Cool! Me want. posted by carter at 1:55 PM on January 31, 2005
The only thing I've ever wanted more than a remote control helicopter was my own monkey (haven't you always wanted a monkey?). Cool! posted by Turtles all the way down at 2:03 PM on January 31, 2005
Turtles all the way down: Absolutely, but more, I want a remote control helicopter that a monkey can ride in. And shoot missiles at stuff. posted by Freen at 2:25 PM on January 31, 2005
Wait, wait, wait. Helicopters can fly upside down? ( Link to a movie where a remote control helicopter flies upside down, and does a barrel roll)
This is seriously awesome. And by awesome, I mean totally cool. posted by Freen at 2:28 PM on January 31, 2005
My father-in-law once caught an escaped monkey from some NJ zoo. They kept it in a cage in the kitchen and it was all cool until it started hurling its crap at them. posted by brheavy at 2:43 PM on January 31, 2005
OK, so here's my remote-control helicopter story:
I used to work on the Great Salt Lake, harvesting brine shrimp eggs. The eggs float on the water in great huge clumps called "streaks", which we'd find by having one of our supervisors charter a plane, fly over the lake, and radio the boats in.
One of the bigwigs got the bright idea to hook a video camera up to a remote-control chopper, fly it out over the lake while it recorded, then bring it back - and theoretically we would be able to see the egg streaks on the tape.
He spent thousands of dollars on the equipment, got the thing flying, and with a grand sendoff, it set out across the lake - and just kept going, never to be seen again. Once it got out of range, I assume it just kept on until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the lake. posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:18 PM on January 31, 2005
As a small kid I really really wanted a "chopper" that could fly circles on a stick and never go anywhere. (I was small)
stFire - I believe that toy was called a Vertibird. I had several and they were, by far, my favorite toy. I spent countless hours flying that chopper around in endless circles, going nowhere. posted by pejamo at 3:30 PM on January 31, 2005
Yes - I also had the helicopter on a stick thing, and it was the coolest thing ever. It was basicly a home version of an coin operated machine popular in the early seventies. posted by Keith Talent at 3:49 PM on January 31, 2005
I used to work on the Great Salt Lake, harvesting brine shrimp eggs.
So YOU were one of the people who brought us Sea Monkeys! posted by rough ashlar at 4:15 PM on January 31, 2005
Wouldn't mind a monkey that could fly upside down. posted by walrus at 4:30 PM on January 31, 2005
mr_crash_davis: That's a hilarious story. It reminds me of Funny Farm where they get a new dog, let him out, and he chases something off into the distance never to be seen again.
But, the higher-end RC toys, especially the choppers, are supposed to have a little program that they follow when they go out of range or get low on batteries. Usually it's a 180* turn and down to the ground slowly, but they can be much more elaborate. posted by odinsdream at 4:42 PM on January 31, 2005
*oh, and they fly upside-down by tilting the blades the opposite direction. The tilt controls how much lift is provided, but it can also be reduced to zero, and then go backwards to produce downward force. If you do a barrel roll while adjusting that tilt, you'll end upside-down. posted by odinsdream at 4:43 PM on January 31, 2005
Helicopters can change the angle of each blade, and there's nothing to keep them from pushing up as well as down. Apparently there are lots of issues to keep full-scale helicopters from flying inverted, but many can do loops and rolls to be inverted for brief periods of time. Some more info (with pictures and some links to videos which may or may not work) here. posted by whatnotever at 4:49 PM on January 31, 2005
Sorry, the first page of that forum post is here (but there are photos on the second page, in my first link). posted by whatnotever at 4:51 PM on January 31, 2005
If you guys want an inexpensive and easy lesson in how the helis can fly upside down, go get the (free) Flying-Model-Simulator, aka FMS and have fun... :)
(it's really much more realistic with an actual R/C controller connected via serial or usb adapter, but a gamepad with dual analog sticks will do in a pinch.)
Take off, get some nice 'oops' space below you... pull into a loop, and when you get to the top, reverse the collective and see how much fun it is to fly upside down.
Thanks b1tr0t, I actually keep meaning to use that (and even posted it to metatalk once). posted by jonah at 7:40 PM on January 31, 2005
Coralized - when a URL is redirected via the CoralCDN peer-to-peer web cache thingummywhatsit. posted by chrid at 1:03 AM on February 1, 2005
Dunno about barrel rolls, but I vaguely remember seeing photos of a Westland Lynx helo doing a loop. posted by alumshubby at 3:57 AM on February 1, 2005
I asked my brother, a military helicopter pilot, about doing loops once. His response was something along the lines of, "Only if something has gone seriously fucking wrong..." posted by Cyrano at 7:30 AM on February 1, 2005
RC folk like to point out that it's radio control, not remote control.
I've got some experience building and flying RC planes. Helicopters are a whole other (much more difficult) ball o' wax. posted by DieHipsterDie at 8:07 AM on February 1, 2005
DieHipsterDie: Isn't that like saying a square is a rectangle and I'd prefer if you called this particlar square a rectangle? Radio being one of many forms of remote control, what's the gripe? posted by odinsdream at 8:39 AM on February 1, 2005
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What could have caused this???
Nice link.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 1:52 PM on January 31, 2005