spacejunkiehsv

I think Iwould like to get a Multiplex Easy Star electric as my first plane, but Iwill eventually have buy a 9 channel radio setup for aerial photography and FPV flying. Is there a way that Ican buy just kit for the plane without the standard radio?

Also, is there some sort of "starter kit" any of you would recommend for a starter. I don't have any modeling supplies. I've never built any kind of model before. We're putting our kids in private school this year. So, money is tight. I'll have to buy as Igo and not spend money on duplicate items if I can help it. My play money is only about $90 per month.

I wouldn't mind if any of you could give me some general pointers as well. I will be flying behind my house, on my father-in-law's land. There is about a 20 acre field back there. We are in the middle of nowhere, out in rural Alabama. The field is used for hay. So, it's not suitable for smooth landings, Iwouldn't think. I'll probably need something that can survive landing in at least 6" tall, clumpy grass after the field is cut. When the grass is tall, it is about 2 feet high. So, landing in the tall stuff would be nice and cushy.

Any starter suggestions are welcome. I have found some stuff on here, but there are A LOT of sub-forums on here! It will take a while to wander through.

guver

My Feedback: (325)

Hi, welcome to RCU. I think you forgot to post the text or it timed out or problem. Your text box is blank.

overbored77

My Feedback: (11)

here is a link to the easy star ARF. this is the basic air frame and hardware
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXFRU7&P=7

You are going to need the power system
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXPVF5&P=ML

a few propellers
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXPVG2&P=V

2 micro servos
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXTJJ6&P=0

Battery
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXPVG1&P=M
This is the battery that comes with the plane, it is rather heavy and has a low mah rating. You can also
go with a lightweight Lithium polymer battery with more amperage for close to the same price, or you
could start with this battery and upgrade later

Battery charger,
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXAGUG&P=0
I have been recommending this charger lately, I have used quite a few duratrax products in my years of racing and they always work well.
this charger is capable of charging pretty much all battery chemistry's we use today. and has a balancer built in which will be needed
if you upgrade to lithium batteries.

The radio is up to you, but I noticed you said 9 channel, most of the 9channel transmitters come with only transmitter, and receiver, that is
why I added the servos to the list.

The easy star should be a good choice for high grass because it has no landing gear, it is belly landed. I am sure I forgot some things on
my list but the guys here will fill in the blanks. One thing I should mention is to see if there is a club local to you, go and check it out
they most likely be able to help also, And ask them about flight instruction. Having help learning makes a big difference.

jester_s1

Yes, in 6 inch grass you'll definitely want a belly lander. You'll flip nearly any geared plane over trying to set it down in grass that tall, not to mention the rough surface of a pasture. I too am going to suggest getting into a club though. The initial instruction will save you far more than the cost of membership in broken equipment.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Unless he hand-launches, it will be tough to get airborne too.

CGr.

jester_s1

True. The Easy Star was designed for exactly that kind of flying though, so he should do ok. That said, FPV may not work with it because of the weight of the equipment. There's also the matter of having to keep the plane in sight of a spotter for safety. Something that small becomes a dot very quickly, so the range for FPV will be pretty short. But for a toy to go buzz around the pasture with, the plane should work fine.

spacejunkiehsv- I noticed in your sig you say you're going to convert your plane to a UAV. That's a term that gets people agitated pretty quickly around here because of recent discussions about UAV regulations that were originally going to include RC planes. A UAV is an autonomous or long-range RC vehicle made to do a mission like take weather data or large area photography. They are used for "work" if you will for commercial or government interests. If you're referring to your plan to do FPV flight, that's not a conversion to UAV. That's simply flying a hobby RC plane with a FPV camera up front for entertainment purposes.

spacejunkiehsv

Yeah... my 4 year old son decided he was going to press a few buttons. Ihad to edit the post.

spacejunkiehsv

When I say UAV, I mean something that is good for short range, just the pasture land around here. I can't afford long range stuff anyway probably. I want to eventually get something where I COULD have it fly nice and stable on a course, allowing me to operate a camera. Ithink that would be fun and allow me to learn a lot of things. FPV flying will probably be more fun to me. I used to like to fly low in PC games. When Iwas taking flying lessons, I liked ground reference maneuvers the best. Ididn't get my license though. I ran out of money and needed to go to college!

I"ll review all of the previous links soon, and learn what Ican from that. Thanks guys.

jester_s1

Just understand that hobby RC is strictly line of sight. The radios themselves can control a plane out to a mile in optimal conditions, but if a spotter who's with you can't see it you've violated AMA regulations and increased the danger since you'll be relying solely on the FPV equipment to bring the plane back. As for autonomous flight, unless you have access to some pretty fancy computer programmers and equipment, you're stuck with the sticks. There's not a commercially available hobby grade autonomous flight controller. That said, if you're thinking along the lines of a pan and tilt mechanism for a camera, it has been done to have two separate radio systems with a pilot flying and another guy enjoying the view.

spacejunkiehsv

I am new, and Idon't pretend to know much about this stuff. However, Ihave seen what seems to be a good autopilot solution for what seems to be a good price. It is even open-source code. You can have a look at it if you want. Let's see if I can post a link as a newbie here. If my link gets removed from this post, just search for ArduPilot or ArduPlane. They also have one for rotorcraft called ArduCopter.
http://code.google.com/p/ardupilot-mega/wiki/Get

I have been wanting to get into programming too. So, it seems like it would be fun to play with the autopilot stuff. Ido want to get a plane first though. I have wanted an RC plane for years and years.

The FPV stuff will be at least 6 months from now. It will probably take me two or three months just to buy all of the hardware needed for a basic RC setup. The UAV hardware will be on my Christmas list for 2012 though!

jester_s1

That autonomous controller looks really neat, but just understand that when you install a product like that you aren't doing hobby RC anymore. Drones fall under a different set of regulations with the FAA (at least it's in process for that to happen) and the hobby community definitely looks upon it differently. The RC hobby is really focused on the flying skills side of things, with a few of us also really obsessing over appearances of our models. Drones are about doing a task, and that puts them into a whole different area of interest than RC.

overbored77

My Feedback: (11)

I believe if your plane is carrying any frequencies other than 27mhz, 72mhz, or 2.4ghz you made need amateur radio operators licence. Some
of the FPV cameras I have seen work on the 900mhz range.

jester_s1

You only need a radio license if you use HAM frequencies. RC hasn't done that in a long time though.