Contour HD, with battle damage

The Contour HD snuck up on me.  I was an early adopter of the Gopro Hero HD, and I was busy flying and making movies, not reading gadget sites.

I have been hoping for some time that we’d see a light, flash based HD camera with a slimmer form factor.  The Gopro HD Hero is great, but it presents a lot of frontal area.

The Contour lays flat, and it also has an innovative three position lens that allows you to shoot right side up from the get-go.  The Gopro handles this in software, but the firmware that supported that feature was painfully slow to emerge.

The Contour is also easier to use, in my opinion.  There is one power button on the back (it takes surprisingly long to boot up), and then a huge slide switch to start or stop recording.

The camera records to microSD (up to 32g, which is good for 8 hours), and connects to the computer via a mini USB cable.  The camera presents itself to Windows as a disk drive, no specialized drivers to install.  I really like devices that are set up this way, as a matter of fact I’ve never installed the software that comes with the camera.

I’m not as excited about the slide rail mounting system.  It does not feel as positive or high-quality as the Gopro setup.    The profile mount accessory is probably the most useful for R/C, but at $20 a pair, Contour mounts are a lot more expensive per airplane than Gopro’s mount.  *Note – Sometimes, various shopping sites will list the left vs. right side profile mount as cheap as $13/pair.

We had no problems in operation.  The dual laser pointers are useful for aiming, we basically just strapped it on and went.  On the second flight, I decided to mount it on the belly of a Great Planes Siren.

I really like the narrower 135 degree viewing angle vs. the Gopro’s 170 degrees. The color is slightly better than my new Gopro, and miles ahead of the first, early production Gopro we purchased.

In what was designed to be a much more relaxing video, here’s a fim taken from my 3.1m Topmodels.cz Grafas. I say ‘supposed to be’ because in this film, the radio system had a failure, and the airplane ended up spiraling in on failsafe, and hitting the ground HARD.

The camera shows some physical scars from this incident, but tested just fine after this crash.  If that was not bad enough, we dumped the Contour _again_, the following weekend – Mike was flying an MPX Easy Glider Pro and had an elevator servo foul.  He chopped the throttle late, the prop folded exactly 2 frames before impact!

We are _not_ a crash club, but if we were, the Coutour would still serve us well.

We shot all of those videos back in June.  I was in Southern Oregon mid July, and I took a flight around Crater Lake with an MPX Cularis, sporting the Contour up top.

The camera did a wonderful job, and even conveyed the unique blue you see at Crater Lake.   On a sailplane the size of the Cularis, you don’t even notice that the camera is there.

I weighed my contour at 4.3 ounces with the battery and SD card installed.  The waterproof case for the Contour adds about 4.7 ounces to the overall weight, which would have it coming in around 9 ounces with the case on.  This is a couple more than the Gopro, but remember that the Gopro has no natural protection unless the case is installed, so it always weighs 6.3 ounces no matter what.

I’ve interacted with Contour as a company twice, and Gopro a few times.   I can say that Contour is a heckuva lot more accessible, and they also provide telephone technical support.  Gopro support is email only, which can be limiting.

In summary, I think the Contour is a great camera for R/C use, and has some distinct advantages over the older Gopro.  In specific, I’m very excited by the rapid development of new products and accessories for the camera.

Helicopters are still fairly new to me.  I used to be one of those guys that tended to bad-mouth the complexity, bench time and heartache that I had always associated with ‘fling wings’, and I swore I’d never get into that aspect of the hobby.

The mCX was my ‘gateway drug’ into helicopters.  That plucky little thing is one of the few RC experiences you can still enjoy with success, even after having a few beers.  I loved that thing, and flew it every day for a long time.

I bought an mSR a few months later, and immediately had buyer’s remorse.  The mSR was way too ‘fast and agile’ for my skills at the time, and it sat idle for a while.  I finally started using Realflight that year, and started flying some helis in the sim.

This simulator time, plus some real stick time on a friend’s TT ‘Innovator’ set the hook further regarding helis.  I purchased a nice E-flite Blade 400 3D pnp a few months later, and I’ve put about 20 hours on that bird since I purchased it.  Nearly all of my time with the B400 was spent in hover practice, generally with the tail boom pointed firmly towards me. 

I got to the point that I could routinely fly the B400, no crashing or drama, but I was not having much fun, anymore.  Hovering is an intensive mental exercise, but it only goes so far.  I realized that I wanted to ‘fly a helicopter’ around without having to worry about every little thing.

I rediscovered the mSR, and started getting my money’s worth out of it.   I had just started doing some nose-in exercises with it, when the 120 showed up at my LHS.

Dennis allowed me to fly one of the first 120′s that showed up in his shop.  It felt like a much larger helicopter, and I was immediately impressed by how nicely it flew, brushed motors and all.  I just recently gave away an original CP, and I know how bad some inexpensive electric helis can be.

Dennis says that combining a collective pitch main rotor and a fixed pitch tail rotor is not usually a good combination, no matter how you slice it.  However, a fixed/fixed pitch config seems to work out well, as evidenced by the fine handling of the mSR and the 120.  Note that the $200 SR (which looks like a larger version of the mSR) is set up with a collective pitch main rotor and a fixed pitch tail.  The SR is reputed to fly just about as well (or as poorly) as the original CP, albeit with a brushless motor, and of course it depends heavily on who you are talking to.

The best thing about the 120 is its crash resistance.  If you get out of the left stick before a serious crash (or even if you don’t), you can just bounce off an obstacle, and start flying again without even having to re-arm the gyro.  The carbon fiber main shaft means that it never bends, unless you really over-do it in which case it breaks, and you replace it for a few bucks.  The 120 is also amazingly wind-resistant for its size.  Replacement parts are dirt cheap and rarely required.

Brilliant engineering.  Other high points are the 6:30 flight time you get from a pack, and the sub $12 cost of a spare flight battery.  Lots of packs means lots of flying, and lots of practice, which is what the 120 is all about, right?

Since I started writing this article, I’ve started doing some 3D stuff in the simulator and also in real life with my Blade 400.  I would never have had the courage to try some of this or really get into flying heli’s if I had not had a willing, cheap, damage resistant little craft like the 120 around.

In short,  I think the 120SR is a great way for an intermediate pilot transition from indoor coax heli’s to more advanced models without spending a lot of money doing so.

I really appreciate good value in hobby products, and my “grin per dollar” value has stayed very high with the 120.  I feel good recommending it to anybody.

I’m going to keep practicing until I can fly ‘nose in’ _consistently_ without losing the plot at inconvienient times.  This may take a few months!

- Eli

Over the last year, I’ve been looking at a lot of 3D/Sport ships in the 45-55″ range.    The PA Extra MX really attracted me at first, I loved the idea that I could just use commodity 3s 2200 batteries and enjoy high-dollar 6S performance.  For 3 minutes... 

I also looked at the 50″ Matt Chapman Eagle 580.  That’s one nice looking airplane, and the reviews were glowing.  I flew it on the sim for a few weeks, started looking at powerplant options, and that’s when my past experience with the whole Electrifly reality kicked in.  I remembered the specialized motor mounts and weird proprietary stuff associated with my last Electrifly ARF, and decided to wait a while until somebody had documented a good motor conversion. 

I wasn’t looking that hard, or thinking about this very much at all when I wandered over to my LHS one afternoon for some fasteners.  Lo and behold, one the shelf was the brand new E-Flite Extra I had heard about from SEFF press.  Great looking kit, perfect wingspan, and I started to notice things: Fully built up airfoil on the horizontal stab and rudder.   No externally visible cowl screws.  Cockpit latch.  High quality wheel pants included.  Decent hardware, from the factory, including a nice looking pull/pull setup!  

I had been a little bit disappionted with some of the details in previous E-Flite kits, and the Extra looked like it had raised the mark.  The hook was set. 

Over the next 48 hours, I realized that I had a brand new Power 32 in stock, a Turnigy Plush 60, an AR6200 and even a CC/BEC sitting new in inventory.  This made the purchase even more attractive, $199 for the ARF less my LHS club discount, 4 servos, and I was off to the races. 

A few days later, I purchased the ARF and 4 HS-225MG servos.  E-Flite says you can get by on MN48′s, but the Hitec servos are a good deal, and JR does not have an analog Hi-Torque servo anywhere close to the price range.  It was perfect, a low cash outlay for a lot of airplane, even more so for me due to the fact that I had so many useful parts already stashed. 

When I started the build, the quality of the kit blew my mind.  E-Flite has always made nice ARF’s, but this was a step above.  Right off the bat, I decided to slow down and have some fun with the linkage.  E-Flite was already using nice aluminum control horns, and I decided to eliminate as much nylon as I could from some of those linkages.  

Enter Central Hobbies, and the Dubro catalog.  Central Hobbies does some wonderful pushrod hardware, designed for much larger aircraft.  I used the small stuff in their line, some 2-56 titanium ends and the recommended CF rod.  You cut the CF to size, and JB weld or epoxy the ends in.  A steel clevis is used on one end, and a 2-56 Dubro ball link at the servo end. The finished product is a threadable, adjustable link that is extremely light, strong, and attractive to look at. 

The rudder linkage was a joy.  I like pull-pull setups, and the only modification I made was to use metal clevis parts instead of the supplied nylon ones.  I used the same Dubro threaded clevis and std 2-56 pushrod on the ailerons, it’s a short rod and plenty strong that way. 

Mounting the motor was straightforward, and I loved the adjustable motor mount.  No matter what motor you want to put on your Extra, you can probably bolt it right up without worries.
I was using the Power 32, but I had another little problem.  The recommended 2.25″ E-Flite aluminum spinner was on pan-Galactic backorder at the time, with a long lead time.  I happened to have a nice ‘Ultimate’ spinner in the right size, but it didn’t have enough plunge to engage the motor shaft.  I used some nuts that were a little over 1/4″ tall to space out the motor, and all was well. 

Ultimate Spinner on Extra 32e

When it came time to set up the electronics, I decided to use a tried and true Turnigy Plush 60, powered by a Rhino 3700 4S battery.  I also incorporated a Castle CC/BEC to power the electronics, because I wanted to drive the servos at 6 volts.  I used a Spektrum AR6200 RX, and also incorporated the SPM1600 capacitor.  I probably don’t have any real reason for using these, especially with a quality seperate BEC installed, but I used it anyway.

I closed up the canopy on my trimmed down Hangar 9 pilot that night, after a getting a preliminary idea on CG, and radio setup.  As I mounted the balanced 13×6.5 APC prop, I could not wait for morning to arrive.  It came up to 4.1lbs all up.

The maiden flight was splendidly uneventful.  The ground handling is great, and the big power 32 rolled it into the air with authority at 50% throttle with minimal rudder correction.  I had to give it one click of up trim, and that was that.  I flew it around for a few minutes (half of the expected 7+ minutes) and brought it in for a nice slow powered approach.  I find nice three point landings particularly easy and rewarding with this airplane.

In subsequent flights, I moved the CG a little further back from the recommended for better hovering, swapped out the prop for a PA Vox 14×7 (sounds and flies great!), and tuned the throws to my personal liking. 

I really like this airplane.  I’ve been taking it out every time I go flying, and I have fun flying it slow, fast, and some 3D within the limits of my skill and bravery.  I think it’s one of the best behaved model airplanes I’ve ever flown, and I’d highly recommend it to anybody looking for an economical, versatile sport ship. 

Full build gallery here.

- Eli

My Squall, post 3 flights/1 minor incident

I have been thinking about one of these for a long time, and when Hobbypeople dropped the price a few bucks on the complete setup including vectored thrust, I jumped.

I built the kit using trusty old HXT-900 servos, and the build was mostly unremarkable.  The ARF and associated parts are all of good quality, and the manual is written in a way that I found easy to understand and use.  We used Rhino 2250 4S batteries, but you could probably use anything – the battery tray is wide, long, and accomodating.

Cutting out the decals is about as labor-intensive as building the kit, but there is good news – The provided decals look awesome, and provide needed orientation when in the air.

This is a very interesting airplane to fly.  If you just throw and go, that’s exactly what you get, and we clocked it at 82mph in straight and level flight.  It looks good, feels good, and slows down just fine for landing. 

If you decide to set your TX for high rates, and start slowing down and using them, you can do things like hover, flat spins, and all sorts of other stuff that I’m not really skilled enough to be doing at this stage of the game.  At one point, I got a little low after some of this, and had a low-speed impact with the field – this foam breaks cleanly and repairs cleanly.

As long as you keep it on low rates, this airplane is really quite easy to fly.  If you decide to start mucking around with low speed maneuvers using the vectored thrust, just remember to stay up at altitude and use power as your salvation if you get into trouble.  Flying an EDF like a 3D airplane is weird, and they do not recover from 3D space back to flying as gracefully as the prop jobs do. 

More news as my skills improve,

- Eli

Turnigy powered Mustang BL

The Parkzone Mustang BL is a great looking model.  I resisted the temptation to buy one right off the bat, hoping that a small wait would result in some aftermarket parts and a proven formula to build one inexpensively.

I’m not breaking any new ground here, just condensing information I found on RCGroups and what I considered the best aftermarket mount.  There is a master thread at RCGroups that you should absolutely look through if you are considering a build.

The best value is to buy the parts as the complete airframe, the part number is PKZ1870.  I paid $79.99 for mine from Horizon, and note that when you ship there is typically an oversize charge.  The box is HUGE!  Still, you save quite a few bucks over buying the pieces individually, and you also get some labor items done for you, like cowl fitting, control horns, and decals.

The genesis of this idea was discovering the way-cool mount that Customrcparts.com makes.  I opted for the venerable Turnigy 35-36C, because I like them, and also because I had a good one on the bench

The Turnigy Plush 40 or any 40A speed controller will work fine, as long as it is slim enough to fit in the nose of the airplane.  HXT-900 servos fit right in the pockets and are dirt cheap – to date, we’ve never seen one fail in service under normal use, and they are plenty fast.

The Customrc mount is great.  It goes right in, and you can use the stock spinner and prop with the Turnigy motor.  Everything just lines up
Note – You can’t use APC props with this setup, they don’t fit, and you would need an aftermarket 2.25″ spinner.

I noticed a lot of little niceties in the parts – there are channels for servo wires in convenient places, a nice tray for your RX, and the aforementioned pocket for the ESC. 

I opted to do the optional rudder sutup, which was quick and easy.  All the parts come in the airframe kit, and I can’t think why you would not do it for the price of another HXT-900.

I used Hobbycity 3S 1850 40Cbatteries, because they fit the pocket so well.  There are a lot of well-documented mods on RCGroups that allow you to use 2100′s quite easily, I just happened to have these batteries on hand.

I used the stock 9×6 for the maiden flight, which was a joy.  It’s got great, forgiving handling, feels very nimble, and does the full suite of aerobatics with ease.  I didn’t take any measurements on the maiden flight, but for the next flight I installed a Master Airscrew 10×8, and went to town.

Awesome.  We got two confirmed radar passes at 69mph, and you can go 5 minutes at triple latte on the 1850 and still have a little puff to get home.   I didn’t get an Eagletree reading today, but we registered 41.6Ap 476Wp in static testing with the 10×8.  I bet I’ll be able to tune for a little more speed once I get some Eagletree data.

The best thing about this is the fact that you can put one in the air for about $175, but you get some substantial upgrades like more horsepower and the aluminum mount.  It’s a blast to fly, and I’m looking forward to further mods like retractable landing gear, and flaps.

My new favorite daily driver

Overall, it’s clear that Parkzone is not resting on their previous success.  The overall design and flight characteristics of this model are top notch at any price, and using the aftermarket parts, you get a chance to customize your plane with the servos and powertrain you prefer.

Image from Horizon Hobby

I bought the micro 4-site as soon as my LHS could get one in stock.  We were locked in the middle of a long rainy period with no end in sight, and I was really looking forward to something I could use in the conference room at the office.

The model comes with the handy reusable carrying case (box), 2 of the high cap batteries, and one of the 4-port Celectra micro chargers.  These chargers are very nice, and a boon if you have lots of micros.  That said, I got one with my MsR, and I wish I had been given the option to buy the 4-site for $130, less the charger. 

Like all of the micros, setup was as easy as charging the battery, binding it to my DX6i,and going flying.  I approximated the factory settings at 30% expo and did not bother with low rates.

Charged up, and fired up, I hauled the airplane to the office, and hung signs on the doors of the conference room that said “Important Meeting!”

ROG proved to burn up too much of the available space in the conference room, but hand launch was fine.  With the battery set exactly in the middle of the Velcro strip, it wants to roll over and hover with no problems.  However, my fingers were rusty on the sticks and I could not get it to slow down enough.  I gave up before one of my wall impacts did damage.

That night, I glued the speed brakes on, and the next day I hung the signs in the conference room again.  This was much better.  You can hold the airplane just above a walking pace, and it’s very predictable.  I was amazed at how stable it was, no real wing tipping, and very smooth. 

At this point I was starting to hit my own limits as a 3D pilot, and after 2 packs and some minor damage to the nose I was ready to quit.

I’ve owned the model for a few weeks now, and I must say that I am a lot more at home in a low-wind outdoor situation than the office. I’m still not good enough to keep it in that tight, and being able to punch skyward is still an important strategy for me when I get in trouble. 

I have some buyer’s remorse.  At $169, this airplane is not cheap, and I am starting to think that the regular 4-site might have been a better choice for me.  If I had access to a gymnasium, I would probably feel different.

The solution to this?  E-Flite needs to release a version with no fancy charger and a $125-130 price point.  Also, I think that an airframe only (no electronics) version should be offered, so that one could swap the electronics from their old, battered plane to a spanky new airplane without spending the bux for the PNP version.

We beat the Winter blues with this thing, now we just need a better value in order to keep recommending it.

This is one of those iconic airplanes that everybody should have in their collection of Sport aircraft.  I bought mine from Porkeez here in Sonoma County, and instead of using all of the recommended Eflite parts I switched it up a bit. 

I used a Scorpion SII-3014, 1040kv motor instead of the recommended Power 10.  Scorpion motors have a very high quality look and feel to them, and they tend to be slightly higher performance, and less expensive than E-Flite motors in many cases.   In addition, I’ve had nothing but good experiences with the NA distributor, Innov8tive Designs.  They publish a handy Motor comparison chart that makes it easy to match up their motor with another recommendation.  In addition, they publish extensive propeller data charts that are very helpful.

I coupled the Scorpion motor with a Castle Thunderbird 54, Hitec HS-65HB servos, and a JR R790 receiver.

The build was a very routine E-Flite ARF experience.  I give it high marks for fit and finish, and a few negative ones in that the hardware looks a little cheap.  Be very careful with the wing fillet.  It’s plastic that has been painted on the backside, and before the bottom wing is installed, it is prone to damage.

I used the E-flite recommended throws, which are about maximum on high rates and very close to that on low rates.  I found the thing a little twitchy on low rates with the recommended 25% expo, so I bumped the aileron travel down a few millimeters, and set the expo to 30%.  It feels better to me, set up that way.

The model rolls out fast and takes off immediately- This took me by surprise a bit on the first flight.  The light wing loading is immediately apparent, and you will see in the maiden video that I needed to use more right rudder on takeoff. 

Once up, it tracks clean and fast.  Turns look coordinated even when you do not use the rudder, and it rolls in and out of 3D with a grace that I have not experienced thus far.  Aileron rolls are fast, crisp, and clean.  The model flies as well inverted as it does right side up, almost hands off. 

Landing was pretty easy, as well.  It slows down nicely, and while it’s going to take a little practice to stop wagging the wings, it’s not a hard airplane to set down accurately. I used 1500mah out of a Turnigy 2200 in 5:30 of flight, mostly WOT. Peak draw was 46 amps on takeoff, and for most of the flight I was drawing 20-30A. The motor was cool to the touch after 5:30 of spirited flight.

In short, apply any superlative, positive term you can think of regarding the flight characteristics – I have yet to find something I don’t like about this airplane. 

BTW the snap roll feature is BRUTAL at 100% throws.  On my second flight, I hit the snap roll, and it dislodged Zeke’s Eagletree logger and smacked it against the leading edge so hard it bent the pins. (!)

Get yourself an Ultimate Biplane.  I don;t know if the E-flite/Scorpion/Hitec cocktail I brewed up is the best combination, but it sure seems to work well.

Getting to Maiden it on Christmas Day with a good friend was just the icing on the cake.

Happy Holidays,

- Eli

 I hate sending radios in for service.   I say that, even though I’m told that Horizon will do all sorts of wonderful things to your radio while it’s in their care.

So, when my DX6i turned up with a broken rudder trim tab switch, I started using sub trim instead of sending it in.  I have other radios, but that is my only DSM radio.

Last week, I tripped on East R/C.  They are out of Florida, they sell on Ebay and direct, and they have a few special parts, such as the machined aluminum trim tabs I bought from them last week.  Apparently the little plastic levers themselves are typically the part that fails, so this is a functional and cosmentic upgrade.

Actually opening up your radio is not for everybody, especially if your radio is still under warranty.  The instructions that they wrote are well illustrated/easy to follow – check it out.

Broken trim tab

I am very pleased with the result.  It gives the poor old DX6i a little bit of a nicer feel, and I plan to check out their aluminum ERC roller button upgrade!

The finished product

Here’s hoping that everybody gets something they enjoy this week.  Cheers!

- Eli

Firstoff, Gopro:  We really need the proposed upcoming firmware patch that will flip the video right side up in the camera without needing to use editing software.  I end up flipping it in Premiere Elements, which is time consuming.

The non-waterproof door is ideal for RC use.  You can hear plenty of detail when the motor is not running, and also wonderful wind and servo noises if that’s the kind of thing you like.  Everybody I talk to says they prefer music, but I can see some utility for having accurate sound reproduction, especially from a glider.

Here is my latest attempt at a short (~7 minute) film.  I took it from the same brushless Aspire as I did the last video, and I really tried to use only the sections of footage that I thought were interesting.  There are plenty of air/air shots of the other planes at the field, and what I think is some of the best bits from ~25 minutes of footage.

We also had a chance to play with the still camera mode, and this turned out very nice.  I will comment that it looks a little grainy under certain circumstances, but I also didn’t take any pains to adjust the camera for the ambient settings.  First time.

5MP still image from Gopro HD Hero

 The wide angle is extreme, and it does look cool for a lot of stuff.  At this price point, I’d love to see a camera of this quality that had interchangeable lenses. 

It handles difficult conditions well – the sun is a nightmare in this shot:

5MP still image from Gopro HD Hero

Next I’ll try some more exotic locations.

I’ll continue to experiment as my time and hardware permits. 

Also worth checking out – a gent named Mario Schimanko wrote me last week, he’s got a Hero and has been doing some FABULOUS work on Vimeo.  Check it out!

- Eli

I pre-ordered my Gopro HD Helmet Hero the first week of October, after yet another day of disappointment at the field with my Flycamone2. 

Well, my unit turned up today on Fedex, and I regret that I pretty much trashed the box taking it apart.  It’s got cool-looking packaging. 
*More on the packaging later!

I’d been looking forward to this day for some time.  Last week, I was in contact with the Support group at Gopro, and they are effective and nice.  The company is located in Half Moon Bay, very close to where I live.

The instructions consist of a non-assuming large folded sheet of glossy paper.  There is a surprising amount of information on this large form, and you can fold it up & fit it in your pocket without trashing it. 
The instructions state that the battery comes with a storage charge of 50%, and that you can just go out and play if you like without hurting the battery,  I like the fact that they thought of this.  I was a good boy and charged the battery anyway.

I had a litle bit of a dilemma deciding where to mount the camera on my Aspire.  The package came with a pair of nice sticky mounts for the camera, but I was nervous about just sticking this to the monokote.  With the sun settling in the winter afternoon sky, I had an idea – use the ‘shoe’ for the camera that came with the packaging as a mount! 
I quickly knocked the sides off with a hacksaw, drilled a couple of holes, backed the bolts up with some plywood to reinforce the weak balsa floor and called it good:

Now, in retrospect I realize that this mount could use some improvement.  First of all, I need better foam dampening between the mount and the body of the airplane.  Also, I think the packaging ‘shoe’ fits more loosely than the real thing, so this mount is definitely a 1.0 revision.  In the video I hear something rattling, and I think it’s some combination of these problems causing the noise.

The camera has a number of modes, the nuances of which are discussed in the instructions.  I wanted the glories of full-blown 1080p, though I ended up scaling that back down to 720p in Premiere later to reduce the size of the file I’d be uploading to Vimeo.  When I got home and read  the docs again I realized that I made an error – the camera has a nifty feature that allows you to tell it that it is inverted. 
That way, it records the video on the SD in the correct orientation! 

A note on noise:  When inside the housing, this camera lives up to it’s claim of fending off wind noise.  It has an amusing legend on the back of the unit, that advises the use of the waterproof case door if the wind encountered is expected to be faster than 100mph

I decided to buy Adobe Premiere Elements as an editing tool – I’ve been using good old Windows Movie Maker for a long time.  Most of my evening was spent purchasing, downloading, and getting to know the product.  Overall, I’d rate the Adobe online fulfillment experience as ‘deeply annoying’, but we got the job done.

I need to experiment with some mount options to see what I can do about the noise of the motor resonating through the airplane, and I am planning to be very careful about where I fly until I get a larger glider.   In it’s protective housing this camera weighs darn near 6.5oz, and the case is a blessing.  It adds an ounce and a bit more to the overall weight, but it’s one tough cookie and you would be insane to use this camera for RC stuff without it.

The camera was easy to use, and I’m very happy with the results.   Considering that I was flying in the poor light of a Winter sunset, had a quickly rigged mount plus lousy Premiere editing skills, this product is a miracle.

Update 11/19/2009 – I put the camera on my Ultra 25 in better light, better mount, and with the sub-100mph door.  The results are much bettter. 

.. Now it’s time to improve my skills at video editing, for a start!