[BlueFin]

Ok, so not a real helicopter, but an RC Been working on it for a few weeks now and have some documentation to share. It's a Hobby King HK600GT electric kit that I am converting to a gasser. A gasser is a gasoline spark plug engine powered helicopter, not Nitro. My goal is to build the cheapest possible helicopter that I can, because with my Tormach, I can

It will be used for FPV flying in Southern Oregon, I currently fly FPV with a 450 electric, but want more than a few minutes of flight time. FPV flying is when you have a video camera on the helicopter that transmits in real time to a monitor and you fly by what you see in that camera. Here is a video of me flying the 450 electric a few weeks ago:

Southern Oregon FPV Mountain Flying - YouTube

And here is the progress I have made on the new heli with the Tormach doing all the CNC stuff:

Image #2:
http://www.bluefincnc.com/pics/HK600_2.JPG

Image #3:
http://www.bluefincnc.com/pics/HK600_3.JPG

Image #4 (My favorite):
http://www.bluefincnc.com/pics/HK600_4.JPG

There are three videos of the build so far:

#1:
HK 600 Gasser Conversion 1 - YouTube

#2:
HK600GT Gasser conversion part 2 - YouTube

#3:
HK600 Gasser conversion update 3 - YouTube

Still lots to do, but should be done by X-mas I hope

BlueFin,

[philbur]

That's pretty impressive. What do you use for a camera and how do you achieve such a stable image?

Phil

Here is a video of me flying the 450 electric a few weeks ago:
Southern Oregon FPV Mountain Flying - YouTube
BlueFin,

[RTP_Burnsville]

I agree with Phil, very cool...... I also would be interested in knowing a bit more about the camera. I have some friends that are into mini hot air balloons and have been searching for a mini camera.

Thanks,
Robert

[BlueFin]

Thanks guys,

Camera's get complicated when there is vibration, so I use a frame by frame capture camera, not line by line, or HD. You need anti vibe mounts for those. I use the SN555 from Hobby Wireless:

SN555 very high resolution Color Camera 550 Lines NTSC SONY® Top fpv camera [SN555N] - $99.95 :: Hobby Wireless - FPV Store - The Best in Wireless System

And the T905 Tx:

T905 Transmitter 900 MHz 500 mW [T905] - $50.00 :: Hobby Wireless - FPV Store - The Best in Wireless System

I will be adding HD later, but need to design anti vibe mounts for that.

[HelicopterJohn]

Hi,

Nice design and machine work.

John

[Gundawg]

Very cool thanks for sharing!

[skray775]

Cool build....

Once its done you could draw up a new frame to fit you mods kind of like this one I did for the Trex 600. It would fit your heli also.

[David Bord]

Nice work! Please post videos once you spin it up... That thing is crazy!

David

[BlueFin]

Cool build....

Once its done you could draw up a new frame to fit you mods kind of like this one I did for the Trex 600. It would fit your heli also.

Wow, that is one cool frame set, very unique. Do you sell those?

[BlueFin]

Hi,

Nice design and machine work.

John

Thanks, I should probably get a swash leveler, I have only setup one heli before and that was my Blade 450.

[RTP_Burnsville]

Thanks for the camera and transmitter info..... I'll pass it along to my friends.


Robert

[David Bord]

Cool build....

Once its done you could draw up a new frame to fit you mods kind of like this one I did for the Trex 600. It would fit your heli also.

Really really nice!!

How did you fixture that stuff?

[skray775]

Sorry Blue, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. I cut those frames from a solid sheet of 3/16" plate so I just clamp the edges. I sell those here:
K-Frames

I don't think a swash leveler is needed, I have always set mine up by eye and never had a problem. I have done both flybar and flybarless setups.

For your AV mount a guy that purchased a set of frames from me used a solid mount I made for him to mount his video camera and it was unreal how stable the image was... I though for sure he would have vibration but he had no problem at all.

Here is his build at HeliFreak:
Something a bit different.. K-frame 700 AP Stretch - HeliFreak

Thanks, I should probably get a swash leveler, I have only setup one heli before and that was my Blade 450.

[apeman88]

Very cool! Glad to see more RC guys here! :-) I've been flying RC for 25yrs and recently starting flying FPV as well. I've got Trex 250, 450s (4), 550, JR Vigor and a few HK birds as well. Been using my Tormach for quite a few custom parts too... in fact.. part of my reason to get a Tormach was to make custom parts for my helis. Oh... and my newest toy in the past year is a Hexa Mikrokopter.. it's great for FPV!!

Also never used a swash leveler... bought one 15yrs ago and never found the need for it. Eyeball is good enough.

First Flight
10-06-04 Hexa Test Flight 02.mp4 - YouTube


Ken

[twocik]

Throw a GoPro on one and you're HD good togo. I'd love to make one of these to fly my Canon 7D, but this looks pretty time consuming.

Nice work btw !!

[TXFred]

Forget the Go-Pro. Get a Contour instead. It's much better than the Go-Pro. I've used both. The Go-Pro is a cheap little camera in a plastic case. The Contour is quality video equipment with some really nice features.

Contour | GPS Video Camera, HD Helmet Camera, and Video Community

I have no connection to Contour. I'm just a dude who's pretty impressed by the product.

Frederic

[David Bord]

Forget the Go-Pro. Get a Contour instead. It's much better than the Go-Pro. I've used both. The Go-Pro is a cheap little camera in a plastic case. The Contour is quality video equipment with some really nice features.

Contour | GPS Video Camera, HD Helmet Camera, and Video Community

I have no connection to Contour. I'm just a dude who's pretty impressed by the product.

Frederic

I really like the look/profile of that camera! Neat features as well.

I have a HeroHD, and while Im not super fond of the look of the camera, the video quality and smoothness are outstanding. They just released the HD2, and it has an 11MP sensor, has remote Mic capabilities, and I believe remote trigger as well. The cameras appear to be good enough to be used on several TV shows as well.

David

[BlueFin]

I have been looking at one of these, they do 720 at 30fps and are pretty cheap. Where I intend to fly, loss without any chance of recovery is always an option

STAYPRO 45G HD-DVR FPV Camera/Digital Video Recorder(DVR) w/ 5-MegaPixel+ HDMI 1280 x 720 30fps

So a GoPro or Contour is too much for me to risk.

[BlueFin]

Here is update 4:

HK600GT Gasser Conversion part 4 - YouTube

BlueFin

[BlueFin]

Here is update #5

HK600GT Gasser Conversion Part 5 - YouTube

BlueFin