Rodrigo #2 Video

I would strongly reccomend downloading the Full Video in HD by right clicking on the link below and selecting "Save Target As..."  then wait for it to download (probably an hour depending on your connection speed). 

VIDEO Link  (To download, right-click > "Save Target As...")
PICTURES Link

or if your not that patient then watch it below but I must warn you that there are pictures and stuff missing if you watch/stream it via youtube below.



In case you couldnt tell from the video once i brought the plane back around I tried to fly Rodrigo upside down....  Why didnt I just fly the plane normal for one full tank (10 mins) then land it and try the tricks on the 2nd flight....   IDIOT.

Now we must wait until probably February 2010 until we order Rodrigo #3.  The plan for Rodrigo #3 is to put the HD camera back on board rodrigo and not use that little 640x480 camera.  The problem with the smaller camera was that during takeoff the lens quickly got covered by wet grass drastically reducing the quality of the footage.  Although it was nice having 2 cameras record the action we will need to use 2 HD cameras (that have larger lenses then the small 640x480 camera) so we can fully capture the event.

The Saga Continues...

Day 3 - Rodrigo #2 100% Built

Day 1 - 50% progress

So far so good. On page 14 out of 26 in the manual. Things are looking good for this weekend. 

Sure is a lot prettier the his predecessor!

Rodrigo #2 Arrives Tomorrow (Monday)

Supposedly Rodrigo #2 will arrive tomorrow (Monday). If we can have this plane ready in 4 days, as opposed to 4 years, there will be another video post next week of Rodrigo flying over the mountains. This airplane kit comes mostly prebuilt and the estimated build time was claimed to be 4-6 hours. We shall see about that.

This weekend we cleaned the mud and dirt off the engine and started it to make sure that the engine could still run and would be able to power Rodrigo #2.  The engine started right up and ran rough for about 30 seconds, probably burning up that dirt that got inside, and then ran great! 

Previous Rodriguez Brothers Idea/Project

Although you may not see the relevance, I sure do.  lol

Great Quote:
"December 19, 2005 2:20 Pm, I get a phone call urging to keep the tradition of U-Haul Party alive. Occurring only once hardly suffices classification of a tradition, but the impetus of blowing school loan money on beer, loud music, and a meaningless 32-foot U-Haul commands the reverence of an unwavering tradition. U-Haul party’s spirit has only temporarily been detracted by the cancerous, spiritually unwholesome, parasite that is job. Despite the insignificance of this blog site with no binding strength, mark my words even if the festival consists of only two of us marginally less than respectable grown persons, the tradition will thrive."


-Captain (Slave name: Nick) 
 
I know what you must be thinking, where do they get their inspiration for these GREAT ideas.

Is the Camera making flying more difficult then it needs to be?

Even though the camera is extreamly light and small I wonder if the wind resistance and weight is throwing off the center of gravity just enough to make learning to fly more difficult then it needs to be.  On the maiden voyage we used the Flip Mino HD which is considered, "The world's smallest HD camcorder at just over 3 oz"  (3.3oz to be exact).  We actually attached a mirror to the front of the lens so we could have it lay underneath Rodrigos belly (fuselage) and still point forward.  Mino HD pictured below.

Recently, one of the main purposes and motivators of this project has been to get good areial footage to post, so having a HD/high resolution camera is important.  On the other hand, while learning to fly perhaps we should sacrifice just a little resolution (HD Mino 1280x720, RC Cam 640x480) just to get some experince with more actual flight time.  I have been reading about people adding weight to there RC airplane to offset the weight of added cameras or lights.  Perhaps there is more physics to this whole flying thing than we originally thought... who knew?

I will discuss with the board (brother) the possiblity of using a smaller camera for the next flight. 

I found this smaller camera below, weight 18 grams (approximatly .6 oz) online for $30 so I had to pick one up.  With only 7 days left, time is of the essence.

These guys are my Heros

On the Simulator trying to show off... Yeah, Rodrigo could do that

This is an update of how we are doing on the simulator.  In order to attempt to fly Rodrigo the potential pilot must sucessfully take off and land the simulator 3 consecutive times to prove themself worthy.  This is not the footage of when I first proved myself worthy, I just wanted to see if I could do it again. 

Here is the footage.

Talk of Rodrigo the Second????

There has been talk of a new Rodrigo. Perhaps one that is mostly prebuilt to avoid constrution errors.

We will need a paint job to match the original Rodrio for sure.  This plane shown above, soon to be "Rodrigo's Revenge," is a bit more of an acrobatic plane versus the original which was a trainer (see how the wing is below the fuselage).  I know what you are thinking, why are they stepping up when they can even sucessfully fly a trainer?  Fear not... this acrobatic type plane is what we are use to flying in the simulator which is why we think it is a good idea for the new Rodrigo.

To be able to take off and then to be able to land.... is it a dream?

Well landing would be nice but we really want to fly the Rodrigo Camera over the mountains for some good footage. We will worry about landing later...

The weekend of November 20th we will be staying in between the Mountains and hope to get some longer and better footage.

Stay Tuned!

Video

Open/Download the Full HD Quality Video (372 MB).

It is finally up on YouTube in decent quality. This updated version of the video includes a slow motion replay of the final few minutes in flight a.k.a. "the landing"

Initial Emails

After about 4 yeas in the making Rodrigo (RC Airplane) is ready to tak to the air. Just add gas and mount the HD video camera and we will see if this ugly duclking can fly.

The Wright Brothers invented the airplane but the Rodriguez Brothers are likely going to destroy one. We have been training on the simulator for weeks, lets see if that helps.

Sunday November 8th will be remembered in the history books as the 8th day in November of 2009. Coincidentally it will also be the day that Rodrigo takes to the open airs for the first time ever. Much like Kill Devil Hill, we will be taking off from th3 eground and hpfully landing there as well. I think Wilbur said it best when he said that " Righ now folks are having difficulty leaving the (flooded) araea," as they frantically run from Rodrigo buzzing violently through the air...

"This machine was a failure to the extent that it could not fly. In other respects it was a very important and necessary stepping stone."

- Igor Ivanovitch Sikorsky, regards the first helicopter, built 1909