twinturbostang

A little fun in the snow....

http://www.twinturbostang.com/rc/Let...ow_480x360.wmv

Three flights, from two locations. All done via FPV flying (including launch/landings). At one point it got pretty cloudy/foggy and I had to bring her back in. I'm actually hoping we will get more snow. It was pretty fun. But this is the extent of the snow we've gotten so far this season.

Combo...
TwinStarII
Dual 400F brushless, APC 6x4 props
Dual Thunderbird 18 ESC's
ThunderPower 3S2P 4200mAh
FMA FS8 receiver
KPC-S226 camera (KX-131)
BWAV 600mW Tx/Rx
whip antennas and GP Patch (depends on location)

speedygonzales

could you post a pick on your setup.

twinturbostang

I don't have any pics available right now, but I will post one tomorrow.

twinturbostang

Here's a couple pics of it...

speedygonzales

hey thanks.

how do you like the plane for av? is it easy to controll stable. responsive. lmk why you like it.
and how much time do you get on a pack? i have soo much questions.

whogdriver

Hey Twinturbo,
Nice video. Noticed you're using the TwinstarII with brushless motors. How's it working for you? I think it's a great platform for AV and and I'm still flying mine. Did you try it with the supplied brushed motors first? I've put the Speed 400 7.2 volt motors (not 6.0 volt that are supplied) back on as the Speed 400 Long Can motors that I had on there drew a lot more current and didn't provide that much better performance.

twinturbostang

speedy: The TwinStar works great for AV. Nice clear forward view. If I mount the camera farther forward, the nose disapears also. Some people like it better that way. Since I'm doing pan/tilt with head tracking, I prefer to have part of the plane visible for visual reference. But yeah, it flies great. Can handle quite a bit of payload also, which makes it a perfect candidate for AV due to the gear that needs to be hauled up there. Only thing it needs stock though, is more power. See below..

whog: Hey, haven't seen you post in a while! Yes, it's working out great. The brushless upgrade was the best thing I did to it. Totally transformed the plane. I started out running the stock 6V motors with a pair of 2 cell Lipos. It was severely underpowered though. It still flew ok. But had very little power, and was a bit nerve racking in certain situations where additional power would have been nice. Anyway, I decided to upgrade to brushless power and the 400F's were just what the doctor ordered! It actually has TOO MUCH power now! At full throttle it's very fast. And believe it or not, it will actually go vertical! That's a sight to see! LOL I should get some ground based video of that. It's pretty funny to watch that big plane go straight up!

Oh, for flight times... not totally sure yet. There's a wide range of throttle positions that the plane will fly at, so it greatly depends on your left thumb. In light winds, it will actually fly at 1/4 throttle. I'm guessing it could go for 30 minutes at least at that throttle setting. If you go heavy into the throttle though, it will eat up your time quite a bit. Wide open, it's pulling about 43 Amps between the two motors (21.5 each). Actually, I thought about putting smaller props on there. For FPV flying, there's really no need for that much power. So smaller props would lengthen the flight time. A buddy of mine has a TwinStar also, and he's got two 3200 packs in his for a total of 6400mAh! [X(] I think he's planning on doing some transcontinental flights!

BTW, I've got some other video I can put together also. And as soon as the weather turns around, I'll be back out there again. I've got a couple of locations to try out that are going to be really cool!

speedygonzales

yes plz put more vids together!!

so tell me more about flight characteristics. like how it handles with the av set up and whats its capability's. i know you mentioned some above but i need more

is it possible to put landing gear on? ahh whatfor [>:]

johntammi

Very good quality video and flying. My instructor should be getting his twinstarII soon.

ob1

My Feedback: (9)

Very nicely done...super job! I am working on my new TSII...your video makes me want to hurry up and finish! Thx for posting it.
ob1

twinturbostang

Thanks guys.

speedy: I'm not sure exactly what you want me to say. It flies like a high wing plane with boat loads of power. It does loops and rolls. Flies inverted too. It's not like an aerobatic plane mind you. It will do your basic maneuvers, but not as pretty as a low wing plane. Other than that, it flies nice and stable. Floats in for landings. In fact, I'm thinking about adding flaperon control. Not to give it more lift at slow speeds. But to add drag so it will slow down. Sometimes it keeps on gliding, like a sailplane.

Oh, and yes you can add landing gear to it. I've seen it done before. I've actually thought about doing that as well. Although my design was going to be to add a 3 wheeled "skateboard" to the bottom with steerable nose gear and the ability to remove it easily if needed. Haven't gotten around to building it yet though.

speedygonzales

you said what i needed to hear!
this will be my first airplane so i think it will suit me and im told that its a easy to fly.

whats a flaperon control?

twinturbostang

While this is a good beginner airplane, you might do better getting a true trainer for your first plane. Don't get me wrong... this one is easy to fly. But there may be other planes that are easier to repair for when those "dumb thumb" situations appear. The Multiplex Easystar seems to be very popular. Or the GWS Slowstick. The TwinStar does have the advantage of having "elapor" foam, which I think is similar to EPP. This foam bends and gives under stress, which means it can take a lot of abuse. Styrofoam can be repaired usually pretty easily, but it tends to break very easy also. Which means just a slight bump and you will be back to the workbench. The Easystar is the same as the TwinStar in this regard. I was thinking that it might be best to start with something smaller though maybe, like the slowstick.

Eh, I don't know. I guess any of the above would be good to start out on. Crashing in inevitable and is part of the learning process. Get a simulator if you don't already have one though. These are great tools in teaching you reversal (when the plane is coming at you).

Flaperons is a more advanced function where the ailerons also function as flaps. Instead of having four total control surfaces (two ailerons and two flaps), the two ailerons double as flap control. This can be done with dual aileron servos and mixing in the transmitter (if your transmitter supports it).

Chr!s

Really sweet vid.

Song reminded me of Die Hard! [8D]

twinturbostang

Funny you should mention that. I just watched Die Hard last night!

Yippiekiyay

zagijimzoo

Let it snow...let it snow...let it snow....

Thats was fun video piloting...nice landing!

thanks...jimo

twinturbostang

Thanks. It has snowed again. Actually... snow, sleet, hail, rain, freezing rain, yeah we've got it all! lol If the wind dies down, I may try and do some more video flying.

somegeek

My Feedback: (2)

Great video and song man.

BUDMAN27

That has got to be one of the best snow vids i have ever seen. Thanks

twinturbostang

Thanks guys. This is probably the best one I've seen...

http://www.rc-tech.ch/videos/TX40/rc...1205_grand.wmv

A guy that goes by the screen name Kilrah did that one. Can't beat the location that's for sure!

justletmesearch

Does anyone know what airplane was used in Kilrah's video?

twinturbostang

I believe it's the Hacker Zoom Zoom 4D.

edit: Oops. That's wrong. He uses the zoom zoom in a bunch of his other videos. The video I linked to above is an electric powered sailplane. Not sure what it's called.

twinturbostang

Here we go. It's an Altus XL by Airtech. Half way down this page, you can see a couple of pics...

http://www.rc-cam.com/forum/index.ph...st=40&hl=altus

justletmesearch

Thank you. I'm actually glad you're the one who posted the reply since you have a twinstar II. I was considering that for an AP platform, but wasn't sure if it can carry all kinds of gear like an OSD board, two transmitters and a board camera.

Thanks again for posting the link and finding the info on the Altus.

twinturbostang

The Twinstar can definitely carry a lot of payload. A buddy has one and is running it with 3S 3200 Lipo packs. Those things are like BRICKS! And he's got two of 'em in parallel. Plus all the usual stuff and a 12V camera and 1W video transmitter.

BTW, even with all the video gear and stuff, mine is still below the manufacturers advertised AUW. I'm at about 47 oz. right now. Multiplex claims 52oz. I believe. Lipo packs sure make a difference!