check this out

[Mtn.man]

New flying drone.

http://www.reuters.com/news/video/story?videoId=187012362&videoChannel=6

[Byte Stryke]

as skynet anxiously watches and waits for us to do the initial builds.


http://static.railbirds.com/gallery/2009/03/25397caution__tin_foil_hat.png

[Mazin]

looks like the stealth, do the wheels just stay out? Pretty cool though, I would love to fly a real UAV (I have flown R/C planes since I was young).

[Hoosier]

looks like the stealth, do the wheels just stay out? Pretty cool though, I would love to fly a real UAV (I have flown R/C planes since I was young).

The design certainly appears to be low-observable ("stealthy") though the focus on that aspect has lessened in recent years. Landing gear stays down for test flights, Just In Case.

You can build your own drones, http://diydrones.com. Essentially an R/C aircraft with video downlink and on-board autopilot+gps. I believe legally you have to keep it within visual range of a pilot who can assume command, but I haven't looked into the specifics. Lots of people get their technician no-code ham radio license for this. I have an R/C plane I'd like to try something like this, someday. It's another Expensive Hobby(c).

H.

[Mazin]

Indeed another very expensive hobby. You fly electric or fuel? I just got back in to fuel but fly both often.

[ghettodub]

That thing is pretty awesome, but yeah, Cyberdyne systems and Skynet are close...

[Hoosier]

Indeed another very expensive hobby. You fly electric or fuel? I just got back in to fuel but fly both often.

My plane is a 60" Alpha trainer running Fuel, and I haven't flown it in more than a year and a half. I want to sell it and switch to electric, because I dislike the start up procedures with gas planes. Getting your fingers that close to a blade moving that fast, also needing either a stop-gate or a second person to get it running is annoying. I'd like to just set it down on the runway, and turn it on.

There's an awesome flying field down here in Pueblo. They host a Warbirds event every year where people come in from all around the region. I saw a scale F-22 powered by a real turbine. I'd love to shoot some video of these planes using a highspeed video camera. You could make them appear in flight to be very realistic by slowing down the playback.

H.

[Mazin]

Understand about wanting to swich from fuel to batterys, I'm in the process of building a P51 im going to be covering in a "Miss America" theme slightly modified. heres a great forum about electric flight..

www.wattflyer.com (http://www.wattflyer.com)

Great knowlege base and some friendly folks.