Anyone using FPV at fires?

[yellowjacket]

I'm a fire officer in Ireland, and I'm very keen on the idea of utilising FPV at wildfires and other incidents - inspired by the Project Fireeye videos:
http://vimeo.com/groups/36916/videos/26611523

I've been getting the hang of RC flying for the last year or so, and am just waiting for some decent weather to start flying FPV - have spent the winter getting the equipment side set up.

Would love to hear from anyone else looking onto this area for ideas on platform suitability, sensors etc.

[Blizzard1287]

A lot of us would love to help (and in some cases have) however currently any help you receive from the rc communiy must be kept on the down low due to current FAA laws.

That said look up a guy named labushman here and on rcgroups. He made a skywalker with a thermal camera with flight times close to an hour. It'd be a good place to start.

Good luck!

[IBCrazy]

You need a very large aircraft for long flight times. The more stable, the better. The problem you run into is you will need a runway. Generally the best way to land in a short distance is simply to stuff the airplane in a hard belly flop. However, if loaded up with lots of batteries, this might damage the aircraft.

A few aircraft that would be good fr this are the SkyWalker and Sky Surfer. Either works. They are nothing sporty, but the can stay up and stable for a long time.

-Alex

[W4UAV]

I used my Skywalker to get aerial video for the local fire/forestry service putting out a large brushfire that was next to my new FPV flying site (ironically)
I didnt fly FPV this day because of other assets (full scale helicopters) in the area.

View this video on YouTube


View this video on YouTube

This event taught me a lesson and has spawned the creation of my Heptad as a loitering platform.


View this video on YouTube

[SENTRY]

Yes - FPVLAB's own RoswellFlightTest Crew

--> http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread....highlight=bird

[yellowjacket]

Blizzard1287, thankfully I'm outside FAA jurisdiction We're a government agency which helps here too.

IBCrazy, I've been using a skysurfer clone (Hobbyking Bixler) to learn to fly RC. I also like the relative inexpensiveness of this - flying over an environment where crashes will most likely mean total loss.

W4UAV, thanks for those videos, perfectly outlining what I am trying to achieve.

One problem I foresee is wind, wildfires tend to be worse on windy days - realistically, what sort of windspeed limits would I be looking at?

[W4UAV]

The best platform Ive used that loiters well and handles wind the best is an overpowered Skywalker. Itll carry a large battery and camera payload, shrugs wind real well and stays stable. I say overpowered to penetrate the wind when you need to, to get in and out of a situation or return home in a strong headwind. Ive flown mine in 30-40 mph winds buffeted around but stayed stable.

[yellowjacket]

Good stuff, sounds very useable if it can handle winds like that.

How much hardware should I be banking on carrying? eg is a go-pro a necessity - is WDR600 footage good enough for firespottting? Do I need RTH? I'm presuming some form of OSD with GPS will be handy. I'm very keen on keeping this fairly inexpensive in case it ends up as fuel for the fire.

[Blizzard1287]

Well in that case pick up the new big wing skywalker and don't look back. Just be sure to review the build logs as wing folding has been noted to fold upon a dive.

[W4UAV]

The Gopro is not a necessity for that purpose, a WDR600 would do great IMO.. I have based the need for RTH on the familiarity of where you are flying, if you are flying from different locations and need to find home to return to then RTH is needed. At least an arrow on the OSD pointing to home.