The CarbonFlite project

Carbon

Elemental Madness
Hey guys, I'm really excited about this one. I just talked to Chad about our little project and the Flitetest Team is going to send us logos and a t-shirt! So here goes:

My cousin, my friend, and I have started a non-profit. We want to use an FPV plane(the Bixler, what else?) for Search and Rescue. The idea is to do a long range FPV setup all in one complete and portable package that we can sell to the Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue team. We are going to sell it for just enough to fund the next plane and will hopefully spread the idea across the US. I spoke with Hobbyking and they wished us luck and said we could use there photographs of the plane. We now have a Facebook page, Youtube channel, and donation campaign on indiegogo.com.
We are currently working on a promotional video.
I am not asking you to donate, I just wanted to thank all of you that helped me get here and also Flitetest for inspiring a project that will hopefully save lives.
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https://www.facebook.com/TheCarbonFliteProject
http://www.youtube.com/user/CarbonFliteTech?feature=mhee
http://www.indiegogo.com/CarbonFlite?a=852249

EDIT: Video out
-Ben Lester(Carbon)
 
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earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
Best of luck! A bit of advice: If your first attempt doesn't sell, learn from it and improve on it. If your second attempt..... and so on. It took Thomas Edison hundreds, if not thousands, of attempts to successfully create the light bulb.
 

Nonamerc

Arman
Sounds cool me and my bud are in the aereal fpv bussenis ( shitty english) filming for people. What about a zephyr for a wing? Ask readymaderc for sponsoring the plane/fpv gear. Go with ezuhf diversity sander style antenna diamond receiver antenna or 433 mhz yagi with aluminium tracker. Get an 2.4 ghz lawmate 500 mw rx/tx use an cp or an inverted vee. Dual cam switcher with one cam in the nose on under the fuselage which has pan and tilt. Get a lc filter enough battery capacity. Use a zephyr 2 the bixler is to slow to get tho the situation. The chances that you can drop a full radio is small since they are heavy but a light transponder will work great. Foldable prop for aerodinamica. You should know that there are thousands of other companies that do the same stuff. You need to be unique. Most companies have better techinque then you and can fly longer distances.

Thats my 2 cents contact me if you have more questions.

I already experimented with dropping stuff from the bixler. It must be verry light or you will decrease your effective range.
 
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Carbon

Elemental Madness
This isn't really a company, it is a non-profit project, it may turn into a company. PMed
 

Nonamerc

Arman
pmed also you should know that some companies/brands can sue you if you are going to 're-sell' their products.
 

PaulT

New member
Mentor
Carbon, good luck getting this "off the ground" so to speak.
Having two screens (one for the spotter) or goggles and a screen is probably the way to go.
Have you looked at small ir cameras?
We use much larger ones for searching here on my FD. In fairly dense bush it is able to pick up heat traces from quite a distance.
Arman, The use of a bixler, being that it is slower is brilliant. Nothing like zooming at 70 mph past your intended patient.

Any help I can offer is yours....
 

Nonamerc

Arman
Carbon, good luck getting this "off the ground" so to speak.
Having two screens (one for the spotter) or goggles and a screen is probably the way to go.
Have you looked at small ir cameras?
We use much larger ones for searching here on my FD. In fairly dense bush it is able to pick up heat traces from quite a distance.
Arman, The use of a bixler, being that it is slower is brilliant. Nothing like zooming at 70 mph past your intended patient.

Any help I can offer is yours....

Yea I already tought of that but these planes are going to be used as a first recon. IMO they would like to have the plane as fast as possible. Coast guards for example are going to fly the plane in a windy situation were fast planes such as the zephyr are really usefull. I have seen people fly their zephyrs on the coast with no problem. I think that the bixler will be only available on days when there is less wind. But the bixler would be usefull for firefighters because it is slow .
The idea of an uav is to be fast on the scene. I think that a zephyr with his big wings is possible of gliding for a short time and also its capable of flying in strong winds.
 

Carbon

Elemental Madness
HobbyKing doesn't mind you doing this, I've asked and they said no problem.

haha, funny you should say this. I asked them before this was posted and they said they would send me some hobbyking decals!

I am defiantly going with the bixler, and here is why: I want something slow flying. We live in an area that has dense trees, so you can't wizz by because you will miss stuff. I am still learning about FPV, it turned out to be more complex than I originally thought. I understand that I will need a now controller for the plane, one with long distance capabilities. Also, I am going with a 500mz 5.8 system for the Vtx, do I need a HAM radio license in america to do this?
Thanks for all the help and support guys,
Ben

PS, T-shirts are for sale, they are pretty cool IMHO. http://carbonflite.spreadshirt.com/
 

Nonamerc

Arman
haha, funny you should say this. I asked them before this was posted and they said they would send me some hobbyking decals!

I am defiantly going with the bixler, and here is why: I want something slow flying. We live in an area that has dense trees, so you can't wizz by because you will miss stuff. I am still learning about FPV, it turned out to be more complex than I originally thought. I understand that I will need a now controller for the plane, one with long distance capabilities. Also, I am going with a 500mz 5.8 system for the Vtx, do I need a HAM radio license in america to do this?
Thanks for all the help and support guys,
Ben

PS, T-shirts are for sale, they are pretty cool IMHO. http://carbonflite.spreadshirt.com/

I think its usefull if we speak over skype because its easier and faster then messages. PMED

Nice t shirt
 
FAA recently shut down RC stuff for commercial uses.
There's a high profile outfit in California that does RC for video footage (we're talking big $ equipment). We're not even talking FPV - strickly line of sight work. But the FAA has shut them down and even goes so far as to occasionally phone them posing as clients to see if they take the work (they don't). They are restricted to only doing work outside of the USA now.

I only bring this up because I think you'll need an OC (Operating Certificate) from the FAA for any time of commercial aerial work (RC or otherwise) - and unless you're a police/gov agency you could be shut down before you even start. You better check out the legalities ahead of time before you get too deep into it.
 

Carbon

Elemental Madness
This is NOT commercial yet. I will be offering service to my local search and rescue free of charge, donating my time. I am planning on getting HAM certified. Other than that, I will stay below 400 ft and will be flying in remote areas.

If, later, I decide to market it, I will be sure to look into this. Thank you for the info.
 
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Carbon

Elemental Madness
Update!
So we have our first sponsor AltitudeHobbies.com will be supplying us with servo leads, escs, becs, and camera mount! Also, t-shirts are for sale at www.Carbonflite.spreadshirt.com

Thanks again Flitetest, if I send some shirts to you guys, will you were them in an episode?

Also, I have my FPV setup. I'm not going to go into detail, but I am using 433ghz for the plane tx and 2.4ghz at 800mw with clover leaf, skew planar, and helical antennas.

Also, I email FLIR systems about possibly getting a thermal imaging camera for night flying.
And my dad is going to set up a 501c non-profit so that people can get tax write-offs
 
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