Re: [Paparazzi-devel] beginners questions

[Martin P]

Hello Tilman!

> I see there is a forum somewhere, but I find forums totally inadequate 
> for discussions.

In general, I find forums fine, even better than mailing lists, but the 
Paparazzi-forum on http://rc-autopilot.de/smf/ seems to be pretty dead. 

> ... Money will be a issue, so I 
> need to start small and cheap.

Have a look on http://www.diydrones.com/ 
They have the ArduPilot which is by far not as capable as Paparazzi but 
definitely cheaper and they say it is easier. Just to see something else, too. 
Not a suggestion. 

> I see that small airframes like the FunJet are pretty popular. But I 
> guess this is mostly because it is a bigger challenge to make a small 
> and fast plane fly stable.
> I guess there is not much room for payload like digital cameras.

In R/C flying, a bigger and slower airframe is definitely easier to fly. I 
guess it is the same for autonomous flight. 

> Can anyone maybe suggest a bigger and flexible and of course cheap 
> solution? Maybe some easy DIY plans. Optics are irrelevant. :)
> And how difficult is it to scale things up? Maybe they get unreasonable 
> expensive... I have no idea, I'm not a RC guy.

Welcome to the world of R/C flying! 
I started R/C flying recently, so I feel competent to answer beginners 
questions. 
See http://home.pages.at/martinpi/modellflug/anfaengertipps.html for some hints 
(in German, sorry to the other readers). 
I strongly suggest that you look for an R/C club in your vicinity. 
Btw, I just bought an inexpensive "pilot assist" system via Ebay which can help 
a beginner to save the plane from a crash and which could possibly be used in 
combination with the ArduPilot mentioned above (but definitely not with 
Paparazzi). 

Although I have never flown the Multiplex TwinStar, I think this could be the 
thing for you. Used TwinStars are often available through Ebay. Optics not too 
bad, somewhat crash-resistant, easy to repair if not. 
Building a plane on your own usually doesn't make it cheaper. Strange but true. 
I love my Minimag which is my tried and proved workhorse and which will 
probably be my first UAV. 
See http://modellflug-martinpi.blogspot.com/search/label/MiniMag

> Apropos RC. I guess I will need some RC equipment? I'm thinking about 
> leaving the RC stuff out and controlling the plane via the telemetry 
> link. But buying some used RC stuff via ebay is probably a more 
> reasonable approach. :)

Yes to ebay. People sell their equipment when they go for sophisticated 
features which you will definitely not need.  
There is one more point which makes R/C equipment necessary, this is the legal 
situation. 
I am still investigating, but IMHO as long as I watch the plane with my finger 
on the mode-switch and I am ready to take over, I can claim that I am R/C 
flying. 
See 
http://www.rc-network.de/magazin/artikel_02/art_02-0001/art_02-0001-00.html#9 
(German, again)
Furthermore, you should have a liability insurance. This is available for R/C 
flying. And we are R/C flying, aren't we? 

> How well to the IR sensors work near big hills and urban areas?

That's something I would like to know, too! 
 
> Regards
>   Tilman Baumann

Greetz! 
Martin from Vienna, Austra