Maximizing airframe efficiency for fpv

[earthsciteach]

As I near completion of my fpv flying wing prototype, I got to thinking about maximizing the efficiency of an airframe for fpv. So, I'm going to solicit input from folks who actually spend time flying fpv, unlike myself.

1. Why do you fpv? Is it simply to experience RC flight from the perspective of the little pilot dude who's lower body has been chopped off? Is there a purpose behind it, such as filming?

2. What sort of flight characteristics do you desire from an fpv platform? Do you want to experience vomit inducing aerobatic, high G pulling, blood draining flight from the comfort of the ground? Do you want a more stable, slow flying aircraft?

3. Is time aloft important? If so, how much time aloft is enough time aloft?

That's all I can think of as I sit here catching up on dvr'd episodes of Duck Dynasty. Point is, what would your ideal fpv aircraft be capable of?

 

[lobstermash]

I find FPV to be a very different experience to LOS flying. Your focus is purely on your surroundings, where you're going, where you've been, what can you get a look at that can't be seen from the ground... It's very easy to lose track of time and stay up too long, or fly too high or use too much throttle, even with an OSD. I don't have to think about what I'm doing on the sticks at all.

LOS, your focus is on your model and what you're doing with it.

Endurance for me is less of an issue than I was expecting. Cruise speed with my Bixler is about 60km/h. I get about 15-20 minutes of flight with a 2200. My video and control range are fairly close to each other at the moment (~1.5km with FrSky and stock 2db antenna, and ~1.5km video with 5.8Ghz and cloverleaf and sp), so I can cover the whole area around me a few times over.

I have been thinking it'd be cool to race around like an idiot FPV with a flying wing or similar, keeping it close and getting aerobatic.

 

[UndCon]

I feel very natural and relaxed with flying FPV. I have no problems with orientations or anything like that - a small peek at the OSD every now and then tells me what I need to know - and with my eagletree gear I even flew back "instrument only" ie not looking at the view but focusing on the indicators on screen. I also fly FPV with a Quadcopter and with this you can get video/photo much closer than a plane like the Bixlers or Skywalkers.

I get about 30 minutes on each LIPO on my Skywalker, I ususally land and swap LIPO 3 times.
I get about 15 minutes with my Quad...same here - 3 sets of LIPO's

I love to get a perspective that you are not used to - flying steady for the best video quality - counteracting leaning in turns and so on.