Amazing build, Spike! Got my plans this morning and I'm about to start hoarding balsa for the build. Plans are excellently drawn. I think I'm going to go with a combination of things I like from the original and the V2 along with a few of my own twists. The money spent on these plans far outweighs the amount of money you have saved me from experimenting with multiple airframes and electronics. Thanks for the speedy e-mail response. I can't wait to start building.
Man that is so impressive, I recognize the craftsmanship incorporated in this plane and all seems very well planned. It also looks very stable in the air. I love balsa. Been building and flying for 35 years but just started in FPV. If I ever want something 'more serious', I will certainly consider this one ! Thanks for sharing.
it is performing very well. check out the latest videos on flight expansion, where we test the flight duration during a simulated search and rescue mission!
yes, the carbon fiber pultruded strips form the strong upper, and lower part of an I beam, the strongest structure for it's weight for a wing spar, that i know of. there are two spars in the wing, each can hold the weight of the plane, so they are redundant. the wing also incorporates a D tube leading edge, which creates torsional strength. Thanks for your interest.
I bought the plans and kit. At Staples they had to make two copies to get the correct scale. The result was a half scale set of plans as well as a final full scale set. I am making a half scale model before I try my hand at the full scale one.
Brilliant job. Re an autopilot it might pay you to look at the latest arduplane (apm 2.6 if I remember right) it has all manner of capabilities to do with auto-generated flight paths for covering a given geographical area.
The "best" autopilot, like the "best" radio, is very dependent on personal preference, experience, goals, budget etc. I am getting great results using the 3DRobotics Ardupilot. I used the FY31AP in the past, but it is too limited for aerial mapping, where you need many waypoints and the flexibility to generate a detailed flight plan in the field. The camera triggering features can be useful too, although I typically use an intervalometer for simplicity.
That's a beautiful plane you've built. I could only dream of building kije that. Just can't afford to build it. Disability is a bummer. That craft has so much potential. Truly is a beauty.
Had to comment after watching this. Very impressive, Spike. One of the most thoroughly enjoyable vids I've seen on YT even though I'm not into RC or FPV! Best of luck with the project - hope the rewards are as great as the amount of work put in. Subscribed - and very much looking forward to future updates.
VERY IMPRESSIVE build! If this was available commercially I would buy one! If you actually consider going that route I'd like to suggest that rather than a foam Fuse you look at a blow molded plastic Fuse with foam wings/tail feathers. My current rig is a Volantex Ranger EX with this type of construction and the fuse is light, strong, and like your design has cavernous room for electronics.At this point I just wish it was a twin tractor rather than a single pusher.
Love FPV, just loven it ! I contacted AMA to find out more on it because being in New York I got JFK like 10 minutes from my house and stuff. Amazing plane.
Well done! Lots of good thinking went into this airplane. Love the mostly balsa construction and clear covering- gives it something of an "Old School" look and is very practical as well. Yes, those wings help this plane achieve a higher than normal lift to drag ratio. It will not take much power to keep this flying level.
L/D is one aspect of how much power is required to stay airborne. Sink rate is a more valuable metric. L/D is pretty much directly applicable to distance achievable, excluding other factors such as headwinds, etc.
when you showed the view of the GoPro facing the observer camera, that view was just amazing! I've been wanting to get into FPV for a long time and making videos of different parts of the US or the world, but just never took the time to do so. Great Videos dude... and awsome Craft you got there as well. What Radios do you use by the way??
+ViceVersa Musik thnaks, check our channel of more recent videos of the V-2. and there is a laser cut kit available from Canada. UHF - modified futaba radios are used.
Greetings, What format do you plans come in? It would be ideal if you have the cad files of your design so I could 3D print and laser cut some of the components. I'm already working my own design incoporating box section carbon fibre spars and 3D printed ribs. 3D printer making wing rib. Many thanks, Leo. cat2.co.uk/designs/
Leo Hogg we're working on that, and will have a better solution for that soon. right now, they are available in pdf. meant to be printed full size, and model built over the plans. thanks for your interest.
they do pretty well, but i like the power 15 better. i have found exact same efficiency, with more power. they are both good, as you say, the park 480 is still one of my favorites. i burned one up in a later flight, and that is why i went with the power 15.
+Christopher Robinson We have the newer and improved gemini Version 2 in laser cut kit form now. Go to the website for more info about it, link in the description. also you can send me an email : fpvreviews@gmail.com and i can send you an info package for the kit. the kit is supplemented by the plans, which are purchased from the website for 15 dollars. The aircraft can be scratch built, as well, but the kit saves a lot of time. we recommend it. thanks for your interest!
I keep watching and watching, awesome plane, just bought the plans, i guess you remember me, from Mexico, when you release the v2 plans will get them also, the ones we bought the v1?, you are accepting small investments?, ill be happy to help with this aircraft, please do a build video of the v1
Opinion on build version: I would definitely prefer balsa version over foam ANY day. Whether as an ARF or laser kit, or either as an available option. The new kid on the block is the upcoming Ranger EX from Only Flying Machines (I think you've seen it), they too have changed to pvc fuse but still... a foam wing. Plans for scratch builders would also be good for 'kick starting' this marvelous endeavor.
it's neat to know that you would be willing to build a wood version. the structure is very complex, and i'm looking at a wider market. it would not be the typical foam with carbon wing spar, but would need more sophisticated reinforcement as the aspect of the wing requires a great deal of torsional rigidity, and i am looking at mass production with foam core composites. i can send you the prototype plans, although they do not show every detail of you like. send me your address, and i'll get it off to you soon. i'm going to a large company soon with the design to see itf they would be interested in producing it for the hobby/ag mapping market. we'll see how it goes. look for a 2 hr 56min duration flight video soon. and a 12 km distance flight. working on the editing now. thanks for the interest. i have seen the ranger, but the gemini is on a whole new level. hope i can get it to the mass production. let me knwo what you think would be a good way to mass produce it. it took me months, and hundreds of dollars in materials to build the wood airframe with carbon fiber.
FPVREVIEWS Thank you for sharing plans, do you mean physical address? How do I PM that to you? Yes, this is an fpv advancement in a class of itself. I live in Florida and Troy Built Models are a big 3rd party sales company with big inventory of airframes, I would love to see them include this on their list someday. Now, as a BURNED inventor to another potential inventor, I do have some advice (I'll try to keep it short). Protection under patent is VERY expensive but valuable IF you have large market numbers. Copy write is way less expensive and has limited arbitrary 'teeth' when applied to device or mechanism. There's an interesting YT you should see about another gent that seemingly went down the same road, I believe it's called KICK START. I'll look it up and verify it's address. This will give you an idea of the kind of dollar invest required for a simpler project. Don't let any of this put a damper on your dream, I am just giving you precautions and get ready to add a ton of patience. BTW, at the very least - stamp everything you disclose on paper with CONFIDENTIAL, (including and especially your PLANS). Or get your prospective individuals to sign a NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT Very best of luck and thanks, Spike.
Zeebrameet fpvreviews@gmail.com. thanks for the advice. i already gave enough info on this youtube video, so that it could be copied, so i'm afraid the cat is out of the bag already. this tech changes so quickly, and a lot of companies are producing open source designs, so they change too quick to copy. different versions would follow like th different versions of the skywalker, so some inprovements would keep it from being effectively copied, at least that's my thought. i developed anther design that was advanced, and i never shared it. it became outdated, and then about 5 yrs later, there was a similar production model, so, i decided to share this one. if someone wants to build one, i think that would be good. i made nothing from having a secret project either.
i have no reason to set up differential thrust on this plane, although it is common for aerobatic planes, and yes, it will fly on one motor, as i found out when one burned up. you can see the video on this channel, and see the smoke come out of the motor, caught by the go pros mounted on the plane. i have since upgraded the motors. the explanation, and analysis is in the end of the video.
FPVREVIEWS I was thinking on safety, if you get a bad bearing in the motor and draws more amp or a bird fly's by and break a prop you can cut of that motor. Just thinking
You created a very special aircraft for AP. It could be ideal for mapping large areas, if matched with an autopilot that can handle numerous waypoints, and a data radio for versatile control of the autopilot. I hope it will be in production someday.
the aircraft is actually designed around the m.a.p.s. system of stability and tracking making it ideal for an autopilot to control. that is the next phase. am using fy31ap. it is capable of nav function with waypoints. could you recomend an autopilot? what's the best one out there right now?
FPVREVIEWS I just hopped over here from Bruce's channel where you were asking about batteries and regulators and this project immediately caught my attention. You certainly have covered all the bases in the design brief and it is refreshing to see someone actually building these days so +1 just for that. As to the best AP for this model I'd look into the new Pixhawk system from 3DR. With a 32bit processor and a ton more memory and on board SD storage I don't think you will hit any limits any time soon and with such a ground breaking model I think 3DR may help you out a bit as they seem to support more extreme and new uses for their products. Just one warning though, the learning curve will be quite steep just like the APM so it is not a turnkey solution and the arduplane variation seem less well supported V the copter side. You can expect an expolsion of funtionality from the Pixhawk soon because now the developers are not constrained by the hardware limits of the APM which on it's own is every bit as good as the top end Naza systems.
Rob B thanks, i have actually been reading the manual for it, and am very interested in it. i live close by their location too. i will continue to look into it. thanks for taking the time. and for the compliment. i found a solution based on what little bruce told me in the comment. some regulators on e-bay. i just didn't know what to call them. he is so helpfull, as are you, sir. thanks
Hey there, really great platform. Have you put up the plans anywhere by now, or are they available by request only? Best regards, and I'm really looking forward to see more videos on this plane :)
If needed can you hand launch the Gemini or is it to big and heavy. Just wondering for restricted areas(ground wise). By the way this has to be the best FPV/plane going. Not only does it look good, it flies even better
When i saw the thumbnail for this video i thought ahh someone has built a plane that looks a bit pants.. But watching the actual video and looking at the plane its actually been quite inspiring and although the plane isnt the most pretty of planes it does look very good. and the cockpit looks awesome.. so despite my first judgemental opinion looks like a great plane :)
Haha when you said it looks very realistic (about the cockpit) I was like haha yeah right. then saw the footage and was shocked! Looks great! and great model, I haven't built a balsa plane in about 15 years, still flying my last model for fpv though after an electric conversion. Nothing as ambitious as this though. Great model with some fantastic features!
Superb and fantastic design and the name Gemini suits it. I like the review, very well detailed, I have shared it. Advance Merry Christmas and more FPV for 2014
Spike....these videos are killing me, lol. I'm currently in the beginning phases of a medium range FPV wing and I've kinda already spent my RC budget for January. Otherwise, I would surely begin planning my Gemini build. It's just an awesome plane! I love the detail that you've put into it.
Wings have their place due to simplicity, but i'm not a big fan personally of the compromises they must make to achieve marginal stability. They do have a great speed envelope, if you need that. The big thing to watch out for is the movement of the CP forward at higher angles of attack, and this can make them un-recoverable from a stall/spin, and even if they can recover, they will most likely require a non-standard exit procedure. The only fundamental thing you can do to help the situation is to go to a fairly high aspect ratio, so that the movement of CP forward is minimal. Also a bit of sweep is desirable for this, but of course too much makes for a span wise movement in the CP and airflow, so putting you potentially in a worse spot. With wings, it's all about compromises, and not doing anything too extreme. Even Aquilla has had major problems, and I suspect that their real world data from the first couple of flights is not supporting their modeling. Optera by E-flite seems to get it about right, but you probably want to use a flight controller to prevent a stall in the first place. I sure wish that arduplane supported angle of attack sensors.... at least they calculate the bank angle and adjust their min. airspeed accordingly with an algorithm... works great unless you need to fly upside down, and retain maneuverability. anyway, went on too long. .. hope you have fun with the wing, and if you can master flying it safely, everything else will be a piece of cake.
Holy smoke you really built a unique camera ship this time with the Gemini I thought the Super Moose could not be surpassed in your design skills but you did it again.
flew it again today. had a motor failure at 2.5km. out, proving that it can fly well on one engine. i was happy. now i have to see what's wrong. looks like either a faulty esc or motor. only at 1/3 throttle at the time.
***** yep, i just ran the numbers using the osd data from the recorded downlink. i was running the motors at 94.34 percent of their rated capcity. i guess i remember wrong about the throttle setting. anyway, the motor should not have burned up at that power setting. although it was close to it's max rated. looks like i'll be putting some beefier motors on it. don't want to be this close. I'll take the oportunity to get some more power for better climb while i'm at it. it was climbing at over 3 meters a second, so should have got to about 30 000 ft or so like it was. that is if the motor didn't burn up. not very happy with e-flite right now.
Absolutely an amazing job well done. You've earned a sub here sir. Any idea of the total cost and flight electronics of the airplane? (Excluding fpv set ups)
it cost about 500 in materials to build the airframe alone, and probably another 500 for motors, esc's, and another 500 for batteries. not counting fpv or antenna tracker, or the observer control system, and fpv system, or odd, gps, lrs'x2, bec's , lc filters, etc etc, etc.... thanks for watching, and your interest. welcome to aviation 2.0!
Very impressive plane. Its too big for me to be truly interested in, but I certainly appreciate the craftlmanship. I am curious how difficult and expensive it would be to make it in to a foamy. You would need (gigantic) molds that would cost a small fortune, no?
FPVREVIEWS Oh yes! Let me ask you a question. I have heard a lot about interferences caused by carbon fiber parts in the plane. What do you think about that?
Francisco Jose Domínguez Quintans the carbon fibre strips for reinforcement in the gemini wing are very thin. and there are none in the wingtips. the vtx is embedded in the wingtip, and i have no interference that is detectable so far from the airframe. balsa is almost invisible to r.f., as is foam, but i believe if the wing were say, sheeted or covered with a large surface area of carbon fibre, or the whole structurewere made of it, like a quad, that would be a problem at long ranges. the vtx would have to have a view of the ground station, and if it turned, or changed attitude, signal could be lost. that's why it;s so hard to get a quad to go long range.
two futabas, two transmitters, two operators, and two receivers. no connection between receivers except the power source. i am using two control systems just to have two operators, and enough channels.
Love the plane and if ever you do produce them I would be interested in the ready to fly model including GPS, return home, programmable way points, auto pilots with multiple camera positioning and Gopro on a under-side gimble. all ready connected and pre-flight tested.and all other gear needed package I am sure I am not the only person interested in that sort of ready made out of the box concept long distance flying. please keep me in mind and informed of your decision. All the best Allan
FPVREVIEWS I am in Australia and I hope this will not pause any problems, I have watched this video a few time and the more I see it the more I want it now. This is great, I will get the plans and have a play/go at it but I would much prefer a ready to fly one Thanks a lot Allan
l don't know why the ESC was burn in another video,in that video the toutle current is about 53A,but ESC is 45A that is impossiable.(l am chinese don't care the gremma)
Are people in this industry referring to what is actually associated as "carbon fiber" or are the people in this industry conning the term "carbon fiber" for reinforcement rods that are technically referred to as "graphite?"
I should delete this comment. Before I had finished the video and noticed the "reinforcements" talked about in the beginning that I thought was referring to rods due to probability, actually later seemed to be referring to strips. I wrote this as a curiosity because I've seen multiple r.c. plane channels refer to rods that look like graphite rods as carbon fiber rods, and the fact that I could never tell because none off those videos showed a close up. However, I haven't deleted this comment yet so to respond to you, the strips seem to be what is associated with the technical name "carbon fiber."
Amazing build, Spike! Got my plans this morning and I'm about to start hoarding balsa for the build. Plans are excellently drawn. I think I'm going to go with a combination of things I like from the original and the V2 along with a few of my own twists. The money spent on these plans far outweighs the amount of money you have saved me from experimenting with multiple airframes and electronics. Thanks for the speedy e-mail response. I can't wait to start building.
Man that is so impressive, I recognize the craftsmanship incorporated in this plane and all seems very well planned. It also looks very stable in the air.
I love balsa. Been building and flying for 35 years but just started in FPV. If I ever want something 'more serious', I will certainly consider this one ! Thanks for sharing.
The best FPV aircraft I have ever seen, both hand-crafted and on the market. Incredible craftsmanship.
it is performing very well. check out the latest videos on flight expansion, where we test the flight duration during a simulated search and rescue mission!
yes, the carbon fiber pultruded strips form the strong upper, and lower part of an I beam, the strongest structure for it's weight for a wing spar, that i know of.
there are two spars in the wing, each can hold the weight of the plane, so they are redundant. the wing also incorporates a D tube leading edge, which creates torsional strength. Thanks for your interest.
I bought the plans and kit. At Staples they had to make two copies to get the correct scale. The result was a half scale set of plans as well as a final full scale set. I am making a half scale model before I try my hand at the full scale one.
Dude, its the best plane I have ever seen in my entire life. I love gliders and I love twin engine planes, stick with the wood it makes it so special.
I think this is the coolest plane I have seen yet! Amazing job and I can't wait to build it!
Very impressive. Looks great, flies great, carries a ton of payload. Hats off.
Brilliant job. Re an autopilot it might pay you to look at the latest arduplane (apm 2.6 if I remember right) it has all manner of capabilities to do with auto-generated flight paths for covering a given geographical area.
good work , nice to see balsa and ply for a change from foam
well done
The "best" autopilot, like the "best" radio, is very dependent on personal preference, experience, goals, budget etc.
I am getting great results using the 3DRobotics Ardupilot. I used the FY31AP in the past, but it is too limited for aerial mapping, where you need many waypoints and the flexibility to generate a detailed flight plan in the field. The camera triggering features can be useful too, although I typically use an intervalometer for simplicity.
That's a beautiful plane you've built. I could only dream of building kije that. Just can't afford to build it. Disability is a bummer. That craft has so much potential. Truly is a beauty.
Had to comment after watching this. Very impressive, Spike. One of the most thoroughly enjoyable vids I've seen on YT even though I'm not into RC or FPV! Best of luck with the project - hope the rewards are as great as the amount of work put in. Subscribed - and very much looking forward to future updates.
Maybe get find a line of laser cutters and sell it as a balsa kit?
Would love to see plans
This is the best FPV setup I have seen so far. The plane is awesome in itself. Nice work.
brilliant plane, and amazing performance, thanks for sharing!
VERY IMPRESSIVE build! If this was available commercially I would buy one! If you actually consider going that route I'd like to suggest that rather than a foam Fuse you look at a blow molded plastic Fuse with foam wings/tail feathers. My current rig is a Volantex Ranger EX with this type of construction and the fuse is light, strong, and like your design has cavernous room for electronics.At this point I just wish it was a twin tractor rather than a single pusher.
Awesome! Looks like an amazing FPV platform
Love FPV, just loven it ! I contacted AMA to find out more on it because being in New York I got JFK like 10 minutes from my house and stuff. Amazing plane.
nice plane -I really need to get long range surveilance and have not comitted to a platform yet. still getting up to speed on how it all works.
check out our website. bearospaceindustries.com
Outstanding aircraft. Looks well built.
Very nice. I shared on my fp page with over 1000 friends. This deserves more views. Way cool.
Well done! Lots of good thinking went into this airplane. Love the mostly balsa construction and clear covering- gives it something of an "Old School" look and is very practical as well. Yes, those wings help this plane achieve a higher than normal lift to drag ratio. It will not take much power to keep this flying level.
L/D is one aspect of how much power is required to stay airborne. Sink rate is a more valuable metric. L/D is pretty much directly applicable to distance achievable, excluding other factors such as headwinds, etc.
Very nice work my friend!!!!! Keep going
is the design include the design paper,process intorduction,and assemble precess?
did you use the machine to cut the wood?can l build it only by hand.
Awesome build! What a such great job! Bravo
when you showed the view of the GoPro facing the observer camera, that view was just amazing! I've been wanting to get into FPV for a long time and making videos of different parts of the US or the world, but just never took the time to do so. Great Videos dude... and awsome Craft you got there as well. What Radios do you use by the way??
+ViceVersa Musik thnaks, check our channel of more recent videos of the V-2. and there is a laser cut kit available from Canada. UHF - modified futaba radios are used.
FPVREVIEWS Cool and thanks man, I'll check into that Bird.
Plans now available from our website! Just click on the link in the description!
Greetings, What format do you plans come in? It would be ideal if you have the cad files of your design so I could 3D print and laser cut some of the components. I'm already working my own design incoporating box section carbon fibre spars and 3D printed ribs. 3D printer making wing rib.
Many thanks,
Leo.
cat2.co.uk/designs/
Leo Hogg we're working on that, and will have a better solution for that soon. right now, they are available in pdf.
meant to be printed full size, and model built over the plans. thanks for your interest.
+FPVREVIEW Could you please change description to normal text. THIS IS SUPER ANNOYING TO READ. Great video though!
You made that? You should be very proud. Impressive.
Very well done sir :) Math tells the story on power needed. I have a park 480 & it is a little gem of a power house.
they do pretty well, but i like the power 15 better. i have found exact same efficiency, with more power. they are both good, as you say, the park 480 is still one of my favorites. i burned one up in a later flight, and that is why i went with the power 15.
Seriously love the wood structure. Prefer that over foam unless I intend to fly in improved areas.
Amazing design. Really beautiful plane. I like the bottom cam.
Amazing aircraft, truly. Most diverse platform I've seen in a while. Great job.
Your Aircraft looks absolutely amazing! Do you have an update available? I want this plane for my self. =)
+Christopher Robinson We have the newer and improved gemini Version 2 in laser cut kit form now. Go to the website for more info about it, link in the description. also you can send me an email : fpvreviews@gmail.com and i can send you an info package for the kit. the kit is supplemented by the plans, which are purchased from the website for 15 dollars. The aircraft can be scratch built, as well, but the kit saves a lot of time. we recommend it.
thanks for your interest!
Spike...you are the BEST,,,, Great video and what an exciting project...thanks for sharing
Spike, that is very impressive! I like to see it fly sometime.
How is your Dad? Say hello from me please.Juergen Meinberg
will you design a solar power plain?
I keep watching and watching, awesome plane, just bought the plans, i guess you remember me, from Mexico, when you release the v2 plans will get them also, the ones we bought the v1?, you are accepting small investments?, ill be happy to help with this aircraft, please do a build video of the v1
Yes, i remember, the plans on the website are for the prototype. still getting ready for a release of the v-2.
CRAZY SWEET PLANE!!! cant wait to see videos of it flying
Truly innovative - well done!
Opinion on build version: I would definitely prefer balsa version over foam ANY day. Whether as an ARF or laser kit, or either as an available option. The new kid on the block is the upcoming Ranger EX from Only Flying Machines (I think you've seen it), they too have changed to pvc fuse but still... a foam wing. Plans for scratch builders would also be good for 'kick starting' this marvelous endeavor.
it's neat to know that you would be willing to build a wood version. the structure is very complex, and i'm looking at a wider market. it would not be the typical foam with carbon wing spar, but would need more sophisticated reinforcement as the aspect of the wing requires a great deal of torsional rigidity, and i am looking at mass production with foam core composites. i can send you the prototype plans, although they do not show every detail of you like. send me your address, and i'll get it off to you soon. i'm going to a large company soon with the design to see itf they would be interested in producing it for the hobby/ag mapping market. we'll see how it goes. look for a 2 hr 56min duration flight video soon. and a 12 km distance flight. working on the editing now. thanks for the interest. i have seen the ranger, but the gemini is on a whole new level. hope i can get it to the mass production. let me knwo what you think would be a good way to mass produce it. it took me months, and hundreds of dollars in materials to build the wood airframe with carbon fiber.
FPVREVIEWS Thank you for sharing plans, do you mean physical address? How do I PM that to you? Yes, this is an fpv advancement in a class of itself. I live in Florida and Troy Built Models are a big 3rd party sales company with big inventory of airframes, I would love to see them include this on their list someday. Now, as a BURNED inventor to another potential inventor, I do have some advice (I'll try to keep it short). Protection under patent is VERY expensive but valuable IF you have large market numbers. Copy write is way less expensive and has limited arbitrary 'teeth' when applied to device or mechanism. There's an interesting YT you should see about another gent that seemingly went down the same road, I believe it's called KICK START. I'll look it up and verify it's address. This will give you an idea of the kind of dollar invest required for a simpler project. Don't let any of this put a damper on your dream, I am just giving you precautions and get ready to add a ton of patience. BTW, at the very least - stamp everything you disclose on paper with CONFIDENTIAL, (including and especially your PLANS). Or get your prospective individuals to sign a NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT Very best of luck and thanks, Spike.
Zeebrameet
fpvreviews@gmail.com. thanks for the advice. i already gave enough info on this youtube video, so that it could be copied, so i'm afraid the cat is out of the bag already. this tech changes so quickly, and a lot of companies are producing open source designs, so they change too quick to copy. different versions would follow like th different versions of the skywalker, so some inprovements would keep it from being effectively copied, at least that's my thought. i developed anther design that was advanced, and i never shared it. it became outdated, and then about 5 yrs later, there was a similar production model, so, i decided to share this one. if someone wants to build one, i think that would be good. i made nothing from having a secret project either.
Great plane! Can you control the motors separately and will it fly with one motor?
i have no reason to set up differential thrust on this plane, although it is common for aerobatic planes, and yes, it will fly on one motor, as i found out when one burned up. you can see the video on this channel, and see the smoke come out of the motor, caught by the go pros mounted on the plane. i have since upgraded the motors. the explanation, and analysis is in the end of the video.
FPVREVIEWS I was thinking on safety, if you get a bad bearing in the motor and draws more amp or a bird fly's by and break a prop you can cut of that motor. Just thinking
larryallen1oh1 If amp draw is too high for the given rpm for any reason, the esc shuts down the motor. it can be restarted by cycling the throttle.
You created a very special aircraft for AP. It could be ideal for mapping large areas, if matched with an autopilot that can handle numerous waypoints, and a data radio for versatile control of the autopilot. I hope it will be in production someday.
the aircraft is actually designed around the m.a.p.s. system of stability and tracking making it ideal for an autopilot to control. that is the next phase. am using fy31ap. it is capable of nav function with waypoints. could you recomend an autopilot? what's the best one out there right now?
FPVREVIEWS
I just hopped over here from Bruce's channel where you were asking about batteries and regulators and this project immediately caught my attention. You certainly have covered all the bases in the design brief and it is refreshing to see someone actually building these days so +1 just for that.
As to the best AP for this model I'd look into the new Pixhawk system from 3DR. With a 32bit processor and a ton more memory and on board SD storage I don't think you will hit any limits any time soon and with such a ground breaking model I think 3DR may help you out a bit as they seem to support more extreme and new uses for their products. Just one warning though, the learning curve will be quite steep just like the APM so it is not a turnkey solution and the arduplane variation seem less well supported V the copter side. You can expect an expolsion of funtionality from the Pixhawk soon because now the developers are not constrained by the hardware limits of the APM which on it's own is every bit as good as the top end Naza systems.
Rob B
thanks, i have actually been reading the manual for it, and am very interested in it. i live close by their location too. i will continue to look into it. thanks for taking the time. and for the compliment. i found a solution based on what little bruce told me in the comment. some regulators on e-bay. i just didn't know what to call them. he is so helpfull, as are you, sir. thanks
Do you use embedded Linux for done control?
Hey there, really great platform. Have you put up the plans anywhere by now, or are they available by request only? Best regards, and I'm really looking forward to see more videos on this plane :)
pm me, and i'll notify you when they are finished. should be about a week. thanks so much for the interest!
This plane is amazing! Congratulations for this fine job, really beautiful. I feel inspired to create better models for my FPV now. Thank you.
Thanks, Denys! There is certainly a large gap between Fpv Foam models and U.A.V.'s. looking forward to yours..
i paid ,thank you bro.im looking forward to this build...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
they were just sent, so please let me know if you received them ok. thanks.
i gotem downloaded.thank you much.i might have a question when i start the build .if thats ok?
sure. of course..
If needed can you hand launch the Gemini or is it to big and heavy. Just wondering for restricted areas(ground wise). By the way this has to be the best FPV/plane going. Not only does it look good, it flies even better
it may be possible, but does not seem practical.
I;ve never tried..
When i saw the thumbnail for this video i thought ahh someone has built a plane that looks a bit pants..
But watching the actual video and looking at the plane its actually been quite inspiring and although the plane isnt the most pretty of planes it does look very good. and the cockpit looks awesome..
so despite my first judgemental opinion looks like a great plane :)
Wow, what a great video and what an amazing FPV plane!
Haha when you said it looks very realistic (about the cockpit) I was like haha yeah right. then saw the footage and was shocked! Looks great! and great model, I haven't built a balsa plane in about 15 years, still flying my last model for fpv though after an electric conversion. Nothing as ambitious as this though. Great model with some fantastic features!
Great design, appears to fly great. Well done, thanks for posting.
Best FPV plane i´ve ever saw!
it blows me away, soooo cool !!!
Nice project, Spike! It`s very interesting.
Beautiful, That is a master piece
Superb and fantastic design and the name Gemini suits it. I like the review, very well detailed, I have shared it. Advance Merry Christmas and more FPV for 2014
Nice plane, great design! Overall fantastic video and plane!!! Hope you get it to larger production. Thank you.
Beautiful. I wish I had the skills to do this! So many gear options, and I know nothing about electronics other than red is hot.
the best place to start is in a field in which you have interest.
Great. Can you share the drawings?
Love it, can't wait to see it fly to it's potential.
Spike....these videos are killing me, lol. I'm currently in the beginning phases of a medium range FPV wing and I've kinda already spent my RC budget for January. Otherwise, I would surely begin planning my Gemini build. It's just an awesome plane! I love the detail that you've put into it.
Wings have their place due to simplicity, but i'm not a big fan personally of the compromises they must make to achieve marginal stability. They do have a great speed envelope, if you need that.
The big thing to watch out for is the movement of the CP forward at higher angles of attack, and this can make them un-recoverable from a stall/spin, and even if they can recover, they will most likely require a non-standard exit procedure. The only fundamental thing you can do to help the situation is to go to a fairly high aspect ratio, so that the movement of CP forward is minimal. Also a bit of sweep is desirable for this, but of course too much makes for a span wise movement in the CP and airflow, so putting you potentially in a worse spot. With wings, it's all about compromises, and not doing anything too extreme. Even Aquilla has had major problems, and I suspect that their real world data from the first couple of flights is not supporting their modeling. Optera by E-flite seems to get it about right, but you probably want to use a flight controller to prevent a stall in the first place. I sure wish that arduplane supported angle of attack sensors.... at least they calculate the bank angle and adjust their min. airspeed accordingly with an algorithm... works great unless you need to fly upside down, and retain maneuverability.
anyway, went on too long. .. hope you have fun with the wing, and if you can master flying it safely, everything else will be a piece of cake.
Holy smoke you really built a unique camera ship this time with the Gemini I thought the Super Moose could not be surpassed in your design skills but you did it again.
flew it again today. had a motor failure at 2.5km. out, proving that it can fly well on one engine. i was happy. now i have to see what's wrong. looks like either a faulty esc or motor. only at 1/3 throttle at the time.
you cant beat redundancy in aviation be it RC or GA
*****
yep, i just ran the numbers using the osd data from the recorded downlink. i was running the motors at 94.34 percent of their rated capcity. i guess i remember wrong about the throttle setting. anyway, the motor should not have burned up at that power setting. although it was close to it's max rated. looks like i'll be putting some beefier motors on it. don't want to be this close. I'll take the oportunity to get some more power for better climb while i'm at it. it was climbing at over 3 meters a second, so should have got to about 30 000 ft or so like it was. that is if the motor didn't burn up. not very happy with e-flite right now.
I guess you don't have telemetry to show you how much current you are pulling for a given throttle setting. seems that would be useful.
***** yes, i have telemetry. i'm analyzing the recorded data.
Truly a long rang FPV PLANE.
Nice Bird love the design I'm sure it took many hours and days of thought but the pay off looks worth it..!!
That is an awesome plane and design...
A SUPERB UAV....SOON VL BUY THIS FOR INDIA
Absolutely an amazing job well done. You've earned a sub here sir. Any idea of the total cost and flight electronics of the airplane? (Excluding fpv set ups)
it cost about 500 in materials to build the airframe alone, and probably another 500 for motors, esc's, and another 500 for batteries. not counting fpv or antenna tracker, or the observer control system, and fpv system, or odd, gps, lrs'x2, bec's , lc filters, etc etc, etc.... thanks for watching, and your interest. welcome to aviation 2.0!
FPVREVIEWS
Nice plane
Hi, did you use any UBEC for this setup ?
+Nightrider Nightrider castle creations, 10 amp BEC. low noise,a nd works great. i recommend it.
Thank you.
+Nightrider Nightrider lots more info on our website!
Very impressive plane. Its too big for me to be truly interested in, but I certainly appreciate the craftlmanship. I am curious how difficult and expensive it would be to make it in to a foamy. You would need (gigantic) molds that would cost a small fortune, no?
yep, my friend wayne at flyingsquirrelmodels is going to be producing a kit for a version 2. laser cut, with extras!
PLEASE!!! More videos!!! Amazing plane! :)
coming later today or tomorrow. 3 new vids. i have been having computer trouble, but got it sorted now.
FPVREVIEWS Oh yes!
Let me ask you a question. I have heard a lot about interferences caused by carbon fiber parts in the plane. What do you think about that?
Francisco Jose Domínguez Quintans
the carbon fibre strips for reinforcement in the gemini wing are very thin. and there are none in the wingtips. the vtx is embedded in the wingtip, and i have no interference that is detectable so far from the airframe. balsa is almost invisible to r.f., as is foam, but i believe if the wing were say, sheeted or covered with a large surface area of carbon fibre, or the whole structurewere made of it, like a quad, that would be a problem at long ranges. the vtx would have to have a view of the ground station, and if it turned, or changed attitude, signal could be lost. that's why it;s so hard to get a quad to go long range.
How redundancy between UHF receiver?
two futabas, two transmitters, two operators, and two receivers. no connection between receivers except the power source. i am using two control systems just to have two operators, and enough channels.
Love the plane and if ever you do produce them I would be interested in the ready to fly model including GPS, return home, programmable way points, auto pilots with multiple camera positioning and Gopro on a under-side gimble.
all ready connected and pre-flight tested.and all other gear needed package
I am sure I am not the only person interested in that sort of ready made out of the box concept long distance flying.
please keep me in mind and informed of your decision.
All the best
Allan
We have had that request many times before, and are working on a solution that can grow in the future. stay tuned, and thanks for your interest1
FPVREVIEWS I am in Australia and I hope this will not pause any problems,
I have watched this video a few time and the more I see it the more I want it now.
This is great, I will get the plans and have a play/go at it but I would much prefer a ready to fly one
Thanks a lot
Allan
Amazing design!
Awesome work dude.
Very nice job !!!! bravo
thanks for the interest!
that is a GREAT looking plane!!
One word: Awesome
Hello !!! Can I buy this UAV design?
I just ordered. How long will they take to get to my email
sent. let me know if you received it well. just pm, or leave mother comment. or email at fpvreviews@gmail.com. thanks!
very nice ,i want plans
Thanks for your interest, Chris! here is the link to the plans. they're sent via email PDF. : www.bearospaceindustries.com/store.html
Beautiful plane :) Thumb up sir.
Fantstic build!!
Super inspiring!
beautiful
awesome ! good job
l don't know why the ESC was burn in another video,in that video the toutle current is about 53A,but ESC is 45A that is impossiable.(l am chinese don't care the gremma)
amazing project!
Perfeito parabéns
Beautiful!!
Man I want one of them
Great plane!
Thanks for the great video. I really like the plane. I'm working on one also for S&R. I'll be contracting you for help :) thanks again.
standing by to help with the project!
will you ever produce a foamy ?
would love to. it would require a bit more reinforcement though, more than the usual foamy. thanks for your interest.
So nice!!!
i love the pilot
Amazing!
Ohh if I had my hands on one, I would cover that in solar cells! Would fly forever
Are people in this industry referring to what is actually associated as "carbon fiber" or are the people in this industry conning the term "carbon fiber" for reinforcement rods that are technically referred to as "graphite?"
they're sold as pultruded carbon fiber strips, so look it up on rcfoam.com,and let me know what you think it really is.
I should delete this comment. Before I had finished the video and noticed the "reinforcements" talked about in the beginning that I thought was referring to rods due to probability, actually later seemed to be referring to strips. I wrote this as a curiosity because I've seen multiple r.c. plane channels refer to rods that look like graphite rods as carbon fiber rods, and the fact that I could never tell because none off those videos showed a close up. However, I haven't deleted this comment yet so to respond to you, the strips seem to be what is associated with the technical name "carbon fiber."
FPVREVIEWS Also, thank you for the link to the website.