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I had to upgrade from 3.5, but it will work on 4.5 if you already have it, may still be a few weeks before its complete, someone else is doing this for us.
Troy
__________________ Even if the Voices aren’t real they still have some pretty good ideas.
SWEET! Man, the more I hear about this plane, the more excited I get. Thingabeauty, guys. And good incentive to get Realflight!
jhamlin, if you've got a university in your area with a strong archaeology department, it's well worth contacting them. Low altitude aerial photography seems to be a new tool for archaeology, so unless someone in the department is already doing AP as part of their work, chances are the department won't have the equipment or expertise to add it to their list of available field procedures. And from what I've gathered talking to archaeologists and working with a couple of them in the field, the use of AP in archaeology has been a tough sell. But results speak for themselves, and people are slowly being won over. You may well find a department full of people who are itching to use AP for their own research. Heck, there may only be a single one who sees the benefits of AP for archaeology. But all it takes is one, and you've got a partnership.
Speaking of which, Troy and Kevo, I've got a question about a non-archaeological application that could (and should!) be extended into archaeology:
My brother is loosely involved in a mapping project where they're trying to map a number of very small features (say 10' square or so) and the land use around them. This is in a very remote location, without guarantee of roads. Ideally this would require the aerial platform to carry two cameras, one doing RGB visible photography, the other doing NIR photography from 720nm out to about 900nm using an IR converted camera with an R72 filter on it. I'm looking at a pair of cameras that weigh about 450g each. In a better world this would be a pair of Canon XSi bodies with 50mm lenses on them, but I'm starting to describe a brick rather than an aerial photography package. Anyway, figure 1kg of camera with USB triggering the two shutters in tandem. Would I need the 6' or the 8' version of the Scimitar to lift this load?
Also, with this kind of load do you have a feel for what kind of altitude and range the airplane would be able to get? Problem one is finding these features at all, so a high altitude search pattern would be a good idea. Once they're identified, likely through on-site analysis of the images, a lower-altitude flight to do the high resolution mapping would happen next. A battery swap could happen between the high altitude work and the low altitude work, but ideally it would be nice to set up a base of operations and be able to map all the subjects within a given radius of the base. I really don't have a good feel for how large an area they're talking about, or how much surrounding area they'll need around each feature. Just fishing for ballpark numbers at this point.
Thanks again for designing and building the Scimitar, guys. Ooooh, the possibilities.
Hey Tom, For the two cameras I'd say the 8' version would be better suited.
Altitude? Of course we're not supposed to go above 400', it will get there rather quickly, with the right setup you can go vertical to altitude.
Duration depends greatly on payload and batteries. Still need to get all this figured out. I have several batteries on the way and I'll be testing with different payloads in different wind conditions.
Troy
__________________ Even if the Voices aren’t real they still have some pretty good ideas.
Sorry guys, something has come up... We've got thousands of hours and dollars invested into this aircraft and have decided overnight not to release it to the general public. We do believe we have something special and will continue its advancements into composite materials.
Sometime in the near future we'll have a toned down aircraft we can share with many of the same capabilities...
The RealFlight model will still be available.
Sincere apologies,
Troy
__________________ Even if the Voices aren’t real they still have some pretty good ideas.
Wow very weird way to turn it, in my opinion.
You have a great capable machine, lots of interest from people reading here.
Now all i can figure out, why not to sell it:
-to expensive to produce
-you want to improve it first
-scared of too many requests
-or you think you will harm your own business if you sell those to competetors
Whatever it is, I think it is quite sad, was looking forward to getting me one of those babys...
Well, will have to look for another capable machine...
From my dealings with Troy I'd say the reasons must very good. He has always displayed complete integrity with me in our delaings so if he says "there's a good reason" that's good enough for me
Steve
__________________ If there's a better way, find it. Thomas Alva Edison.
Hey gang, I wanted to personally respond to the decision Troy and I have made to not pursue the public marketing of this plane. First of all I would like to say that the decision was an agonizing one and not arrived at easily.
There is simply no words to describe the amount of work and effort, not to mention money and time that has gone into this project. In the last week we have been getting requests from different parties wanting design info and close up pictures of this amazing plane, and these request were coming from people who have no interest in buying a plane. Again we are under no illusions here. We know that is just a matter of time before this plane is purchased by someone, torn apart from stem to stern to see how its designed, and they will make a $99.00 knock off of it. So the question I asked of myself and Troy is, how many could we sell before that happens? 10, maybe 15? Then for all intents and purposes this project would end for Troy and I. Right now there are 4 planes in existence. Two are owned by Troy and I. All four of us have signed a NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) in an effort to contain the design of this plane for as long as possible. We know that we can't ask everyone who wants to buy one of these planes to sign a NDA.
Again I want to say there is no greed here. I can only speak for myself and I believe Troy when I say, if we made back the money we have in R&D alone that in and of itself would be a miracle. And I am even willing to give up that if it means that Troy and I can continue on the R&D of this project.
Something else, and I will leave you to read between the lines here. There are things going on behind the scenes that cannot be discussed but where the stakes are very high. I hope in the future that we can share with you guys some of that.
OK, now some plans for the future. We are creating an alternative that will have the same flight characteristics as a standard model without giving away the structure of the Scimitar. Photos in about 3 weeks. Rest assured if it is something that Troy and I put out it will be off the hook cool. The best part to is that it will be much more affordable and our goal is to make it as easy on the pocketbook as possible so as not to exclude the little guy who we believe is so important.
Lastly let me personally say that I thank all of you for your interest in what Troy and I are doing. It is what motivates us to carry on, and I don't take that lightly. What started out as a me wanting a plane designed for Troy and I, has turned into somewhat of a "We have a tiger by the tail' scenario. We are truly just trying to be good stewards with what we have and want to proceed carefully. Thank you for your understanding.
We know that we can't ask everyone who wants to buy one of these planes to sign a NDA.
Quick question, Why not? If thats what it takes to get the plane, i guess everyone would do it.
Or sue the **** out of anyone copying it...
Ok, understand you a bit, still think it is a very sad decision.
Now looking forward to hearing of the new version... hope it will be something great, and innovational.
MAN I wish it hadn't come to that. But I can understand the need to cover your R&D costs. A number of years ago I bought a really good quick change toolpost system for my lathe from a small company who made their name designing solid, well thought out tooling for home shop machinists. A couple of years later another company came out with an almost identical line of toolposts and tool holders. It undercut the original designers to the point where they stopped producing it. It broke my heart. I'm still using that toolpost, and to this day I wish I'd bought more tool holders when they were still producing them.
But don't entirely count it out as a source of revenue for your ventures. You might be surprised how many people would greet the idea of signing an NDA with a resounding, "HECK YEAH!" Judging by the responses here, there are a number of folks who respect and appreciate the level of innovation that goes into a really solid design.
And I can't wait to see the new design you guys are working on! If it's half as sexy as the Scimitar, it's gonna be great. I just hope you're planning one that'll pack a low enough wing load to handle a DSLR.
Sad news, but it sounds like you guys have some serious iron in the fire. Blue skies, guys!
Must have been a tough decision guys...or maybe an easy one (thinking between the lines) I wouldn't want to see a "Chinatar" either. I hope all of the time and effort pans out for you.
Short little stories from me, much like benedict's story above. I created smoked headlight covers on my car 4 years before they became available commercially. As a professional window tinter, I believe I was the first to cut graphic designs in window tint before they became commercially available as many of my customers attended national events. If you have been around snowmobiles, and know the graphic kits available to decorate the louvers (scoops)... I created hand painted mural kits 3 years before they became commercially available and easily reproduced with the new vinyl printing machines.
All of this may be part of the reason why I'm so cautious, much of this is news to even Kevo. This is all back when the internet was just getting going and access to legal information was much harder to get. Usually money and attorneys would be involved so I just let it pass. I hope with age my knowledge has somewhat improved.
Troy
__________________ Even if the Voices aren’t real they still have some pretty good ideas.
If you wait longer the tail will come down on its own. Even though it is not nose heavy, we haven't been able to get it to reset level when starting on the sim. While editing in RealFlight, none of the specs are correct to the actual model, it was the only way we could get it to fly like the real thing. I real bugger to program this one. Don't forget to use the rudder, that's how we get the tight maneuvers. Flap is on upper right toggle.
__________________ Even if the Voices aren’t real they still have some pretty good ideas.
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