News: All Things That Fly #205

Our RC friends on the other side of the Pond have just released episode 204 of the All Things That Fly podcast. You can find it here: http://www.allthingsthatfly.com/

ATTF is a very popular, US-based RC podcast hosted by a number of clued-up professionals, serving you with weekly news, sound technical advice and a multitude of 'war stories'. We here at rc-forc3.com recommend it to you. Look out for updates on their new releases here.

News: GoPro HD HERO2 released!

Image: GoPro.com

WOW! A new product from probably the coolest camera company in the world - GoPro! It's a second incarnation of their HD Hero! It sports an impressive array of new features, as well as some interesting improvements to the existing hardware! The highlights that impressed me so far are:

• WiFi triggering and streaming
• external microphone socket
• 2x faster processor 
• 11MP sensor (the Hero has a 5MP sensor)
• sharper glass
• adjustable field of view in most modes (170, 127, 90 degrees)
• higher fps at lower recording modes (well, 120fps at wide VGA and 48 fps at 960p, nothing more)
• improved low-light performance

You can read more about the new release over at the GoPro official product page and you can find a full comparison with the original HD Hero here.

New Video: A Yellow Spot on the Sun

Since autumn is setting in properly in the UK now, Papa Jay and I took a trip to Richmond Park today to mark the end of the flying season and enjoy the unusually nice weather. We then rushed home (after a pizza!) to make sure we can still edit the footage and show a teaser of what it's like to be out and about with the London RC Project folks! Filmed entirely on a GoPro Hero HD camera.

Enjoy!

New Product: iPhly - iPhone RC controller

Photo: 78Dave from RCGroups.com

I'm happy to report that the manufacturer and designer of the iPhone RC controller has finally released it! You can read the full review at RCGroups.

New Product: Spektrum AR7200BX DSMX Flybarless

Photo: Horizon Hobby

Another horizon-related announcement today - a flybarless system from Spektrum! Interesting to say the least! Here is some info lifted directly from the product page:

BeastX flybarless technology is the most powerful, easiest-to-use flybarless technology flying today. And now with the amazing AR7200BX, you can add it to your 250- to .90-size helicopter while saving space and reducing flying weight at the same time. The groundbreaking Spektrum innovation combines a 7-channel DSMX receiver with a BeastX, 3-axis MEMS stabilization system into a single, compact unit. Besides eliminating the mechanical complexity of a flybar, the BeastX technology built into the AR7200BX lets you quickly fine-tune stability, cyclic response and tail response without touching a single linkage or require special software, All you need is your DSM2/DSMX transmitter and this unit.

New Product: Blade mSR X RTF

Photo: HorizonHobby.com

Blade (previously E-Flite) has just introduced a new micro heli to the table. It seems to be a flybarless fixed-pitch successor to the ever-popular mSR. More info, lifted directly from the product page, below:

Blade raises the bar yet again with the mSR X; the world’s first fixed-pitch ultra micro heli with advanced AS3X™ flybarless stabilization. The core of AS3X technology is a sophisticated, 3-axis digital sensor that stabilizes the rotor head and functions as a heading hold gyro. This, along with its powerful motors and high-precision cyclic servos, gives the mSR X a sense of stability and responsiveness no other fixed-pitch heli its size can match.

This should be an interesting...

Our very own Ryleh takes to the skies!

Our RC pilot Ryleh is taking to the skies himself - learning to become a helicopter pilot! Here's a recent video of him practising auto-rotation!

News: All Things That Fly #204

Our RC friends on the other side of the Pond have just released episode 204 of the All Things That Fly podcast. You can find it here: http://www.allthingsthatfly.com/

ATTF is a very popular, US-based RC podcast hosted by a number of clued-up professionals, serving you with weekly news, sound technical advice and a multitude of 'war stories'. We here at rc-forc3.com recommend it to you. Look out for updates on their new releases here.

UK Scaler Nationals 2011

Photo credit: Chris Dickinson and Peter Gray via aceofaxe of rcsparks.com

AceofAxe from RCSparks.com has recently posted a great article about the UK 2011 Scaler Truck nationals! You can find it here: UK Scaler nationals, 2011

YouTube Pick: RC Newbies - heed this advice!

Things like this actually do happen! Heed the good advice of those more experienced, especially when flying with other people around! :-)

Open Altimeter - the awesome tool for you all!

Jony Epsilon develops an amazing, open, Arduino-based product he calls the OpenAltimeter. It's a device that accurately measures, logs and plots readings from a built-in, high-precision altimeter. It is capable of integration with other on-board servo-signal based systems and a myriad of other functions, limited nearly only with your imagination, creativity and flying needs!

Please visit Jony's website at www.openaltimeter.org
or check out the forum thread to see how robust and versatile this product is: openaltimeter on RCGroups

Here's a demo video made by the man himself:

YouTube Pick: AHS 2011 Trailer

Absolutely no comment required - pure awesome! Please make sure you watch in HD and turn those speakers up!!

Giant scale 257" B-36D from dag214

Photo credit: dag214

For a few years now, I have been following this absolutely wonderful, scale project build of a fairly uncommon B-36D and it is now so close to completion, I thought I'd share it with you! Please see the thread below, but be warned, it is one of the biggest threads on RCGroups, so reserve a ton of time to plough through it!

Thread: 257" B-36D Scratch Build 6 a turning and 4 a burning

Enjoy the read and feast your eyes!

News: ATTF #203 podcast released

Our RC friends on the other side of the Pond have just released episode 203 of the All Things That Fly podcast. You can find it here: http://www.allthingsthatfly.com/

ATTF is a very popular, US-based RC podcast hosted by a number of clued-up professionals, serving you with weekly news, sound technical advice and a multitude of 'war stories'. We here at rc-forc3.com recommend it to you. Look out for updates on their new releases here.