Pass the Transmitter

[bartholomule]

I did my maiden flight of my scratch-built FT Viggen today. I built it as a pusher with a Turnigy D2826/6 2200KV motor, 40 amp speed controller, 3s 2200mah battery, and an 8x4 prop. I just ordered the components, and In the next week or two I'll build one with an EDF.

After my flight, I bumped up the expo on my transmitter to 60 to make things a bit softer and passed it to a nervous friend. Here are the video results.

As a side note, don't forget to properly tape down your canopy if you are strapping things to it. I just had a "HD Wing Cam" attached with some rubber bands.

My viewpoint of his flying:

The viewpoint from the plane, which includes the best camera ejection I have seen in one of my many recorded flight videos:

He did land the plane with no damage, and the camera was just fine. Time to find another victim.

 

[bartholomule]

I went out to do it again with another friend, and had my first attempt at buddy boxing this time. This one wasn't so good.

I launched it myself brought it around and gave over control. He successfully made a few passes back and forth, but got disoriented and went into a dive. It went near full-throttle when I switched back control, and I couldn't save it.

The brightness settings on the camera were a bit high this time, so the video is somewhat hard to see.

The motor mount broke apart at the glue joints, the prop bounced off the vertical stabilizer and aileron, and the newly-dismantled assembly landed a few feet away.

The nose did exactly what it was supposed to do, taking the bulk of the impact. The canopy turned into an accordion as well, and the attached camera failed to write with the impact. The battery felt a bit bulgy, warm (not cooling off), and was smashed on a corner, so I think it is time for it to be retired.

Here is the aftermath:




A new nose, canopy, and a little glue, are all it needs so I can have it back in the air with someone else.