<u>*edit* - think indoor rated heli's, sounds like all out door rated units will be a safety hazard.
</u>
Imagine a fast and furious game of IRcombat Laser tag... You have the enemy team pinned behind a ridgeline and can't advance to take that last flag... Call in tha AIR STRIKE!!! </p>

My vision:
Each team will be allowed to call in one helicopter strike per game by radio command to the game operator, usually myself. I will launch the copter and follow to the enemy position and proceed to assault. The team can then move forward while the heli supports them or just let the heli take all the damage until it's knocked out.</p>

Features:
-Fire on enemy players via IR LED
-LED hit indicator LED on Heli
-LED active team indicator LED</p>

-Full sound effects to include
Missile fire
Minigun fire
Heli take hit
Heli take off music
Heli explosion sound
Heli death music</p>


Concerns to address:
-safety
-crashing
-weight limit
-cost to implement
-range of IR LED w/o focusing
-aiming the copter at players
-are these flyable in wooded areas? or open areas only... (I assume too hard in wooded)
-cost, can I do this under $500 reasonably?
-is there a free signal I could tap on a the remote to get a voltage sent so I can send a fire signal? (like any copters that have a blinky light or something that hapens when you tap a button?, I could use that signal to turn it into a trigger)</p>

Range and Accuracy:
I can have one or the other. I can make a splash range of 6-10 feet, or a distance range of 100 yards that requires careful aiming. I may be able to get the LED's to focus down to a 10 yard range with a broad beam attack for general directional aiming. To put it in perspective, the copter will need to be w/in 5-15 yards of someone to attack properly.</p>


Background information:
I'm an Electrical Engineer and have developed a full fledged Laser Tag system for personal use. It closely resembles a variety of online shooter games. There are character classes, upgrades, flags, sounds, lights, realistic reloads, LCD's etc. The guns have ranges over 100 yards and spread comparable to real rifles. The game is done and supports 12 players currently. It's cold out, and I want some new features while I wait for it to warm up again outside for more play testing. I am trying to add some new features to the game and would like to consult some experts on the difficulty of implementing this game. Videos at IRcombat.com if you need to see, but I'm mostly looking for RCheli advice.</p>

Its funny that you refer to 6- 10 ft as splash range, thats just what you will have at that range splash good old blood red splash. Flying over or around guys playing tag or airsoft or paintball wont do anything more thn get someone hurt. At any distance tha woould be safe it will be next to impossible to aim. If you do a search on airsoft or paintball youll find that about once a year someone mentions this bright idea.

Is there any size/power class that is safe enough not to cause harm or penetration of skin? I may not need a device that has a lot of lift/weight requirements. Maybe a 6-10 ounces would be added.

I assume a gas powered helicopter is much more dangerous then an electric unit. I could probably get by with a toy indoor helicopter, or something slightly larger that poses very little, if any, safety threat.</p>

Hey Zach,

Being pretty new to rc flight, I can speak from experience.

My firsy heli was a Honey Bee FP which is smaller than a heli would have to be to carry your minimum weight requirement of 6oz.

It got away from me one time when it was at the "SAFE 6-10 FEET" range. Before I knew it, the heli had drifted over and the blade hit my shin. Granted I was wearing shorts, the blade cut my shin and it was bleeding in seconds.

So, to answer your question: first of all, the heli you need to carry your load will be too large to be safe if crashed into someone.
secondly, if you found a pilot experienced enough to be able to weave in and out of trees through a wooded area, they would not put others in danger by flying so close to them in the "hostile" flying environment, and they wouldn't put their (or your) equipment in danger by flying these missions.
thirdly, you are correct in assuming a gas powered heli is to powerful/dangerous for this. The blades on a gas/nitro/turbine powered heli will remove limbs if hit right at high rotor speed.

Good luck with you ambitions. The IR Combat game sounds cool, but, in my opinion, RC helis are to dangerous for your endeavor.

Thanks,

Joe</p>

HEY GUYZ HOW YOU DOIN I KNOW IM IN THE WRONG FORUM BUT JUST WANTED TO TELL U GUYZ IM ALWAYS CRASHIN MY MCX AND NEEDING MONEY FOR SPARE PARTS I FOUND A SITE THAT I DO OFFERS AT AND PLAY GAMES FOR SOME QUICK EASY CASH TO SPEND AT MY HOBBY SHOP....... A OFFER TAKES ABOUT 1 MIN SOMETIMES 2 MIN ....A OFFER IS WARE U TELL THE PEOPLE THAT SELL A PRODUCT IF ITS GOOD OR NOT IF YOU HAVE TRYD IT BUT JUST LETN U GUYZ IN ON SOME EASY MONEY FOR THOSE SPARE PARTS I HATE PAYN FOR THAT STUFF SINCE IM ALWAYS CRASHING LOL.......IM KINDA NEW TO FLYIN CANT WAIT TO GET THE BLADE MSR.....THANKS GUYZ TRY IT U HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE SIGHN UP .....CLICK ON THE BANNER.................GIVE ME AN EMAIL IF U HAVE ANY QUESTIONS [email protected]

Maybe you could pick up the Iphone Heli thing. I am not going to look right now but I seem to remember it having guarded rotors. Not sure how safe it is even then though.

What about making the heli so it only does straight down like a bomb drop? Maybe something where once you earn a heli strike, there is a "time of attack"for the heli to get as many kills as possible and then it returns to base. Maybe it could keep the heliabove harms way. Again though, if the heli gets out of control, someone could seriously get hurt.


Have you been playing Modern Warfare?</p>

From 250 - 700 size your talking about head speeds that range from 3000 - 2500 (trex 250) to 1800 - 2000 (trex 700)
250 will cut you up good
450 Cuts broken bones (smaller bones)
500 Cuts broken bones (smaller bones)
600 Cut limbs off Break large bones Kill
700 will break bones and cut limbs off Kill.

I thought I read that the trex 250 was indoor rated? Iassume that means fairly safe?

Yes I could get by w/ a straight down attack that hits if above target, probably much easier to perform this type of retrofit.

Ican likely trim weight quite a lot, perhaps about the same as about 3-6 AA batteries, 60-120 grams? Ican cut weight by tapping the battery to feed the controller and not having sound effects (speaker and card add weight). The board, wires and LEDs, are very light, and a lens would add weight but not sure if it's needed. Is there something that could lift an additional 60-120 grams if needed and still be fairly safe?

We are playing this game outside and it involves a lot of sprinting through brush etc.Players expect minorcuts/scrapes from just running around outsideanyways. I am not running business or anything, so I don't think I'll be sued or anything for a minor cut, but I don't want to sever limbs for god's sake. those little indoor choppers look perfect for me if they can handle some weight. I just need to find the smallest and safest chopper that can handle some extra weight.

*keep in mind, i would obviously test this device out thoroughly before putting into action with players!