Burnt Offering
Veteran
Location: Winter Wonder Land, Wasilla Alaska
| Hey guys,
I wont' go over my build as I would just cover ground that has been cover many times by a lot of you. But a couple months ago after an expensive heli crash, I decided it was time to look at other ways of doing AP. Specifically something that could all but replace my heli for AP. And something WAY cheaper. I Love my heli but I also am sick of working on it and being stressed out on a job when a client is there breathing down my neck during a shoot. Of all the shoots I've done I can't really think of any where I just wasn't stressed to the max for one reason or another. And seeing how this business is suppose to be fun, I was open to just about anything.
I happened upon a few threads here on the Slow Stick and how it was being used for AP and it really peaked my curiousity. I would like to thank Darrel Klassen who got me off my but, and encouraged me to give it a go. He also provided me with a lot of tech info as this was my first electric ANYTHING, but after this project I promise you won't be my last.
I won't bore you with all my build details, with the exception of one HUGE difference mine would look a lot like most of yours. After flying mine twice in a brisk wind, and just about losing my bird altogether when the wind got under one side of the wing and would want to flip it over. This is obviously due to the fact the the rudder is the only steering control the Slow Stick comes with. I viewed this as NOT ACCEPTABLE! The lack of control in any kind of wind due to the lack of ailerons was not an option for me. I took an entire afternoon and installed ailerons on my Slow Stick. The result is stupendous. Absolute control in 15-20 mph winds. Instead of me being controled by the wind, I now have total control over where and when my bird goes and it does it on a dime. This was crucial to me as I can't and won't wait around for the wind to stop blowing. In Alaska, the weather is never "perfect" and if I waited for it to be, I would NEVER fly. I highly reccomend this mod. The difference is incredible.
My Equipment is:
E-Flight Park 480 1020kv Brushless Motor
Castle Creations Phoenix 35 ESC
E-Flight 2100 mah 3s lipos
Futaba T6EXHP Transimitter
Futaba micro servos for all controls except Ailerons. For that I used a s3151
Camera is a Sony DSC-T9
Camera Trigger: Spartan Vision lock. Set up on channel 5 of TX. Flip switch snaps one pic per second.
Camera mount: Paint sticks
I tested the entire rig today with camera onboard. I had no camera person, no video downlink, and NO STRESS! And it was FUN! I mean this thing is like a gliding butterfly. Its absolutley amazing how slow I can fly this thing. And landing is a breeze. Almost like a Harrier. I've gotten to where on landing I slow down to a certain point and then I can slowly apply full elevator, with a tiny bit of throttle, and almost hover land it. These pics are not perfect, I wasn't trying for perfection, I would simply fly by and snap pictures. And so far I think this platform has awesome potential. If I keep working with this platform and get reliable results, I will be using this as my primary AP rig for snaps. Only using my heli as a last resort. I forgot to mention one of the most important aspects of this. If I crash, assuming that I don't damage my camera, my total replacement cost is a whopping $31.00. The last crash I had with my heli? $300.00, so I don't need to tell you the appeal THAT brings to the table. In fact, so cheap is the slowstick, that I ordered two of them, so I'd have and extra for spare parts. So far I haven't even had to borrow anything from the extra one. Moral of the Story? The Slow Stick at least for me has put the "fun" back in AP. I will try to post some pics of my Slow Stick later. |
Its amazing how $100.00 woth of stuff can come up missing and absolutley no one has any idea where it is. ANYWAYS, as soon as I get all that sorted out I promise I will post some pics.
