Exploring the Explorer

Steve Fox

Active member
You definitely can't miss that. You might have to call into air traffic control at the heights you fly lol.

I'm not brave enough yet to even attempt night flying but i would really like to, setting more goals in the hobby

Is it harder to fly at night? Do you fly just as high as during the day?

Ive not taken it high in the dark, i have only flown night time on the basic cub and was making sure i kept track of where i was by following the lit roads.

i wouldn't recommend it on a plane without GPS unless like me you have learned the look of the roads lit by lamp posts over time as light fades on many flights, everything looks different in the dark!

I used a home made ground beacon to mark home position in the dark field, it was made of 6x 3w blue LEDs flashing but ive just built a new one made of 12x 10w blue LEDs in two banks of 6 which flash in a wig wag pattern but i may change the code in the arduino to make them all flash together as it will be twice as bright.

Its controlled with an Arduino nano (they are great little things which drives two Logic level Mosfet transistors to drive the LEDs which are 12v 10w chips and do not require voltage or current limiting when powered from a 3s pack or plugged into my car.

The video does not do the LEDs justice, they are very VERY bright and leave your eyes seeing dots for many minutes afterwards if you look at it even indirectly lol
Its easily as bright as the led police lights, possibly brighter :)
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BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
That was awesome! Pyros on planes, especially the roman candles firing forward EPIC
Ive not taken it high in the dark, i have only flown night time on the basic cub and was making sure i kept track of where i was by following the lit roads.

i wouldn't recommend it on a plane without GPS unless like me you have learned the look of the roads lit by lamp posts over time as light fades on many flights, everything looks different in the dark!

I used a home made ground beacon to mark home position in the dark field, it was made of 6x 3w blue LEDs flashing but ive just built a new one made of 12x 10w blue LEDs in two banks of 6 which flash in a wig wag pattern but i may change the code in the arduino to make them all flash together as it will be twice as bright.

Its controlled with an Arduino nano (they are great little things which drives two Logic level Mosfet transistors to drive the LEDs which are 12v 10w chips and do not require voltage or current limiting when powered from a 3s pack or plugged into my car.

The video does not do the LEDs justice, they are very VERY bright and leave your eyes seeing dots for many minutes afterwards if you look at it even indirectly lol
Its easily as bright as the led police lights, possibly brighter :)
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It does look like a police cruiser. Should get a lot of attention. I guess flying high altitude at night you wouldn't see much from the camera or even much of the plane. Over a city or town would be some good footage though
 

Steve Fox

Active member
That was awesome! Pyros on planes, especially the roman candles firing forward EPIC

It does look like a police cruiser. Should get a lot of attention. I guess flying high altitude at night you wouldn't see much from the camera or even much of the plane. Over a city or town would be some good footage though

Thats where ive flown when ive done it in the dark, ive launched from my normal location in the fields but flown over the houses and followed the roads, they are lit and help you keep track f where you are on a plane without GPS.

its a totally different experience flying at night and really cool but your constantly nervous too!
 

PoorManRC

Master member
Where is @PoorManRC at?

I see him liking my stuff but not chatting, kinda miss the guy lol
I appreciate you asking! It's just been a WEEK! That's all. Money problems, Health issues.... NO progress! 😖😞😭
Doing my best to fix that over the next week. Progress anyway.... Can't even afford PAINT. 😢 But like everything else, battling my way through. 👍
 

Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
I appreciate you asking! It's just been a WEEK! That's all. Money problems, Health issues.... NO progress! 😖😞😭
Doing my best to fix that over the next week. Progress anyway.... Can't even afford PAINT. 😢 But like everything else, battling my way through. 👍
I was starting to wonder why I wasn't getting any notifications on your awesome scout build.
 

Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
You definitely can't miss that. You might have to call into air traffic control at the heights you fly lol.

I'm not brave enough yet to even attempt night flying but i would really like to, setting more goals in the hobby

Is it harder to fly at night? Do you fly just as high as during the day?
As long as your plane is well lit, and you bring along lots of bug spray:LOL: It's almost easier to fly at night because there is essentially no wind for like a hour after sunset.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
I appreciate you asking! It's just been a WEEK! That's all. Money problems, Health issues.... NO progress! 😖😞😭
Doing my best to fix that over the next week. Progress anyway.... Can't even afford PAINT. 😢 But like everything else, battling my way through. 👍
Still like hearing from ya. You can still type right?!
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
not sure ...not working from the plans !! just measured ...60cm ..
It looks like it is a shorter moment then the original design from the picture, might be just the angle I am seeing it from. I know that to get mine to balance with the original plans I had to extend my fuse by 2.5" using a 2200 3s. Are you using the same battery or something larger?
 

daxian

Elite member
hi battleaxe....one of the reasons i did not use the plans, was the explorer was so tail heavy using uk foam, that i would have to use a 5200 3s AND some lead to get it to balance,so i built a new core ...which left me with the original core to build this around ...
so far it is balancing ok with a 2200 3s ...still need to put some colour and possibly laminate for strength ....whether it will perform as well as yours did ,remains to be seen ...but fingers crossed !!
 

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