Well, I finally got my Tricopter dialed in and was getting comfortable with flight control. Then I decided to do an altitude test and well... I have it on video:

 

 

The only damage was a broken flight control board. A $30 repair

So did it get out of range of your transmitter? That's pretty cool, I mean the HellaCopter not the damage. Did you build it yourself? I would like to build something like that...in all my spare time. Seems like a lot of those parts are comparable in price to car parts.

So did it get out of range of your transmitter? That's pretty cool, I mean the HellaCopter not the damage. Did you build it yourself? I would like to build something like that...in all my spare time. Seems like a lot of those parts are comparable in price to car parts.

 

Yeah the best I can tell is I lost signal. Going to have to do something about that i guess.

 

I did build it all by hand. Just ordered some motors, speed controls, a battery & flight controller... and a TON of zip ties.

 

The entire build log is here:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1705017

 

The price of parts aren't bad. 10 years ago if you tried to build this, it would have cost you thousands. Right now, i am into the project at under $300 and that includes the 9ch Transmitter, 4 LiPo batteries & 2 chargers!

 

Also I have been collecting enough spare parts to build another one. But the next one will have 6 motors & props

That's pretty cool. If that happened to my blade 400 I'd be replacing A LOT more than a control board :-p seems pretty durable

I assume the camera is on/with you the whole time. If so it doesn't seem like you were that much further up than you were away in many points of the video. Loss of signal, or maybe the angle of the antenna system became too weak at that altitude and distance from your vantage point? All very impressive and the cost you describe is really amazing drop in cost over the years. A very neat project!

Whats more amazing is a guy on the RC Forums modified the firmware that runs on the flight controller so it bypasses the broken ACC sensor, and i was able to fly that control board again.

 

Here is a video I made showing the damaged flight controller, and me flying with it again:

 

My friend was filming that video, but he wasnt standing very far from me. I guestimate my tricopter was 60' from my transmitter when it lost signal, and regained it. I later read there is a "dead zone" in the 2.4ghz frequency and its best to fly with your antenna at a 90 degree angle to your craft. Since learning that, i have been getting the tricopter higher and higher and it has yet to fail.

 

I even got ballsy and strapped my Camcorder to the Tricopter to get some decent onboard video.

 

And here is some short video I shot with it setup:

 

I am amazed at how cheap its become too Shawn. Something like this would cost thousands 10 years ago. Hell, even today you can spend $3000 on a high-end FPV quad.

 

I have already gathered enough spare parts to build a 2nd one. This next craft will be a standard Quadcopter using a 450mm frame. This 2nd build is only setting me back about $110-ish.

sounds like a bee attack....

Some new video from the onboard camera

 

Some new video of me getting crazy at the park yesterday:

Have you mastered it enough that you could fly into an open window on a house or thru something? Pick something up and sit it down across a field?

Have you mastered it enough that you could fly into an open window on a house or thru something? Pick something up and sit it down across a field?

 

No. Keeping it in one spot is a chore. I have a more advanced flight controller on order that includes a GPS module. It will have 4 additional flight modes, including altitude hold & position hold. Then maybe I could pull it off

Well I got tired of the YAW control, so I got rid of the steering servo and built a new tail section. They call this a V-Tail.

 

 

I got it flying again today, here's some video of it.

 

Here it is with its new video system. The keychain cam mounted to the front records in 720p onto a microSD card. It also sends video out to my video Transmitter that is mounted on the tail, and that transmits video to my ground station:

 

 

I am using a RCA to USB video converter to view the video feed on my laptop. It works pretty good. It will be even better when I get GPS and other fun stuff

 

Here are a few video's I have made in the past couple days. I plan on taking it to a real park tomorrow and stretch out a bit.

 

Camera Testing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qGCTl0pTmk

First full FPV flight:

Second FPV flight from yesterday:

That is F-in cool B....

Hey Brian, this would be a gas

 

Hey Brian, this would be a gas

 

 

THAT!My friend"s Is what I would call going postal!!!

After further research and reading, I dont think this thing is real.

It could be a real good job of CGI, not sure yet

Hey Brian, this would be a gas

 

 

Yeah that is totally fake. The guy has a series of fake videos. He's pretty funny.

Well here is what my V-Tail copter looks like now:

 

 

 

Everything is going into a new frame:

 

Got the main wiring finished last night:

 

 

Could be flying by the end of the day, but since its going to be raining for the next few days I think I will continue to take my time. I have a few electrical components to place and wire still... but its lookin good

 

Welp... its been a while.  Thought maybe some people would like to see what I've been up to with this.
 
Here's my latest build: apparently the new forum software wont accept my image???  way to go USMB.
error:  "You are not allowed to use that image extension on this community."
 
If you are interested, here's a lengthy build thread located here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1903755
 
Here are some recent video's her in action:
 
What I see on my Ground Station-

 
What the GoPro see's-