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My old FPV planes

Thanks to them all. To their dedication, I shall never forget their past glories.

A video of F-4 Phantom II

Video taken on 12/04/2009.It is an RC plane of McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.

Background of The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II:

It is a two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. It was used extensively by all three of these services during the Vietnam War, serving as the principal air superiority fighter for both the Navy and Air Force, as well as being important in the ground-attack and reconnaissance roles by the close of U.S. involvement in the war.

Cool~ Do you want to own an F4?

Kai Tak 11 Apr 2009

In the ground station you see in the last two photos. This is the gear I am using, an 1.2G 500mw video transmitter coupled with a receiver using a stock whip antenna. The recording device in the photo is an Archos 605, which makes AVI files of DV quality (640x480 25frames/sec). A video splitter (the yellow adapter) is connected to the video goggles and the recording gadget. There is no degradation of picture quality. The 1.2G receiver set at channel 1 is powered by a reliable source of 3-cell 1300mah Li battery.

I fly this 3D EPP plane, Hyperion Sniper 3D of 1m wingspan, with FPV gear because of its light weight and highly agile response. The gross flying weight is approximately 600g, which somehow makes it a bit difficult to fly in windy conditions. A camera is mounted on a pan servo, and a tilt servo is adhered to the camera's back. The transmitter of 13 grams is powered by a 3-cell 500 mah Li battery which can be charged on the flying field using portable e-sky 3-cell Li charger.

The video was taken at Kai Tak Airport, an international airport of Hong Kong before 1998. It is now a construction site and of course a lovely place for all rc lovers. The plane was flown right above runway 31.

My gear was purchased at http://www.inno-flight.com.

Low pass at waist high

Flying is not alone. On 15 Mar, I went to the flying field with friends. This time I had an FPV flight. One of my friends was my spotter who helped me locate the plane and another one standing next to me would take over the control in case I got loss. We had a trainer cord which linked up two radios. I had to do so, as it is much safer even there was a loss of video signal or the plane's direction.

Everything was hooked up. I had my video goggle and a cap shielding off the bright sunlight. "You have control" told my friend, then he helped take off the plane. I had full control of the plane and I tried to fly low at waist high. During the time of the flight, I experienced strong crosswind which made landing difficult. I tried to land it on the paved runway but it was a failure. After several attempts, it was landed on the grass.

My collections

These nice planes which were built from scratch are now placed in my hanger. They served me with glory and honour in the good old days. Each of this took me almost 2 days to set up properly.

The yellow plane is equipped with a camera and a powerful video transmitter. Live video is broadcast to my notebook computer simultaneously. What I do is flying at the screen like playing simulation games.

My first log

Mar 13, 2009, a beautiful day with lots of experienced pilots gathered at a place. DIY extra 300s 3D plane made stunt and practised ballet.

The second plane I saw was a Multiplex Easy Glider, which was a pure glider without any power unit. The owner custom-made a motor mount and installed a 1200kv powerful powerplant, making it to shoot into the sky in a second.

3D planes are always popular, especially those which are made of EPP materials. People say they are non-breakable, but they break anyway. It plays stunts easily but they are a lot affected by winds as the building material is soft.

This BeeGee is tough and survives many crashes (of course I think those are human errors). It is very suitable for beginners as it is easy to control and fix using 5 min epoxy.