Capricorn - the ultimate flying boat.

[Otto Dieffenbach]

Here a couple photos from this weekends FPV fun fly. Had a great time and the plane flew great. Did a splash and go between waves but the second time caught a tip. Plane is fine but still trying to get FPV equipment operating. Sometimes I do stupid things........ in the name of fun.

Here's a video of my Superman at the same event.

http://youtu.be/wr_KhSJBMjQ

[Larry3215]

Oh no - salt water!!!

Hope you can salvage the gear Otto. Do you treat your stuff with any waterproofing agents? Im a big fan of CorrosionX but Ive never tested it in salt water.

Love the video!

By the way, Ive never done anything stupid with my Caps

[Otto Dieffenbach]

I've now done two stupid things with mine. Both occured when I tried to do something I already had done successfully. The first was the inverted tail skim and now the splash and go between waves. Same receiver has been recovered both times with iso alcohol. Batteries and ESC are fine. Video Transmitter appears fine but the camera has a blown mini diode or capacitor. Will try to fix and behave.....

[tregtronics]

Chalk it up to a friction experiment. The plane acted WAY different in the foamy, churned up, saltwater than I have ever seen it act on relatively placid water.

[Larry3215]

Good point. Foamy water is less dense and therefore less buoyant. There are also probably areas with more or less foam making for uneven drag and floatation on the sponsons. Plus I suspect there are also chaotic water currents. Then add in a lot of turbulence in the air surface layer between waves if there is much of any on-shore breeze.

Id guess all that would make for some tricky flying - especially on a splash-n-go

[Otto Dieffenbach]

Have completed the build for Treggon. Have to add pop bottles for pontoons and install electronics.

[Larry3215]

Otto, do you mount the camera that just hi to keep it out of the prop arc or does it help with perspective in some way or?

[Otto Dieffenbach]

Originally Posted by Larry3215

Otto, do you mount the camera that just hi to keep it out of the prop arc or does it help with perspective in some way or?

I've found that FPV perspective is best over the centerline out of the prop arc, although I like the prop tip to be seen. A second benefit is that the area is very dry during hard splash downs and the mounting of the transmitter on the post allows for great cooling. The best setup was the mid mounted motor with the FPV equipment on the nose but for water ops prop clearance and prop splash became an issue. Tripod works great for all ops.

[Otto Dieffenbach]

Here you go. Taken from a Quad by Steve Blizzard. This was Treggon's second flight on his FPV Mega Minor. The 2 liter soda bottles are great pontoons. His will do unlimited vertical while mine just putts around.

Otto and Treg with there w's

[Larry3215]

Nice!

[tregtronics]

A couple more W vids from Tuesday's fog mission with Otto, we rocked some Capricorn IFR ratings:

I chase Otto around Dave's beach with our W's. Synchronized takeoffs and landings done via FPV.

YouTube Video

http://youtu.be/R4SD5Se7qSc

and
W lands on the beach.... unplanned, but successful. I tried to taxi FPV back to myself, but ran out of juice completely halfway home. The coolest part was I was giving a guy from Denver a ride, so he got to have all the fun of landing on the beach as a tourist. At the end I hop it as far up away from the waves as I could, and ran down the beach to get the Ultimate Flying Boat.

YouTube Video

http://youtu.be/kIfsjcBr5nI

[Otto Dieffenbach]

Thought you might enjoy. Video is unedited. Takeoff is at 57 sec.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcUlWEho25Y

[Larry3215]

Sorry for the late reply guys - been swamped lately!

Love the videos

[Otto Dieffenbach]

New FPV video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zffU5g20ed0

[tregtronics]

Soooo cool Otto. I can't wait to do some vertical tests with your new motor on the W, I am sure you made it so that you will win

We need some more activity on this thread, more people need to go fly their W's and show off their stuff!

[Otto Dieffenbach]

Thought you might enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYFZZk_MtgI

[Larry3215]

You guys have got to be doing something illegal - it looks like way to much fun

[Otto Dieffenbach]

Clips of me chasing Treggon Owens with my FPV Mega Minor Capricorn. All scenes flown FPV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4iWlYopsNM

[indyet]

George drying off after the club float fly

[indyet]

It's a bit hard to see but george asking the experts about landing on water

[Otto Dieffenbach]

indyet: love the shot with the Gulls.

Flew at Lake Poway today. This Mega Minor Capricorn is a great FPV platform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbEOYU-NLHk

[indyet]

Thanks Otto .
That shot was on the jetty at work, but I couldn't bring my self to launch George off the end. After all it was salt water and I still haven't tracked down Larry's corrosion x here in Aus. The Capricorn is still the first plane into the car every time I fly and still the one that brings a smile to my face every flight, thanks to all and a safe and happy festive season to all, it is now into summer here, mercury into the 100's, cold fronts out of Antartica , fire bans , challenging flying at times,but life's good.

[tregtronics]

What have you done for your lonely W lately?
12/12/12 was a good day for flying. This was done for a charity event.

YouTube Video

Hey Otto:

Originally Posted by Otto Dieffenbach

Clips of me chasing Treggon Owens with my FPV Mega Minor Capricorn. All scenes flown FPV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4iWlYopsNM

Hey when you put clips up on here, you have to hit the stupid youtube button up top, and copy and paste that stupid gobbledeygook code at the end of the youtube link in between the two [youtube.... ] things.... Then the video will show up in-line....
Like this:

YouTube Video

[Crash Test Dummy]

Hey guys! I want to build a mega minor. Are there plans posted here somewhere? I did a Cap and loved it, now I would like to try a MM. I can't find the foam u guys are using here. Tried all the big box stores, Home Depot,Lowes,etc........nuttin! I will find something.

Thanks, CTD

[Otto Dieffenbach]

Here is the thread on rcgroups. Don't hessitate to ask questions.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1554284

Posts 2 and 4 have the parts and layout. The pontoons have changed to the blue ones. 3" wide, 11 inches long, 4.5 inches deep and set 5" into the wing.

This thread covers our FPV mods. Post 4 shows the present configuration.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1621498

You can build it out of any foam. Have fun.