AF100 on a Remote Helicopter - First Test

Thanks for the kind words everyone, glad you enjoyed this!

Greydad,

With the advancements in motor and battery technology the electric helicopters can now lift a pretty substantial payload! There are some regulations coming here in the near future but I just keep my flying safe and not over people's heads. If you are serious about getting a shot over where you are let me know, I can put you in touch with an operator in the UK who can get you what you need.

Best,

Tabb
 
Timbook,

This is a large single rotor helicopter. Check the video of it flying in the hotel above and you can get a sense of the size.
 
Technically, there is a catch-22 here in the states. You can flay cameras all you want, but if you charge for it you become a commercial operator and (regardless of size) your 'aircraft' has to have a tail number. The FAA is not, at the moment, issuing tail numbers for un-manned aircraft. You could theoretically fly for free and charge the client for transfer fees or something, but that might get a little dicey if anyone ever decided to enforce. As far as I know there is no enforcement now, but sooner or later some air-head paparazzi is going to crash his little UAV into the windshield of an on-comming car and the stuff will hit the fan. The flying we saw in this video is absolutely exquisite, not just anybody can do this. High-quality FPV like this is a very cool thing with tons of positive potential, but I fear that sooner or later somebody with more ambition than skill is going to do something tragic and muck it up for everyone.
As for the FAA, the last I heard, they have formed a committee to study the situation and will get back to us in about 20 years.
 
Hey Tabb, that's appreciated - by all means PM me and I'll follow up.

I've informally talked to one guy already although the camera I want to use is right on the limit of his copter payload.

Thanks!

Neil
 
This footage was awesome and sooooo smooth. The music was also great. I have never seen a more stellar shot than the one that showed the aerial of all the boats. It literally looked like there was a million of them. The shot at the end showing you at the helm was also sweet. Great job!
 
Yea I have watched this several times and I enjoy it just as much now as I did the first time. I think this footage is so good it might actually make someone, who hadn't considered purchasing this camera, to actually purchase it. I think it looks "that" good. Panasonic should be paying you for marketing this camera.

Regards,

G.
 
Why can't you be in Los Angeles!?

haha.

Awesome work. You have serious skill. I'd pay as much as I could for shots like those in narrative... which is like, a few beers but still!
 
Really enjoyed your work.

I have shot many ,many areials using Tyler, Continental, Remote underslung mounts etc...

I have even had a bit of hands on "steering" a few choppers.

I have done the hover training thing. ( I was hopeless and I always considered myself fairly adept at stuff such as "wheels "and geared heads etc))

What make your stuff so amazing to me is ...I have a RC 6 channel transmitter as well as a RC Simulator.

R/C of a serious model chopper is unbelievably difficult in itself ........but especially when considering the added factor of a mounted camera . eg. framing composing etc, etc...

Respect BRO! You deserve it.
 
Shooter said:
What would an electronic gyro be?
Click to expand...

imagine the gimbal with its two axis, you would have an electronic gyro sensing each axis for movement and talking to the servos to try and cancel out any hard movements. i believe i saw it in action in the video around 1:30, but could be mistaken
 
Helicopter Remote Footage

Helicopter Remote Footage

Aerialpan:

That is incredibly smooth footage, especially given that you are not using one of the Hexa/Octa Copters. You are one awesome pilot and cameraman. How much does the camera payload weigh? What kind of camera mount are you using?

I have been investigating the Hexacopter XL with the Droidworks camera mount for use with the 5D2/7D/GoProHD as I think it would be much easier to fly for an RC newbie. I need to get the camera first however to make the big bux necessary for that purchase.
 
Thanks everyone for the kind words, glad you all enjoyed it. I have been away shooting more with the AF and will post some more footage asap from it. I continue to be very very impressed with the camera.

imdjay said:
beautiful, is it electronically or mechanically gyro'ed?
Click to expand...

The gimbal is electronically compensated. You are correct that you saw it compensating for the movement of the helicopter in the footage from the GoPro
 
Rod Cole said:
Aerialpan:

That is incredibly smooth footage, especially given that you are not using one of the Hexa/Octa Copters. You are one awesome pilot and cameraman. How much does the camera payload weigh? What kind of camera mount are you using?

I have been investigating the Hexacopter XL with the Droidworks camera mount for use with the 5D2/7D/GoProHD as I think it would be much easier to fly for an RC newbie. I need to get the camera first however to make the big bux necessary for that purchase.
Click to expand...

Rod, in my experience a well tuned helicopter can give results that are far more stable and smooth then the smaller hexacopters (at least for now!) especially if the wind kicks up at all. The caveat is that I think it takes years of training in both helicopter setup as well as piloting to acheive this level of smoothness whereas it is much more attainable with a multirotor in a shorter time period. This helicopter is carrying a 6 pound gimbal in addition to the AF100's weight. The camera mount is from copterworks.com, very nice product. The Hexacopter XL is a very nice platform and a million times easier to fly then a conventional RC helicopter. I think that is a better way to go for a beginner for sure. The guys at quadrocopter.us are great guys as well and put together a quality product.

Best,

Tabb
 
soeren_hh said:
Hi,

we are just working on a quite similar heli for using a gh2.

To control the gimbal and the helicopter did you use the hdmi signal?

How do you transfer video signals to the remote monitor? from what we have dicovered now its only possible to use analog video signals via radio. Therefor we thought of using digital/analog converter...which will be additional weight.
Any better/ other suggestions?

Thanks and best regards

soeren
Click to expand...

See this: http://www.markertek.com/Video-Equipment/Wireless-HDMI-Systems/HDMI-WIRELESS-BK.xhtml

And this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZH10z-Lf0k

And This: http://copterworks.com/
 
simply amazing! I've been researching this for quite a while now and am definitely ready to tackle this challenge...the shots you can achieve with talent like this is fantastic; cinema quality for sure! I'm looking at purchasing an E-Flight Blade 400 to learn on and try out my luck with a go pro possibly by summer. I know it takes years of practice to achieve anything like this; it will surely be a while before I mount any sort of camera other than the indestructable go pro for quite some time!

Any advice for a rc heli noob? I know you recommend the similator, but I'd rather start small with hovering and low level control with an actual helicopter and work my way up until I'm comfortable higher in the air where there is more potential for serious damage to the copter!

Awesome work man, mad props to yeh!
 
Hi Tabb, thanks for all the replies. I took your advice and started training with software and your right! What interests me most at this moment is the HD video signal transmitter:
"M2T", Messenger II Transmitter
got a price tag ? cobham has no prices and Gmsinc.com seems to be down...
 
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I think starting with a small helicopter and practicing on the simulator is the way to go. Nice and easy on the wallet and a great way to learn!

Thanks for the kind words!

Timbook2....not sure what the current pricing is but they are very expensive (I think around 80K for the package we used??)

Also I finally got a Behind the Scenes Reel edited up. A small sample of some of the awesome projects we have been lucky enough to work on. Take a look here:



http://www.vimeo.com/19763588


Best,

Tabb
 
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