Cool RC application
 

Story from Sailing Anarchy....

Normally a 1:1 heli would annoy the fleet which also upsets spectators & can interupt the breeze for competitors. Nice to see how well it applies

whirly bird

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/fringe...ly.jpg_sml.jpg

The folks at the Extreme Sailing Series continue to do the tough job of innovating on a budget, and this shot from SA’er “rennmaus” from the Almeria event this weekend is hopefully proof that the days of full-size helicopters annoying the hell out of spectators and racers are nearing an end. We have yet to see the footage shot from this little multi-rotor drone, but we know they’ve proven damned useful with some enterprising Dutchies at the control stick…
Almeria produced yet more tight racing with Alinghi taking the win, and Luna Rossa goes into the finale in Singapore with just a one point lead on Groupe Edmond De Rothschild. There’s a full Youtube recap of the event here.

Don't they use something like that at football games to get those overhead shots?

I remember NASCAR experimenting a few years back with RC heli's (single rotor) to take shots from the infield in the turns. Kind of a dangerous place to be for a human. Its funny I was just watching WRC rally highlights yesterday and was thinking the helicopter must be annoying to the spectators. Even a large event like that could be covered by a few strategically placed rc heli's, probably for less cost than renting a real chopper too. Although the rc may have trouble keeping pace with the cars on the longer straights.

Not sure if this qualifies as rc but I think it's close - http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/US...rones_999.html

That's pretty cool, much less intrusive than even the smallest personal helicopter.

Also, don't full-size helis require LOTS of expensive maintenance? For the price of one heli, pilot, fuel, and maintenance, you could get a whole squadron of R/C helis - and nice ones at that. With that many R/C helis around, you wouldn't need them to keep up with the cars...

On second thought, they should just use a real-time satellite image feed. Despite not being real-time, I find it a little scary how detailed satellite images can get - and that's just what's available to the general public. I'm sure the gov't can get real-time images so detailed that they can read the specs written on the sides of the tires. They could simply sell this service to sporting events to generate revenue to help reduce the deficit, or fund more entitlement programs the Dems are so fond of.

BTW: sorry to bring politics on this one, but I had to say it. :smile:

I've seen the two rotor type covering the Torc racing series.

I bet they could read it if the tire was laying on it's side, but IIRC sattalites are limited to only looking straight down on the earth from high above. Yes, they can give real time feedback as long as you have one in orbit over the target.

I have looked into full sized helis. You can get basic ones for under 100k. These are bare bones and carry very little weight.

A decent two seater sells for 250k and up. Robinson has a new turbine on the market which is a 4 passenger and is the only turbine selling for under 1 million though. It's a modified version of their R44 which is one of the best selling helicopter's in the world.