Offensive Frighter, i.e. Guns that work

[skyman]

Originally Posted by warningshot

AMA rules only apply to AMA members.

Well put. Not every body is part of the AMA, and it's a free country. BUT this does not mean one should go looking for trouble when not necessary. Winggunner, I would say that if you go for it, do it on a heli, on your own property, (not at a flight field especially) don't fire anything bigger than 155 fps airsoft guns, roman candles, or bottle rockets, and wear a full paintball mask. If it wasn't for this kind of idea UCADS (armed UAVs) would have never been build. To be on the safe side though, I wouldn't do it.

[KID]

Originally Posted by MadMonkey

For RC combat there's no way I'd risk having something like an Airsoft or BB gun. There's just too many chances of something going wrong... plus to be powerful enough to actually take a plane down, it would also be able to give a human a heck of a welt (or put out an eye).

I play airsoft 24/7 its my main hobby and thats not exactly true, airsoft guns can change power from 150-600 fps, so you wouldnt have to worry about "shooting down a plane" or taking eyes out, if he was serious about having a cannon, he could easily rig up a low powered airsoft gun- or just the firing mechanism to it. I am VERY new here, but I know you guys are all about light weight right? this is simple, airsoft works by three main parts, a motor, gears and a piston. you can easily rig a system up for this to work.

[Insomniac]

Yes, that's very true. While here in Australia I can't get airsoft guns, I've built devices that can fire similar projectiles at similar speeds...
We're not worried about 'shooting down a plane'... It's the whole purpose of putting guns on RC planes, so you and your friends can try and shoot eachother out of the sky!

The point is, even a very low powered gun firing at ~100fps, will take out an eye at very close range. However, at 100fps it's going to be pathetic on a plane and it certainly wouldn't have the power to 'do' anything fun (like shoot down another plane).

Anything powerful enough to be worthwhile is going to require pilots to be wearing airsoft goggles at the least. And this will be difficult to enforce. Combine that with the much lower control you have over a gun in the sky (vs a gun in your hands), and there's a real possibility (albeit an unlikely one) of shooting out somoene's eye or chipping one of their teeth.

Airsoft itself is safe, but this really isn't.

[KID]

Originally Posted by Insomniac

Yes, that's very true. While here in Australia I can't get airsoft guns, I've built devices that can fire similar projectiles at similar speeds...
We're not worried about 'shooting down a plane'... It's the whole purpose of putting guns on RC planes, so you and your friends can try and shoot eachother out of the sky!

The point is, even a very low powered gun firing at ~100fps, will take out an eye at very close range. However, at 100fps it's going to be pathetic on a plane and it certainly wouldn't have the power to 'do' anything fun (like shoot down another plane).

Anything powerful enough to be worthwhile is going to require pilots to be wearing airsoft goggles at the least. And this will be difficult to enforce. Combine that with the much lower control you have over a gun in the sky (vs a gun in your hands), and there's a real possibility (albeit an unlikely one) of shooting out somoene's eye or chipping one of their teeth.

Airsoft itself is safe, but this really isn't.

your kinda thinking airsoft is way more powerfull then it really is.. 100 fps gives you a range of about 15 ft and would only poke and eye out if you were in that range and it was a direct hit, as far as chipping teeth, you have to have a minimum fps of 250 to crack a tooth so to completely chip it you would have to be shooting alot hotter then that.

[Insomniac]

No, I'm not overestimating their power. I realise that 100fps is pathetic, you'd practically have to be trying to shoot your eye out in order to manage it.

HOWEVER, 100fps guns are going to be pointless on an rc plane. In order to shoot down other planes/shoot targets on the ground, you're going to need something closer to the 400fps range (particularly when the model itself is already moving fowards, the drag on the projectile will be higher for the same speed relative to the gun itself).

While I don't have, and can't access airsoft guns, I have experimented with devices able to fire at a similar speed, so I'm not going by pure speculation here... The point I'm making is that while yes, you could dial down an Airsoft gun to be comparitively safe, it defeats the purpose of mounting one. Anything powerful enough to do the job will be too dangerous for the park/model club. Of course, you could always try this on private property and it would be safe...

[KID]

Originally Posted by Insomniac

No, I'm not overestimating their power. I realise that 100fps is pathetic, you'd practically have to be trying to shoot your eye out in order to manage it.

HOWEVER, 100fps guns are going to be pointless on an rc plane. In order to shoot down other planes/shoot targets on the ground, you're going to need something closer to the 400fps range (particularly when the model itself is already moving fowards, the drag on the projectile will be higher for the same speed relative to the gun itself).

While I don't have, and can't access airsoft guns, I have experimented with devices able to fire at a similar speed, so I'm not going by pure speculation here... The point I'm making is that while yes, you could dial down an Airsoft gun to be comparitively safe, it defeats the purpose of mounting one. Anything powerful enough to do the job will be too dangerous for the park/model club. Of course, you could always try this on private property and it would be safe...

how did you experiment it? what weight projectile did you use? it's a quiet simple algorithm,

a gun may shoot 400 fps with a .12 gram bb', but will shoot 370 fps with a 23 gram, 350 with a 25, 300 with a 28, and so on,

now, you said anything powerfull enough to do the job wouldnt be safe, if you were to use .40 gram bb's you avoid any major danger factor. .40 gram will still give you accuracy(wont be effected by the moving model or downdraft of any helicopter) due to the weight and momentum of the bb'. and at that speed, it would pose any major harm to anybody. (eye pro is still needed)

[Insomniac]

Well, eye protection would make most Airsoft guns safe enough to mount on planes. The problem is that you can't make people all wear goggles at a flying field like you can at an airsoft field. On your own land, or indeed for use during an airsoft game, there's no problem mounting airsoft guns on planes.

It just isn't a good idea to go mounting guns on your planes unless you're flying them somewhere away from the public, which is not where most people fly. With all the other things you have to think about when flying an RC plane, it's difficult to shoot projectiles from one safely unless you're well away from other people. The last problem is of course that it would be exceptionally difficult to hit anything. I'd wager that it would be so much more difficult as to be pointless.

If you want to 'arm' an RC plane, use model rockets or 'bombs' instead. Much more visually impressive.


What I was messing around with was a few homemade launchers to provide something interesting to film with my high-speed camera... This particular device was firing an 8mm soft plastic bead, so probably slightly heavier than a regular airsoft BB. I estimate it was moving much slower however, (not based on my own measurements, rather by comparing chronograph results of other similar devices). I don't think that this one would have even penetrated an empty coke can. Still, plenty enough to put an eye out.

BB fired at tray of water, high speed camera 2

[Glacier Girl]

You can always play "ack ack" , fire bottle rockets at a target plane.
And yes it's done on private property with as many safeguards in place as we can.

Or there's always "skeet" with a ready to retire airplane. Pilot can do any maneuvers across a line to evade the shooter. Makes shooting real skeet a piece of cake.

Just as safe as jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. LOL

[mclarkson]

I'm guessing you guys will really hate this.

[skyman]

Hate it? That's awesome, I love it!

[thomdoe]

mclarkson, THAT is one of the best videos I have ever seen !

[stevecooper]

Originally Posted by mclarkson

I'm guessing you guys will really hate this.

I so hate really cool stuff,LOL, thats a hoot! bubsteve

[Lieutenant Loughead]

I was dropping parachute guys out of my Slow Stick drop box one day last summer with the kids, and we found an "intact" paintball in the field.

I loaded it in the drop box, and attempted to hit a rock in a local parking lot -- I was amazed how far off target I was!

I didn't hit anything I didn't want to (just the parking lot), but such projectiles are very difficult to target properly.

[stuart]

mcclarkson,i found the video very disturbing.......now where can i get the schematics for wiring the rockets and I'll be less disturbed...lol,i like the way the balloons burned,also loved the RC gunship,looked well done and not reckless like a video of a dad flying a plane with bottle rockets and firing at his kids and another RC plane

[RCTube]

Wow, that is an amazing heli. I get fond memories of Air Wolf (singing the song in my head

[FlyingBrick50]

Originally Posted by Insomniac

Although, I think there's an alternative you could try, which may be just as fun... Firing projectiles from a plane probably wouldn't be all that satisfying, as they'd be so small and fast moving you wouldn't see them in flight (unlike simulated bombs and rockets), and it would be absurdly difficult to hit anything without an FPV setup...

With that in mind, why not exclude the projectiles entirely? While an automatic gun which has to load and fire projectiles will be heavy and complex, I bet it would be reasonably simple to build a device that could, for instance, rapidly set off the paper roll style cap-gun caps. This would simulate actual guns very well... loud as hell, and plenty of smoke when firing... Could be a very interesting build!

Thats a really cool idea, I'll get started right away,....

[Nitro Blast]

Originally Posted by Old Fart

UFO = Classic!

Get it right! Its U-Fo Remember those british accents??
That was classic stuff. Just enough of the bad guys to keep you believing.




All over space, but using monochrome monitors...


(sorry for the thread hijack, back to topic)

[Old Fart]

Love that show - still in my Netflix queue