FunJet

[Captain Future]

Hi guys,
I'd like to present my FunJet.
Meanwhile, I have successfully completed 4 flights. The last and longest flight with a Flycam, Mycrocam 720 HD. About the camera I'm disappointed, but not about the Gluonpilot. I am absolutely satisfied. Tom, you make a great job.

On This way I would like to express sincerely thank Tom, for a 1a Support and Björn, for their great tips and nice conversation.

About 3 years ago I started with UAV. With the paparazzi project. My first airframe was an Easystar with TWOG autopilot and IR sensors. So I'm also successfully flown. But my dream has always been a Funjet with autopilot and without IR sensors. By chance I detected Bjorn Lighthouse Mission V and was immediately hooked. I've then loaded the GCS and studied. I really liked, like paparazzi GCS. Immediately ordered and till this day unregretted.

Now to my Funjet:
The following components were used:
AXI 2212/20 with PIX 3000 ESC
Propeller: APC 7X5
Battery Multiplex 3S / 2100mAh
Xbee pro, Series 1

To the flight.
First a long-distance flight. Distance to the turning point, 2.2 km. then back, and then high at 1000 meters. On the video, the landing can´t be seen, because the battery was empty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsdno5-hf28

I use a homemade directional antenna and had full receiving over the whole distance.

What interests me is the Telemetry. Which modules do you use, which antennas and how long was the longest distance?

And Tom, there's something new with you? When we can expect with your new hardware and is there a software update? I'm very excited.

Regards
Eddi

[icebear]

Eddi,

That is one very nice Funjet! As you know, this has inspired me to buy a regular Funjet which I hope will arrive tomorrow. My goal is to make it the lightest Funjet with autopilot around!
Well done on the quick progress to a 4 km flight and 1000 m altitude!

Cheers,

Björn

[Tom]

Hello,

You are making some very fast progress!

Your setup is similar to my funjet, but I use a 2s lipo

Usually I use the stock Xbee Pro 2.4 modules with stock antennas. At distance of 1km I would probably have 50% dropped packages, depending on the position of the plane. My XBee 868MHz module is better and more powerful, but I think it emits more noise. It would be better to fit this XBee in a larger plane so you can keep some distance between your GPS/RC-receiver and this XBee module. I use it at 25mW (otherwise it makes my RC-receiver useless), but you can configure it up to 500mW!!! So if needed you could easily use this module for several KM distance without directional antenna, but you'll need a slightly larger plane.

Yes! New stuff coming! I'm preparing a final 0.8 release (nothing special because 0.8 beta 4 is very stable) and new hardware! Hardware should be available in October. Most software changes for the coming weeks will be support for the new hardware AND better OSD support.

[Captain Future]

Hi guys,
after several successful flights, I flew on Sunday in the high altitude.
At exactly 2000 meters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgQPoXvL1iA&feature=plcp

In fact it was just a test flight, my goal is 3000m. Does anyone know the record high of a Funjet?

The Gluonpilot does it better

Eddi

[Tom]

Great flight!

Your ESC makes funny noises at 2000 meter

Did you have live video and telemetry downlink?
Are you happy with the horizon hd?

What was the descent angle? My wing took 15 minutes to get from 2000 meter to 100 meter

Great you managed to picture yourself during landing

Also, your roll seems a bit nervous, maybe the gain is a bit too high?

[icebear]

Hi guys,
after several successful flights, I flew on Sunday in the high altitude.
At exactly 2000 meters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgQPoXvL1iA&feature=plcp
In fact it was just a test flight, my goal is 3000m. Does anyone know the record high of a Funjet?
The Gluonpilot does it better
Eddi

Great achievement Eddi!
I was impressed by both the quick ascent and descent. You have a little bigger motor that I do on my Funjet Ultra and therefore better speed.
Fun to see clearly that the winds changed at different altitude levels.
I agree with Tom regarding P-gain - did you change at all from intial flights?
Good luck with the next attempt if it is not too cold soon!
/Björn

[Captain Future]

Hi Björn, hi Tom,
thank you for the congratulations.

No, I have not changed the P gain. What values would you change exactly? My Configuration:

With the Horizon HD I am very satisfied.
It is light: 28g + 8g for 1S/300mAh Lipo (45min recording)
Because of the design it can be installed aerodynamic.
With the video quality am also satisfied. On my LED Full HD TV, the videos are very nice. The GoPro will certainly be better, but it is good enough for me.

With my engine set up am also satisfied. It is powerful and efficient. With 4S the Funjet rises vertically.

Telemetry downlink of course, life video, no. Currently have no ambitions to.

I also fear that this year it will not with my record attempt.

Yes, these are my wife, my little son and I. My Julian (5 years) is not thrilled by my flights. He thinks that the airplane flies away and never comes back. Has even cried.

wish you successful flights
Eddi

[blagerst]

Hi,
This is so fun ! Big congrats to your progress.
I have similar goals to do extended flights both with respect to high altitude as well as long day/night flights but at the moment waiting for hardware.
First I will agree about the camera, HoryzonHD is very good, fully comparable with GoPro and half the price. A little surprised however, my videos show better resolution than yours.

When reading the comments about quick altitude drop I have a question.

I fly FPV with Skywalker and Twinstar and this summer I have often get stuck in thermals having problems to get out of there.
My question is about how the descent algorithm is working ? is it only engine off ?
Is it possible to implement different methods to drop of altitude such as wing-gliding, banking/circling or even inverted flight ?

Thanks
/Bo

[Tom]

Hello Bo,

I am doubting to buy a GoPro. Especially interesting is the new black edition: it takes full HD video plus an 8MP photo every few seconds. It would be great to have both photos and video. Of course it all comes at a (very large) price...

About the descent:
Currently the descent is achieved by (1) lowering the throttle to the minimum throttle level and (2) lowering the pitch angle to the minimum pitch angle (most people use -10 or -15 degrees). On my 2000 meter attempt the descent angle was only -10 degrees, so it took 15 minutes to go from 2000 meter to 100m... As an alternative for more aggressive descent, you could lower the minimum pitch angle, or make the circle radius smaller. Markus was descending at -14 degrees, which already was a lot faster than mine.

[icebear]

Hi Eddi,

I agree with Bo - this is fun!
I checked my Config file and I have excatly the same PID settings BUT I would try to decrease P-gain forAileron from 04, to 0,3 just to see what happens (you dont need to go for 2000 meters though ).
Physical aileron throw may not be the same as my Funjet Ultra...
That said, you are very close to perfect perfromance...

Have you ever had any trouble with stalling du to the high max pitch angle of 40 degrees?

I just got the GoPro2 before the no3 came out ( ) but I am tempted to sell the '2 and upgrade next season.I have done some stills with the GoPro and they are OK but not as good as my Canon S90 (of course). I would expect the '3 GoPro to be a little bit better but still not as good as a regular compact camera due to the quality of the lens.

Nice weather coming up this weekend - BUT c-c-cold!

/Bjorn