Anyone using FPV at fires?

[Myron]

RP Search Services has flown many fires.. see one of them here.. the resoultion is pretty sad because its a copy from a copy.. We had a live feed for the FD to monitor live. Everything worked great and towards dusk we thought we were done for the day but there was a flare-up and the Cheif asked us to fly again so he could see what was going on.. We did and he was directing the troops from our feed.. It was a really good feeling to get make that happen!..

look at the video "Drone/Brush fire"

View this video on YouTube


Myron

[Myron]

@ W4UAV... Nice footage bro!

[SecretSpy711]

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

Check out how the Skylark UAV landing system works... Skip to about 1:20.

It's basically a deep-elevator-stall and an airbag. I will do something like this eventually. Requires a full flying tail (or one that flips up to the proper angle) to pull it off.


View this video on YouTube

[londonguy]

Wow amazing method of landing.

[Pelagic Pilot]

Glad to see this topic started, I too am interested in FPV use over fires/SAR, etc. My main interest would be for a loitering VTOL platform with connectivity.

[CaliDave]

Saw this one which looked to be a small brush fire... I'm guessing due to some methane coming from the landfill. Maybe it was controlled, but I didn't see anyone around it during this shot. No concern from a fire perspective, but easy to spot"

[Vintabilly_NS]

Great topic!

We're working on a system over here in the woods with two transmitters where the copilot/searchie has a Pan/Tilt with video switch. A 6mm low light lens coupled with a genuine FLIR with composite video out. Now that's a nice loitering package. Those FLIR/Tau units are $4K a piece though.

So far with an RAF-19 airfoil we're flying on 28 watts per pound and we never use over 3/4 throttle even for climb on a 5lb machine. Looks like a skywalker but with no durability issues. We never see more than 25mph even in a nose down dive. lol

Windy search capability is going to call for a 72-84" flying wing but I question slow loitering. Whoever suggested a SkyWalker platform is pretty close but I believe the size is wrong.

We're also into a Dragon OSD for position hold. We think it's the key feature for flying over burning children or searching for lost fires. :P.

Nice footage Myron! That's what we want to do!

[Vintabilly_NS]

Nice pic.

[SecretSpy711]

...flying over burning children or searching for lost fires. :P.

Lol!

[Old Man Mike]

Here's a little Fire video taken by my quadcopter as I flew it one mile away from inside my house:




OMM