Cool Predator drone crash....fail

[aradc001]

You're welcome, it's truly my pleasure! You're making me blush!

Now, back to your MQ-1... It needs hellfires!

for sure i was thinking of putting something towards the nose since i had to add about 20 grams of clay...were did they sit on the wing?

 

[gyro]

for sure i was thinking of putting something towards the nose since i had to add about 20 grams of clay...were did they sit on the wing?

 

[aradc001]

well i think that i lost some linkage on the v-tail that could of been the problem but i have added missles and almost done adding the camera...its just got it first coat of paint and will be ready this weekend...now i just need to fix my sbach so i can do some 3d flying

 

[FireyFate]

Either way, it's a nice looking replica! I've seen the real one pretty "up and close" and you did a good job

I haven't seen that particular plane up close, but I've seen the engine assembly line when I was working on an engine sim test station for a different bird.

I built a 63" FPV Reaper that has only flown a few times... it was good for super fast and long lasting flights, but overall was really boring to fly compared to my 3D birds.

The OPs custom job is much more curvy and scale looking than the cheap ARF I used!

 

[aradc001]

that looks great i almost went with a reaper but wanted the down v-tail I have never done it before...I agree its not all that fun to fly but it was a fun build. Next build will be a 3d-er just got to figure out what...when im out of med school im buying a 3dhs but untill then ill be making them lol NJswede you asked for hellfires well there you go not the best pics but ill get a re-maiden flight video when i go this weekend

 

[aradc001]

I just noticed your camera mount that looks nice how did you do it? Im thinking of doing one but only have a key chain camera...maybe get some good to try to capture some 3d flying with

 

[FireyFate]

That's some seriously nice custom shaping there!


It was just a 480 line Sony PCB camera connected to some thin plywood by screws through nylon spacers... then another shorter piece of ply glued together perpendicularly in an L configuration. There is a HS-55 servo mounted upside down with the control arm screwed to the plywood, so I could pan it left and right.

I don't have a better picture of the camera, but I do have a picture showing the pan servo I was talking about. The plane had fixed nose gear, so I made it steerable with a dubro kit. Then I mounted a piece of plywood to cover that and mount the 2650mah 3s battery. It was tail heavy... so you can see some lead up there.




It really is a great airframe for a drone... which I suppose makes sense. Good speed, and it would fly for 20+ minutes. I was going to do an OSD setup with GPS waypoints... but I got into 3D and sort of lost interest.

 

[freddy99]

I don't know aradc001, I think you need a little more paint and a decal or two before you fly it.........

 

[FireyFate]

I don't know aradc001, I think you need a little more paint and a decal or two before you fly it.........

Yeah haze grey is awesome for stealthy-ness... not so wonderful for orientation!

 

[freddy99]

How about arctic camo on the top side, leave the bottom gray........
Speaking of orientation, how do we know that the crash wasn't pilot error?????