Stuck need advice....

[Cryofix]

Currently I am in a situation that I do not have definitive direction to go in, my business plan is simple, target realtors and homeowners early on in order to establish a foothold in the AP business. However I need to figure out the best to way to establish this with either the equipment I have or look into a definitive mid range solution.

Right now I am using my Trex SE to take pictures with, askman mount, Casio Z-850, 9303, 649 RX, and I just got my new spartan AP2000I (Thanks Mark). With all of this high end equipment I feel I am over powering the rex 450 and it’s not worth the money to continue its advancement, but this is the bird I feel most comfortable flying and I am still a little afraid of my 600 and raptor 50.

Should I look into a 30 sized solution? Do I purchase the askman 600 mount and build on that even though I am uncomfortable still with the 50 size stuff? My raptor 50 runs like a dream and I use it to practice with, should I even begin to think of converting over to electric?

I am looking for a logical and cost effective means of continuance and if you had the equipment I have what way would you be looking in order to make the most of what you have and limit your spending until you can make money from business.

[Rafael23cc]

If you are afraid of helicopters, you should not even be flying in public, much less doing this for profit, and possibly causing an accident that could hinder the rest of the small industry.

Go back to your local flying field. Get comfortable flying helicopters and after you rack up some serious hours then come back and try again.

May I ask why are you afraind of the 50?

Rafael

[AZ ChopperCam]

I use a Logo 10 on all my real estate jobs. Flown over 40 sorties with it so far and it flies just as good as it did the first day.

In fact I just did a shoot today where I had it at least 200 yds downrange and 400' up. No way in hell I coulda done it without the AP2000i. The machine just ticks along and I snap pics away.

With the money it's made me in the last 3 months it's paid for itself 10x over.

With my FlightPower 5s 5000 packs I can get about 10 minutes. on my 5s 6600 FlightPower packs I get about 13 minutes.

[Gixxer]

I agree with Rafael, If you are afraid to fly anything other than a Trex you have no business flying in neigborhoods and around peoples personal property. Flying around other peoples stuff can be nerveracking not to mension that when they see what you are doing then you have people wanting to watch. You should be a damn good pilot before starting an AP venture.... there is toooo much at risk.

[dreslism]

A 600mm + can start to get a bit big in some residential settings. If terms of space required and in terms of public perception of it. I could understand your reluctance to take a 600mm+ heli in that environment.

Go give Gary $350 and get a logo 10 with motor and esc.

The 401 9254 from the rex600 will drop right in, and I don't know what other servos you have, but it would not be much to pick up some for the logo.

The logo will be happy to take up the ap2000 and your pocket cam.


at least 200 yds downrange and 400'

Dang DJ that is out there for the logo!

[AZ ChopperCam]

guys... I think when he said that the 600 class heli's scare him he didn't mean he's literally afraid to fly them. I believe he was saying in the environment that they would be flown in it would make him nervous.

I'd agree that a 600+ class helicopter is not the best machine to be flying around a neighborhood. I've done it in the past several times and I'm done with that. Too much risk and things to go wrong. That size of ship makes me cringe every time I fly it over a car dealership for the TV shoots. Scares the hell out of me and I've been flying heli's for 7 yrs.

A Logo 10 on the other hand doesn't scare me one bit. I have so much faith and trust in my Logo. It's my most favorite ship I've ever owned in terms of reliability and cost.

Dang DJ that is out there for the logo!

yep... no doubt. Today was the farthest out I've flown that Logo. The owner of the property was next to me asking all sorts of questions and I just put my faith in the AP and let it do it's thing. I love that device!

[Cryofix]

I should not have used the word afraid, I am a confident pilot and totally understand the dangers that are involved in any given situation, Gixxer has the word I wanted "Nerveracking".

The point of this post is to also find my happy medium that I can begin to train on and get better with, if I had no pilot skills then I wouldnt be here, but I am comfortable with nose in flight. Dreslism is correct in understanding that a Trex 600 is a a bit much to be doing some possibly confined home shots and not to mention may scare customers a bit when they see the size of it.

May I ask why are you afraind of the 50?
I have not made a the full transistion from 450 size to 50 size, I have tons flight time on my 450 and very little on my 50's, its more or less the pucker factor on the 50's or the cost factor for that matter that makes feel less confident than what I really am .

[MarkWebber]

Get that AP2000i on your 50 size. It will do wonders to reduce the pucker factor. That's exactly why I got it for my gasser. It also works wonders making it easier to do solo work. But you already know that :wink:

[Rafael23cc]

I know how dangerouns it is, but I have flown my gasser in my backyard. I could put it in the street or sidewalk and take off and fly around if necessary, and the overhead conditions were favorable. Size does not matter, depending on the situation. Crowd control is absolutely necessary.

When you mention pucker factor, the only thing that comes to mind, is liability, because you should have enough time on this hobby to know that you ARE going to crash. The question is when. In AP you should develop a maintenance program and _REPLACE_ components with some kind of frequency wheteher they are worn or not. That should reduce your "pucker factor" and the possibility of crashing due to failure to nearly zero. Crashing due to other reasons (pilot error) should be at or nearly nero already.

So given these two statements I reiterate my previous position. You should put some more hours under your belt.

Rafael

[askman]

good safe routine, good maintenance, practice, they are all important. but having an appropriate tool makes the job easier. in tight quarter, I do prefer smaller heli. yes, it is mostly psychological, as once you are up above the houses, it does not matter, it is risk mitigation. minimizing risk is always a good thing in my book. I run qj8/corona , logo 10, and eraptor. each has role and place. I also run polecam, which can come in handy too.

[oscillator]

Size does indeed matter. If it did not RC AP wouldn't exist - we would all be using full size "real" heli's. But the fact is the smaller the heli, the less the potential damage, the lower the noise impact, and the tighter environment you would be willing to maneuver it in.

Bigger heli's should make you more nervous, because when something does go wrong, it is going to be worse. Rafeal has a good point about preventive maintenance and LOTS of training, procedures, etc. HOWEVER, all of these things are done much more rigorously in the world of "real" aircraft, and as we all know, they do go down too. Face it, no matter how good your training, procedures, and preventative maintenance, if you fly enough sorties, one day the fecal matter is going to hit the rotating oscillator.

Given that cold hard reality, minimizing the impact with the smallest heli that can do the job just makes sense.