Water resistant FPV glider

[Tactical Ex]

EDIT: see the end of page 1 for the first revision of "glider floats".

I just moved to a new house and I have a beautiful small lake in my backyard with tall trees surrounding it. I don't have lots of time to spend going out to the field because the fields are so far away and often being used for other things so I was hoping to be able to figure out a way to fly over the lake with a little risk to electronics as possible.

I have a landing area on the side of my house and a kayak if things go sour so I'm not worried about recovery I just want to reduce the possibility of damaging anything if my plane decides it wants to go for a swim.

Criteria:

1. Has to be scratch buildable (probably a modified simple soarer) for cost purposes and the nature of the challenge.
2. Must be slow
3. Must be hand launch able.
4. Must be water "resistant" not waterproof.

My immediate idea was to make some minor mods to the simple soarer like waterproofing and FPV mounts but I'm open to the idea of water landing gear and other such ideas.

I also want to figure out a way to add protection to the FPV gear, doesn't have to be water proof but if I nose dive into the water I'd like to be comfortable to not worry about water splashing up on something.

I plan on engineering all of this myself and I have already started playing with configurations and material but any ideas are welcomed. I'll add information to this thread as I learn.

 

[Christopher14]

Cover it in packing tape. and heat-shrink the FPV gear.

 

[Tactical Ex]

I found a water proofing method that works just like a can of spray paint so I cut a lot of weight in packing tape out that way. I just need to figure out how to protect the electronics. I figure you can only land right side up or up-side down so maybe floater landing gear or skids with some kind of buoyant foam archway the FPV gear sits under to protect against accidentally going for a swim.

 

[Craftydan]

Balloons work well, as do the tiny tupperware contaners + silicone sealant around the cables. perhaps something like this:

http://www.glad.com/food-storage/containers/small-snack/

Smaller? Tic-Tac contianer + silicone?

 

[Tactical Ex]

You thinking the Tupperware and silicone for the FPV gear? If I seal it up do you think heat would be an issue?

 

[Craftydan]

Of course it will.

You're trying to insulate it against water, why would heat pass through that insulation unhindered? These are competing goals.

You *could* build heat-sinks in the sides of one of these containers (or carefully seal a metal container), or do your best to keep the heat down in the electronics *and* simply let the heat build up. The cost is complexity (not always bad if you've got the time to kill) and weight (which is almost always a bill we reluctantly pay)

 

[Tactical Ex]

The complexity is kind of what I was trying to avoid. I don't think I'll end up sealing anything due to the heat issue but build "resistant" barriers. Barriers that are not impenetrable by water, but create enough of a safety net that there is less risk than just slapping electronics on top of a plane and flying over water. I figure something like a splash barrier to protect against initial impacts into the water and then floats that would raise the top and bottom of the plane above the water once the initial impact has subsided, thereby keeping the water from flowing into the cavities for FPV gear and the swappable pod.

To protect the FPV gear I may just put buoyant pods at the tips of the wings and rudder and increase the polyhedral to put enough distance between the top of the FPV gear and the water (if upside-down). Also, maybe add a small foam canopy over the top of the camera and VTX that has vents nearest the fuse.

Protecting the power pod should be ease, the most exposed part is the motor which is waterproof and as long as I have floaty landing gear it will stay above the water line.

 

[crash bandicoot]

You may want to let the FPV part go and just fly over the lake with a simple soar. or you could build a floatplane. There are some designs on rcgrouops and on www.parkjets.com using fan fold foam you can get at home depot. I built a sea dart and a grumman goose. I will also say that the hobbyzone duet is water resistant.

 

[spencertrejo]

This might be a close fit.

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthre...ild-FPV-Platform-from-DTFB-Based-on-the-FT-SS

Still working on plans, but it was a pretty easy iteration of the FT-Simple Soarer.

 

[Tactical Ex]

I used the waterproofing method I touched on earlier in the thread and I decided to take a stab at making floats out of foam board. I literally scribbled the basic plans out at work and drew them onto foam board when I got home. This is what I ended up with ...





I didn't have any time to test these because I made them last night and I am leaving for vacation TODAY at lake Lanier GA. I'll be doing my best to pretend that I'm at FF with you all. I wont be using FPV gear this time because of the lack of testing but LOS over the lake should be pretty fun.

I kept the measurements and it's designed to attach to the stock landing gear FT has for the beginner series planes. If it works well then I will do an article and release plans!

 

[Flat4]

The complexity is kind of what I was trying to avoid. I don't think I'll end up sealing anything due to the heat issue but build "resistant" barriers. Barriers that are not impenetrable by water, but create enough of a safety net that there is less risk than just slapping electronics on top of a plane and flying over water. I figure something like a splash barrier to protect against initial impacts into the water and then floats that would raise the top and bottom of the plane above the water once the initial impact has subsided, thereby keeping the water from flowing into the cavities for FPV gear and the swappable pod.

To protect the FPV gear I may just put buoyant pods at the tips of the wings and rudder and increase the polyhedral to put enough distance between the top of the FPV gear and the water (if upside-down). Also, maybe add a small foam canopy over the top of the camera and VTX that has vents nearest the fuse.

Protecting the power pod should be ease, the most exposed part is the motor which is waterproof and as long as I have floaty landing gear it will stay above the water line.

My next plane is going to be a polaris seaplane parkflyer, that I want for the intentions of FPV'ing over a few lakes nearby, and I too have been thinking about a simple way of waterproofing my fpv gear. The camera I just plan on plasti-dipping, so that's a simple fix. The TX however I think I am going to just build a small foamboard box with the paper removed to stick it in. For heat I plan on cutting out a window in the box and hot gluing a small aluminum heat sink in it, then attaching the fpv tx's heatsink to that with thermal paste. That should be fairly simple and quick to slap together. May not be 100% waterproof, but I think it will do. Let ya know if I get around to building it before you figure something out.