On 4/2/2015 11:31 AM, wrote:
On Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 8:06:16 AM UTC-4, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 4/2/2015 7:34 AM, John H. wrote:
On Wed, 1 Apr 2015 18:45:19 -0700 (PDT), Tim wrote:

On Sunday, March 29, 2015 at 10:54:57 AM UTC-7, John H. wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 09:46:57 -0700 (PDT), Tim wrote:

On Sunday, March 29, 2015 at 7:36:45 AM UTC-7, True North wrote:
On Sunday, 29 March 2015 09:45:54 UTC-3, Tim wrote:
Just found this. Drone looking over Carlyle lake with a 'fish eye' lens.

seems odd that it looks liked it actually scares a sail boat away, but I doubt that's the case. But the lake is way larger than the video makes it look..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ri-ASQX-10

The drone may have been harassing the sailboat a bit but not chasing. These pictures make me want to get a drone and a Hero camera. Bet I could launch it off my Legend boat for aerial recon.

yeah, it was probably coincidence that the drone flew close to the sailboat and the boat took off. I take it that with a drone you'd need a really calm day though. And I noticed that the pilot of the drone didn't get too far down the lake to be out of signal.

If he was using a modern transmitter, his range would be at least a few miles. From
the time of the flight, I'd say he was worried about his batteries dying. That is a
definite 'no-no'. The battery charge level can also be transmitted thru the TV camera
to his headset.
--

Guns don't cause problems.
Gun owner behavior causes problems.

John, he probably came back because he didn't want to take any chances of loosing it. Maybe he was running low on battery strength.

Those lithium polymer batteries are expensive. Running them down too low can ruin
them. I set my transmitter so I get a loud 'SQUAWK" when eight minutes of flight time
is up. That lets me know to put the plane on the ground, before it does so by itself.

Very similar to running out of fuel in a 'real' airplane!


Eight minutes of flight time? The pre-flight check done on the ground
before you even get in the cockpit takes longer than that on a "real"
airplane.

Once started, it takes longer than that to taxi from the tie down area,
do a run-up and then proceed to the active runway in a "real" airplane.
Same in reverse after you land.

More "dissimilarities".

Say, does a "real" airplanes have an elevator, rudder, ailerons, flaps, and a throttle? Does the "real" pilot use them to control the airplane during flight like an RC pilot does?

Just wondering.



Of course. That's not what was being debated. I've acknowledged that I
have nothing against RC flyers. I think its a fun hobby for many.
I've even acknowledged that controlling a RC airplane in the air, with
it's inaccurate scale speed (in most cases) and requirement to use
reverse logic on the controls is probably more difficult than flying an
small "real" airplane once it's in the air. The maneuvers most of them
are capable of making are unrealistic in the real world. A pilot would
pass out.

The small Cessnas that I am most familiar with will basically fly
themselves once trimmed out. The landings can be a bitch though if you
screw up. Overall, there's more to flying a real one (having done both)
and most pilots of both will agree.