Spending spare time flying a MikroKopter

[PineRidge]

Haven't been around in a long time lots of things have changed for the wife and I.

I have lots of steady work and I'm thankful for that.

We put our place on the market, the house is too large for the wife and I since the kids have all moved elsewhere to start their own lives. We have 4 that all reside in different states.

Sitting on a tractor for 4 hours mowing just doesn't seem to be the same as it was 11 years ago when we built the house. The thrill is gone.

The wife and I got into radio control flying. She does an airplane while my interest is a HexaKopter.

I spend quite a bit of time at the 1st USA MikroKopter Forum where I am one of 3 moderators

The wife and I do quite a bit of traveling to various air shows and it's a lot of fun. The latest was 2 weeks ago at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. That one was a 3 day event and there was a lot of action including a RC jet that went down about 40 feet from me in a fireball. And although I didn't fly at the event because of high winds we had a blast just the same.

Everyone here knows what an airplane is but for those of you that may wonder what the devil a HexaKopter is you can watch Holger (the inventor) give a demonstration here. I find them to be a real challenge to fly.

YouTube - HexaKopter - MikroKopter

I hope everyone is healthy and doing well.
Cheers!:thumbsup:
Mike

 

[dave1949]

Thanks for sharing that. I had never heard of MicroKopters, very cool. Must be some great engineering behind it.

The heck with mowing grass, I want one to play with
Dave.

 

[kennyd]

Good to hear you are doing OK Mike:thumbsup:

I spent MANY years flying RC helicopters, and still am the president of our local club even though I gave it up to build my house 6 years ago and never picked it back up unfortunately.

Our local club MHA

 

[PineRidge]

They make a Quad, Hexa, and a Octo. The Octo is a BMW with 8 motors.

Mine is equipped with the standard flight control board plus a optional navigation board, magnetic compass board, and a GPS. It's a blast to fly.

 

[k0ua]

OMG! that is just the coolest toy I have ever seen..there has got to be some way to make money with that thing. not to mention search and rescue or any of a thousand other uses.. dare I ask how much?
James K0UA

 

[riptides]

I did/do r/c aircraft. Back when I was a full time flyer, heh heh, the copter technology was downright difficult to master.

We use to call ourselves (not to offend) the Irainian Air Force. Micro-flights, totalled a/c and hanger queens were the norm.

I yearn for the day when I can actually spend hours flying again.

 

[PineRidge]

OMG! that is just the coolest toy I have ever seen..there has got to be some way to make money with that thing. not to mention search and rescue or any of a thousand other uses.. dare I ask how much?
James K0UA

Quite a few professional photographers and some surveyors are using these to haul expensive camera gear around.

Use mine for pleasure and getting ready to install a FPV (first person view) system. The Hexa will have a color video camera mounted on the bottom that will automatically adjust as the Hexa descends or ascends. I will be wearing a pair of HeadPlay goggles and do the flying just as though I was on-board.

Here's a couple of pictures on mine with different domes.

 

[PineRidge]

Good to hear you are doing OK Mike:thumbsup:

I spent MANY years flying RC helicopters, and still am the president of our local club even though I gave it up to build my house 6 years ago and never picked it back up unfortunately.

Our local club MHA

Hi Kenny glad you're well and still around!

 

[PineRidge]

dare I ask how much?
James K0UA

That's like asking a lady her age. You'll never get the correct answer anyway.

 

[tglass]

what's one of these cost and where can I get one? Never saw anything like it.

 

[hawkeye08]

It is most interesting, I am sure you have a blast flying it.

 

[PineRidge]

what's one of these cost and where can I get one? Never saw anything like it.

Go to Google and type MikroKopter there's lots of places to get parts or complete birds.

 

[PineRidge]

It is most interesting, I am sure you have a blast flying it.

Really like taking it to air shows as it gets lots of attention. This is a local club that I belong to. This was an open house fly in. You could fly whatever you brought. My Hexa is about the middle of the page, I'm in the orange shirt.

August 15, 2010 - Open House

 

[Ken_CT]

Here's a price list I found following the links on youtube. Make sure you're sitting down:laughing:. http://shop.quadrocopter.us/Ready-to-Fly-MikroKopter_c_1.htmlhttp://shop.quadrocopter.us/Ready-to-Fly-MikroKopter_c_1.html

Ken

 

[k0ua]

oh dear, guess I wont be getting one anytime soon... drat, it was very cool
James K0UA

 

[PineRidge]

oh dear, guess I wont be getting one anytime soon... drat, it was very cool
James K0UA

You don't buy them ready made unless your a Rockefeller. The idea is to buy bare boards from MikroKopterm get your parts from Digikey and build it yourself.

Course you can't be timid about electronics.

 

[k0ua]

Course you can't be timid about electronics.

Uh, yeah!.. thats a lot of SMD there my friend, you loaded those boards yourself?
I have soldered all my life, but I am getting a little old.. sure would need a good luxo-light, micro tip and maybe my visor too:laughing:
or do you have some kind of wave-flow machine, to solder them itsy bitsy Surface Mount Device components on?.. A tip of my hat to you! You have got what it takes!
James K0UA

 

[jcims]

Is that an Arduino microcontroller or something else? There are some vids on YouTube with guys tuning the feedback loops from gyros and accelerometers to help stabilize the thing, and they were slinging Arduino in there. I suppose you could use just about anything.

Do you have a radio (or at least channel count) you would recommend for this kind of application? I'd been planning to start with a small electric plane and play with FPV on it, and graduate up to heli/mikro over time. I just wanted to buy one radio, though, and wanted to get something that would do a reasonable job at all of the above.

 

[PineRidge]

Uh, yeah!.. thats a lot of SMD there my friend, you loaded those boards yourself?
I have soldered all my life, but I am getting a little old.. sure would need a good luxo-light, micro tip and maybe my visor too:laughing:
or do you have some kind of wave-flow machine, to solder them itsy bitsy Surface Mount Device components on?.. A tip of my hat to you! You have got what it takes!
James K0UA

How about hot air, my wife says that's the one thing I have most of.
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

 

[dave1949]

Here's a price list I found following the links on youtube. Make sure you're sitting down:laughing:. http://shop.quadrocopter.us/Ready-to-Fly-MikroKopter_c_1.htmlhttp://shop.quadrocopter.us/Ready-to-Fly-MikroKopter_c_1.html

Ken

That's not soooo bad - well compared to other hobby/pastime expenses. Boats, sports cars, snowmoble/ATV, hunting lease, etc.
Dave.