Official "Whatcha doin'?" RC related chit chat thread
- Thread starter MadMonkey
- Start date
RickHunter
Elite member
They do get pricey. I've had mine for years, and it's around $70 bucks now. I think I paid 40ish years ago. This is the cheapest one I found in a quick search, but I have no idea how accurate it is.
RickHunter
Elite member
You can make one with it, you might save a few bucks. It would pry be a little more accuate as well. My skyrc one is very accurate when I tested it on the freeway, but that's at 80. My V1200 clocked in at 139 with it, which seems about right for that at the altitude I live at. I thought about getting an air speed sensor for my f405 wing, but it's in a FPV glider (speedy it is not) and has a gps on it already.
Airspeed is not worth the effort unless you are doing atonomous flight where you may be flying close to stall speed or doing autoland. It must be calibrated, kept clean, and is suceptable to error if the pitot is not mounted properly. You would most likely still want a GPS even if you had a speed sensor.
GPS is the easiest way to go. INAV and Ardupilot will even give a VERY close estimate of the wind and Wind direction based on drift when out flying around. Airspeed sensors start at $60 and go up from there. Serial GPS modules start under $20 without a compass and go up from there. Super easy to set them up using telemetry passed back to your radio and get live audible alerts.
GPS is the easiest way to go. INAV and Ardupilot will even give a VERY close estimate of the wind and Wind direction based on drift when out flying around. Airspeed sensors start at $60 and go up from there. Serial GPS modules start under $20 without a compass and go up from there. Super easy to set them up using telemetry passed back to your radio and get live audible alerts.
Good to know, thanks for the info!
MadMonkey
Well-known member
For those of you who are unaware, there's an unwritten rule in model aviation that you never, ever say "one more flight".
I'm not a superstitious person, but I believe this rule 100%. Somehow it does something to us psychologically.
Today I was at the club with three coworkers testing aircraft and getting them some time on the sticks. We were about to wrap the day up when I heard my program manager said "Okay, one more flight" 😬 These guys aren't traditional RC types and they don't know the rules, so I rushed over and clarified quite vehemently the dangers of saying such a thing, which he thought was funny. I shrugged and went back to helping another coworker with his first couple of FPV flights.
A couple of minutes later... here comes the PM, looking sheepish. "Hey, I lost video..."
We finally located the aircraft, in about 6 pieces, all four arms broken off.
Me (pointedly): "What words do we never say again?"
PM: "I'm not speaking to you any more" 😑
My not-superstition was vindicated once again...
In better news, I stopped by a local RC swap meet afterward and picked up a Precision Aerobatics Ultimate and an FMS P-51B with some spares. Decent haul 😎
I'm not a superstitious person, but I believe this rule 100%. Somehow it does something to us psychologically.
Today I was at the club with three coworkers testing aircraft and getting them some time on the sticks. We were about to wrap the day up when I heard my program manager said "Okay, one more flight" 😬 These guys aren't traditional RC types and they don't know the rules, so I rushed over and clarified quite vehemently the dangers of saying such a thing, which he thought was funny. I shrugged and went back to helping another coworker with his first couple of FPV flights.
A couple of minutes later... here comes the PM, looking sheepish. "Hey, I lost video..."
We finally located the aircraft, in about 6 pieces, all four arms broken off.
Me (pointedly): "What words do we never say again?"
PM: "I'm not speaking to you any more" 😑
My not-superstition was vindicated once again...
In better news, I stopped by a local RC swap meet afterward and picked up a Precision Aerobatics Ultimate and an FMS P-51B with some spares. Decent haul 😎
Mr Man
Mr SPEED!
I don't even want to imagine that landing... 😬
Unfortunately, I don't have to imagine it. Two other riders fell directly in front of me at the top of a jump. I hit one and went an extra 15 feet higher.......without my bike. The guy in the pic is not me but I'd I bet he had a much easier landing than I did.
EDIT: I remember one of my friends saying that If I had gone as fast on the bike as I did off the bike, I would have won the race!
Houndpup Rc
Legendary member
EDIT: I remember one of my friends saying that If I had gone as fast on the bike as I did off the bike, I would have won the race!
MadMonkey
Well-known member
Oooof. I had my share of hard hits when I was younger but nothing like that.Unfortunately, I don't have to imagine it. Two other riders fell directly in front of me at the top of a jump. I hit one and went an extra 15 feet higher.......without my bike. The guy in the pic is not me but I'd I bet he had a much easier landing than I did.
EDIT: I remember one of my friends saying that If I had gone as fast on the bike as I did off the bike, I would have won the race!
New inline skates arrive today though so there's always hope 😆
Houndpup Rc
Legendary member
Unfortunately, I don't have to imagine it. Two other riders fell directly in front of me at the top of a jump. I hit one and went an extra 15 feet higher.......without my bike. The guy in the pic is not me but I'd I bet he had a much easier landing than I did.
EDIT: I remember one of my friends saying that If I had gone as fast on the bike as I did off the bike, I would have won the race!
I think my two closest calls with an ATV, when I was first learning to drive I was driving a old Honda TRX350 FourTrax 4x4 which had solid axle suspension in both the front and the back making it super tippy, and I gunned it really hard on a turn almost flipping it...can't say that I didn't sweat a little bit after that!🤣 Second was when I was driving my 1993 Suzuki Kingquad and was still moving backward when I jammed it into gear forward and popped a pretty big wheelie! (My brother wasn't very pleased as he was riding on the back!😂😂) As they say, "live and learn!"😁😅😂
MadMonkey
Well-known member
Hahaha, I had a Yamaha Moto 4 100 when I was a kid and flipped it a couple of times. Got a major hip sprain (maybe worse, didn't go to the hospital) once.
In Afghanistan around 2012 an idiot coworker flipped a Kawasaki Mule and shattered the windows on my side. 240ish lb coworker landed on top of me and ground my arm into the glass.
I'm still mad at the one driving 😒
Houndpup Rc
Legendary member
😂😂 Yeah, there was a teen at the church where we used to live, flipped there ATV and actually had the bone broken and sticking out of his leg!😬 (Always made me a little more careful when driving (But never let it get in the way of having fun!🤣)
Houndpup Rc
Legendary member
Never tried it, though it sounds fun! (Okay, I have done cross country, but I was pretty young when I did it) It was always fun when we had a snowmobile! (We had to sell it when we moved..😥)
Mr Man
Mr SPEED!
I first learned to ski when I was 10. Haven skied since I was 14... (I think)
