Pixturethis from RCGROUPS is claiming 51 miles out and back over in this thread here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1639541
Wondering if there is anyone keeping a track of FPV "records" like this and where this stands? By the looks of it it was a gas plane... boooo. It just doesn't feel that much of an achievement beyond having very good antenna's. Not to nock it, of course it was a big job, just in comparison to those doing it on battery it's alot different.
I believe he still had to practice extensive throttle management/restraint, but yes, I hear what you say. Very impressive never-the-less.
What I found interesting though, was that his video antennas could hardly be described as cutting-edge or revolutionary. Just a rather scrappy locking home-made dipole on the plane and a 13dbi yagi on the ground. Cool stuff!
Well, if it were so easy, everyone would be doing it. He had to find an engine that uses up little gas and has good power to weight ratio etc.
There are many people keeping track of "records" like this. What I don't like is the feeling of superiority people who fly electric have. We know electrics are cleaner, quieter, they can be more powerful than IC engines etc, but there is one thing where Gas still beats electric by A LOT, and that is range. In fact, Maynard Hill managed to cross the athlantic on half a gallon of fuel. That's more than 2000 miles. It's not easy because it requires extensive work on fuel, carburator side, ignition side, propeller and throttle management. It's not something anyone can do, really, while doing 100 miles and back , yes anyone could do that.
What makes me upset is that Electric flyers tend to think that Electric propulsion should be better in every respect, and this is not the case. They know that they would be helpless trying to replicate such a distance, and the future records made with gas fpv planes.
What makes them super upset is the fact that most of them are noobs and did not start flying with a gas trainer, and will never even think about moving to gas planes.
They are missing an import aspect of the hobby, a lot of history that was made thanks to the internal combustion engine.
My opinion is not superiority, but gas is much more energy dense than lipo batteries, so straight away you've got a benefit. The technology is already there and the records have already been made with regards to long distance flying. As you mentioned Maynard has already done transatlantic with a gas RC plane. So a 80 miles FPV flight is not a huge achievement as it would be with electric.
I started flying 15 years ago so I have flown glow planesI just prefer electric these days.
same thing here , I started in 1994 with glow, and I do go only electric these days, since my wife won't allow any leaking plane in the house any longer after she got used to having electric planes in the attic.Originally Posted by londonguy
My opinion is not superiority, but gas is much more energy dense than lipo batteries, so straight away you've got a benefit. The technology is already there and the records have already been made with regards to long distance flying. As you mentioned Maynard has already done transatlantic with a gas RC plane. So a 80 miles FPV flight is not a huge achievement as it would be with electric.
I started flying 15 years ago so I have flown glow planes
Time to design a solar powered fpv plane.
what he lacks in antenna quality he makes up for with output power. pretty unimpressive stuff if you ask me. I think robert's flights are about 10x more of an achievement than his flight.
oh, and just for the record ... he didn't beat our record either, which is at 86.9km ... keep practicing, bitches
Hahahahahahh!
typical trappy response!
I would not worry either... though I think he will easily reach 100+km this summer.
I think Sircana is already offering some better antenna hardware!
I think you need to keep in mind that neither video nor R/C nor battery was at any kind of limit on the flight we did. we still had perfect video signal until we decided to fly 100m above ground 80km out, which was LOS or borderline LOS most of the time. we have a 150km video link and a plane that can go that far in the right conditions. but to be honest, once you've crossed 20km it's no longer a challenge it's just applying a formula and changing the inputs to increase the outputs.
it might be a cool challenge to do a proper long range record flight on 5.8GHz though. the current one is a pretty funny joke
Ahhh, the tools/equipment you choose to use, is at your discretion. 2.4GHz @ 100mW and a 30dbi grid, or 900MHz @ 5W and a 3db dipole - you should pick whatever you feel will enable you to achieve the desired goal - which in this case is furthest distance.
Not wishing to open up an old debate either, but Pixturethis's flight was a round trip too
As Kondor-FPV stated, if it were easy...
we all have our challanges, for this guy his challange was to get the round trip record with the least technology possible.
If it were me I'd make a solar plane with unlimited daylight range. That's many challanges in one.
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