Using a quadcopter to film over New york City is cool... but flying with a wingsuit and GoPro attached takes the footage to a whole new level. Using new wingsuit technology five of the Red Bull Air Force Wingsuit Flyers were able to travel a distance of 2 miles in 2 minutes! The video shows the flyers flight through the Manhattan skies at over 118 MPH before landing on a barge in the Hudson river.
Using several test pilots, all of varying experience ranging from never been in a cockpit to advanced pilot, German scientists have began testing mind controlled flight. Using electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes attached to a cap pilots control the simulator with their commands coming from monitored brain activity. The scientists at Technische Universität München say that the pilots are able to execute the commands with only thought so accurately that they would meet requirements for the pilot licensing exam. This part of testing was only the beginning and many more bridges need to be crossed, but for now the next part of testing is determining how a cockpit would need to be modified.
At a Gizmodo party a man recently reported that he was struck in the head by a drone, which in videos shows to be a DJI Phantom Vision. As the story goes a man off celebrating went to a Gizmodo party and found himself enjoying the variety of high end novelties; such as DJI products, high end kayaks, TV's. He witnessed the pilot have difficulties controlling the phantom multiple times, once even crashing into a plant and even shredding the leafs off of it, as seen here. After becoming bored with the pilot flying moves to another area, only to be the unexpected landing pad for the DJI Phantom Vision. Although the man was not seriously injured, this is a good reminder to always practice safe flying!
If you have a old toolbox laying around, you may want to check out this video and see if you could be creative enough to give life to a new type of multirotor. The guys at Flite Test were able to add the core RC components in many multirotors to give an ordinary tool box some flight time. Not only was the build successful, but it actually flew with FPV!
The Xtreme carbon Fiber props with a CNC aluminum top piece will be available within the next couple weeks. If you are looking to use aftermarket props with the Blade 350QX, but don't want to use prop adapters this is a great solution! The aluminum top piece is a new addition to our selection of aftermarket products for the 350QX and replaces the plastic cap that comes with all the Xtreme carbon fiber props. The aluminum top piece adds a polished look to your Blade 350QX, all while giving you added piece of mind! Manufactured by Small Parts CNC, the same company that manufactures the prop adapters, the quality is nothing less than impressive! To place your preorder click HERE!
The Tri-Blades for the Blade 350QX are in stock now! The props are available in a bundle package that includes a white CW/CCW prop and a red CW/CCW prop. No prop adapters necessary to use these props! We tested a set and our test flight was over 10 minutes of aggressive flying!
We also have the Xtreme carbon fiber props back in stock, these also do not require a prop adapter. Preorders of the tri-blades and any of the backorders of the carbon fiber props are going out today, you have no idea how hard our warehouse manager is working to get these out to you! If you would like to get a pair you can do so by going HERE.
A DJI Phantom was used to shoot some aerial footage of lion whisper Kevin Richardson frolicking with lions and even playing a little soccer. This video is cool but the fact that all the Aerials were shot with a DJI Phantom quadcopter makes it just a bit more appealing!
If you have a 3D printing then you may want to try this idea, a 3D printed hand drawn quad frame. Using RC Eye One Micro parts a creative mind was able to doodle a frame using a 3D printing pen. The time lapsed video shows the quad build, but the total build time was actually a little over 2 hours, and the end of video demonstrates the quad making a successful flight.
If you planned your summer vacation to a national park this summer with hopes of using your UAV to get aerial video of the surroundings, think again. UAV's, like the DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ and the Blade 350 QX2, have been banned and are no longer welcome at 58 national parks.
Yosemite national park has released the new regulations, but according to a spokesman for the national park system these regulations apply to all the National Parks. With the new release Yosemite stated the UAV's could interfere with rescue operations, ruin other visitors experiences and could be endangering to wildlife areas. But the videos that have been taken, like the one below, do showcase the beauty a lot of the parks have to offer.
The Mansion at Casa Madrona's Alexandrite Suite in Sausalito, California is now offering champagne delivered by drone to guests staying in the $10,000 a night suite. The hotel is known to be a choice of the rich and famous, so adding a one of a kind feature seems only fitting. The custom built drone delivery amenity is not included in the base room price, and prices vary on how many bottles are requested and how many drones will be needed. The hotel has hopes to find other uses for the drone, such as delivering cookies to guests.
The FAA has reported that in late March a commercial airliner was nearly struck by a drone when descending to land. The drone was flying 5 miles away from the Tallahassee airport at a altitude of approximately 2,300 feet. The pilot of the commercial airliner claims that the drone was so close that he was almost sure that contact had been made. The pilot states that the drone didn't look like popular hobby type drones but rather looked like a F-4 Phantom Jet, some even questioning if it was a military QF-4 from the Tyndall Air Force base located 20 miles away from the incident. Nonetheless the FAA seems to be using this incident to bring attention to the use of all forms of UAV's. The FAA is still investigating this incident and states the drone and operator are still not identified.
Today ParkZone has announced a very cool and exciting refresh to the popular Sukhoi aerobatic rc plane. The ParkZone Sukhoi SU-29MM BNF Basic will feature AS3X flight stability and a one button touch recovery feature that will self right and level the plane on demand, regardless of what flight mode you are flying in! It also features plug in wings for easy transport and Z-Foam construction for easy repairs and durability.
This new plane should be available July 2014. As usual Red Rocket Hobbies is taking pre-orders for it now. You can reserve one to fly this summer.
Ever get hungry while out flying? Well maybe you should consider a carrot quad frame.
A creative pilot used his Hubsan X4 to turn a carrot into a flying frame! With a little bit of glue he mounted the motors, board and battery to a frame that was made completely from an ordinary carrot. Though it isn't the strongest frame, or the prettiest, it is an alternative to eating your veggies..
EasyJet airlines will be performing trial runs using drones to inspect its aircraft fleet with hopes of having drones inspecting fully as early as next year. Using sensors and GPS the drones are able to move around the jets to inspect areas of the aircraft that would typically require cranes and large laters to be able to reach. The use of drones will make viewing the areas that are typically only seen by crane or ladder easier to access and give the engineers the ability to focus their attention on the places on the aircraft that may require repair.
Looking to add to your RC collection? How about a remote controlled running robot, like the OutRunner. The OutRunner is capable of running, and even turning, on almost any terrain (grass, asphalt, dirt, etc.) at speeds of 10-20mph depending on the model. The OutRunner has a brushless motor and is radio controlled.
The OutRunner will be available in two versions the core or the performance. The core being the basic version that is capable of going 10mph and has a battery life of up to 1 hour. The core has a total of 6 legs and at approximately 18 inches weighs around 3 pounds.
The performance OutRunner offers a battery life of up to 2 hours and is capable of speeds reaching 20mph. The performance model is offered with 6-12 legs and has the option to be controlled via smartphone also. Though the big difference between the two versions is that the performance model can be upgraded by hardware and software updates.
The OutRunner running robot was developed by Robotics Unlimited, in hopes of creating a lost cost, easy to use and build running robot for everyone. They hope to have OutRunners available beginning December 2014.
A quadcopter capable of squirting foam could become a useful tool in patching damaged buildings or even cleaning up hazardous material in the near future. Researchers and developers at Imperial College London have developed a quadcopter that uses a 3D printing module to shoot a polyurethane foam.
As you can see in the video, the quadcopter lays the foam to a designated location, then a hexacopter moves in to finish the job by landing on the area where the foam was laid, waits a few minutes for the foam to set and then takes off carrying the item. The group has big goals for the future capabilities of the hexacopter; like being able to carry a bigger payload and also recharge batteries with solar panels located atop the quad.
Advanced Tactics Inc. has completed their first successful flight with the world's largest multirotor aerial vehicle, the Black Knight Transformer. The technology in the Black Knight Transformer combines the functions typically found in a helicopter, the ability to take off and land anywhere; with the functions of an off-road vehicle.
The six rotor vehicle is designed to hover at an altitude of 10,000 feet, but for safety purposes the test flight was performed at an altitude of 10 feet. The test flight used autopilot to evaluate the vehicles stability, leaving the ground based pilot only responsible for the power level.
Here is the official video of the flight, some of the video was also shot by a quadcopter!
Thirsty construction workers atop skyscrapers in Singapore received refreshing Coke-a-Cola delivered by multirotor. The construction workers, many of them migrant workers, that received the Coke and encouraging thank you notes are often referred to as "invisible workers", and receive little to no recognition for the work they preform. Singapore's Kindness Movement created the project named Happiness from the Skies and paired with Coke-a-Cola to deliver over 2,700 hand written thank you notes along with Coke; all delivered by multirotor to the tradesmen working on various skyscrapers.
What would you do if you had four 5000mAh batteries sitting around? Why not combine and use the 20,000mAh in an Electric EC-135 helicopter! With the 20,000mAh that 4 lipo battery packs provide the helicopter motor is able to produce an astonishing 1150rpm. The 42 pound helicopter with a TOW of approximately 19kg is also equipped with a turbine sound module to add to the realism. Using Futaba radio equipment the EC-135 is able to preform flips, rolls, turns and autorotations.
Fireworks are always fun to watch, but watching from the sky easily adds more excitement to the scene. A DJI Phantom owner took his quad to the air to get some amazing shots from the center of the action; though whats more amazing is that the Phantom and camera were not harmed during this video.
If you want to upgrade the firmware in your Blade 350 QX we can help! The firmware upgrade will give you new flight modes and some added utilities for checking and calibrating the compass. The upgrade also adds a new flight mode called AP (Aerial Photography Mode). You will need a DX6i or higher radio after making the upgrade if you want to continue accessing the advanced high performance flight mode.
Step 1 - Obtain an upgrade module. You can purchase one right here (see below link)
If you have ever called for support or placed a phone order with us, you have likely spoken with Don. He has probably walked you through any issues or given you an order status or two. If you are local you have no doubt talked to him in the store from time to time. Today, after nearly 5 years with the company, we say goodbye to Don as he departs onto a new career for an aerospace company.
Ever wonder how hard it would be to take down a RC plane or helicopter? Well, a group in Arizona decided to test the an RC airplane against a machine gun. The group tested there theories on varies RC aircraft ranging in small toy like airplanes to larger hand tossed planes, similar to the army's RQ-11 Raven.
Instead of common anti air weapons the group used a variety of machine guns, which they believed would be similar to what would be used by rebel groups. The testing found that it is possible to take down an RC airplane with machine gun, but requires a good aim and many shots; and its beneficial if the plane is just flying back and forth in front of you.
