Monday, December 2, 2013

Seventh Time in the Air

In in the air again to take some pictures.

The plan was simple. Utilize the battery (3 minutes full throttle or 9 minutes half throttle) to the fullest.

Start with 1 minute of full throttle to get some altitude, 66% or 6 minutes half throttle left. Flay a couple of overpasses for 4 minutes, 2 minutes left at half throttle. Land with remaining battery.

Sadly the plan didn't go quite as planned:


First take off attempt was aborted because one of the wheels snagged on the grass and turned off the runway (here were 10 seconds of full throttle lost). Then the plane didn't get as high as intended, so flying by the visible size, the plane was flown farther then intended (here it took longer to fly back). Add some wind higher up, so when trying to hold the plane as still as possible for the photos produced larger turns.

Long story short, 5 minutes and 33 seconds later the plane landed 3 meters from the runway because it ran out of power to run the motor 20 centimetres off the ground approaching the runway. But the new landing gear held. No pivot over this time, just some torn duct tape.

Much was learned today and if the pictures turn out useful, it was worth it.

And here is the scenic view:


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