associations and they supported the "Expert" in the local club, (I think a personal friend). The next step was to raise the matter directly with the national/federal regualtor and suddenly action is afoot. Unfortunately in order to prove the serious implications of the setup and handling problems mandated by the national association and the local club expert I pointed out the club history of fly-away models as an indication of distinctly unsafe setups.

Now it seems the club is wanting to discuss and possibly evaluate my setup for safety and there is an urgent message from the national regulator seeking a list of all downed models and fly-away aircraft experienced by all of the club membership in the past 24 months!

I warned them but no one listened, I endured abuse but no one cared, what happens now is all attributable to their own self importance and ignorance!

Vengence is best served cold and it is almost winter here.

Have fun! (I am).
 

messyhead

Well-known member
This is a sort of reverse rant but I have been battling to be able to use the safest setup I can for my models but the local self appointed expert on all RC matters refused to even evaluate my requests. For the past three years i have been the target of his anger and insults as I refused to blindly comply with his demands. At the same time inadvertent motor starts and fly-away models have been regular occurences under the experts rules.

I raised the matter with the national associations and they supported the "Expert" in the local club, (I think a personal friend). The next step was to raise the matter directly with the national/federal regualtor and suddenly action is afoot. Unfortunately in order to prove the serious implications of the setup and handling problems mandated by the national association and the local club expert I pointed out the club history of fly-away models as an indication of distinctly unsafe setups.

Now it seems the club is wanting to discuss and possibly evaluate my setup for safety and there is an urgent message from the national regulator seeking a list of all downed models and fly-away aircraft experienced by all of the club membership in the past 24 months!

I warned them but no one listened, I endured abuse but no one cared, what happens now is all attributable to their own self importance and ignorance!

Vengence is best served cold and it is almost winter here.

Have fun! (I am).

That's a good result, and good they will finally see (or be shown) some sense.

And I hope you get an apology from the club
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
That's a good result, and good they will finally see (or be shown) some sense.

And I hope you get an apology from the club
Appology? I have been around the club for 5 years and witnessed some horrific temper displays and even what is close ot child abuse but the demigod thinks it is his right and a funtion of his role. This was brought to the attention of the federal authorities after he said that he did not care about what the regualtions said and that as far as his being a bully he said "do your worst". Unfortunately this was only the first step! I had it in my sights to close down all flying through out the state if necessary or even the country. I would also not discount contacting the insurance underwriters withthe true risks they were covering!

I will be lucky if there is a 12 month pause in the abuse.

Still enjoying the moment here!

Have fun!
 

Hondo76251

Legendary member
Here's my rant for the day... at least concerning the hobby (we're all well aware of the cluster foxtrot that the rest of the world is at this point...)

Adding yet another style of connector to my collection... the latching kind...

Molex, anderson, Deans, TRX, XT30, XT60, XT90, EC3, EC5, JST, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 2.0, 2.54...

And now 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 pin latching 1.25 connectors...

20200521_064002.jpg


Because being short of any one cable can put a kink in a project; force you to wait for hung-lo-Charlie to put it on the slow boat from china while you have to decide if you're going to shelf the build while you wait or live with it scattered on across your work bench for a month and hope you still have all the other bits and pieces after they've been shuffled around 4 or 5 times between now and then... and don't even think of taking the 100 mile drive to the nearest LHS because all you get is a blank look and a, "you mean this?" As he hands you a servo extension... even radio shack has been reduced to nothing more than a glorified cell phone store so you go ahead and find what you need on amazon prime and pay 5x the price so you only have to contemplate where you went so wrong in your life for a couple days instead of a couple weeks...