First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying - Gizmodo Comments

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Ariel_Wollinger — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:32:40 EDT

Déjà vu from 2006:

Ariel_Wollinger

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Tensor — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:04:19 EDT

I saw one of these in action the other day. They DO use a spotter, its hard to get your bearings without it. They used it with a head tracking system which could be overriden using a switch on the transmitter, and then controlled by the transmitter.
They also use a splitter and mount a video camera to record the feed and a portable dvd screen for other ppl to watch (like me)... I tried the HMD dysplay on while the pilot was visually landing it (apparently its easier and safer that way) my experience was not that nice, if you are not piloting you get dizzy fast, kinda like watching someone else play quake or UT.

Tensor

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

wolfenstein-3d — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:28:03 EDT

i want one! If it were in the $200-$300 then MAYYYBE

wolfenstein-3d

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

mauser — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:16:19 EDT

It's even cooler if you're actually flying the plane.

mauser

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

N@tedog — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:19:46 EDT

This is awesome. If I only had the money. Your very own UAV.

N@tedog

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Thunderdome — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:46:48 EDT

Some of the clips showed altitude/speed in the corner of the screen. A guy at a local field where I lived had a similar system at an air show a few years back, but he was fully enclosed in a trailer with a TV monitor. In any case, they probably have the controls linked up via a buddy system with a backup pilot in case the 'VR' pilot gets disoriented or there's a glitch with the video device.

This, however, could open up the possibility of beyond-visual-range flight, which would be interesting. A few cap-bombs wrapped in black powder and BVR ability and suddenly you've got a fully function UCAV, albeit with a limited range and flight time.

Thunderdome

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

wweaver4th — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:19:42 EDT

This thing already has accessories: heads-up display, pan/tilt mount system, etc.

wweaver4th

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

pcs800 — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:02:04 EDT

Very cool, I would buy that in a second if I didn't have the opposing wife.

pcs800

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

LoganSix — Thu, 08 May 2008 08:20:03 EDT

As others have mentioned, they have been putting the cameras on RC planes for some time now. They use little motors to do the tilting, which is controlled by the joysticks, not by head movement. Some of the planes they have been putting on are actually fairly small and light weight.

LoganSix

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

bms — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:50:34 EDT

That is an awesome perspective.

bms

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Serolf Divad — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:15:06 EDT

Wow... this would totally rock if you wanted to assasinate someone from a 1 Kilometer distance.

Serolf Divad

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Jeremias — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:18:19 EDT

seems like more pepping tom stuff for me.

Jeremias

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Brentis — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:35:23 EDT

Dude - the panning - tell us how it pans. That makes it.

Brentis

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Wed, 07 May 2008 22:49:55 EDT

I am so putting this on my dog and letting him loose in the ladies' locker room.

[tbn0.google.com]

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Xander — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:47:27 EDT

Wow, this is really cool. I wonder if it would make flying easier? I wouldn't know, all I have is a RC car with 20 minutes of battery life. But even that would be more fun! It's definitely not worth the price though. At least, for a car.

Xander

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

RobertoVonDutch — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:09:22 EDT

this, is one of the greatest inventions of our time! think of all the possibilities...ridin' in a convertible with the top down in the back seat, watching yourself from 200 feet up or so. does this model have a gyroscope/ accelerometer in the headset to control the camera's angle?

RobertoVonDutch

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

MarkAu — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:50:11 EDT

As far as telling the height above ground, check the video on the hobby-lobby website, it shows an on screen display there which gives you all that info.

MarkAu

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

apeguero — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:32:54 EDT

They've had cameras on model trains (HO and above I think) from like last century (90s really). So this idea is not new. Plus I used to frequent another website where people were sticking wireless cameras on their RC planes and shooting video while in the air. This was early this decade. So, yes, the idea is definitely not new. What I think is new is the addition of the glasses. Now, I'm going to have to go back to this article and read up to see how they pan around. Is it head movement or are they having to press buttons to move the camera around? If it's head movement that controls the camera then this thing really is THE BALLS!!!!

apeguero

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

faslane — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:25:10 EDT

I would mount it to my "Johnson" and run around naked in public to get people's expression's live in real time, then, of course, go to jail All FPVPervert like.

Faslane

just kidding ;-) this is pretty cool!!!!

faslane

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

bigpolla — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:54:14 EDT

thats fucking sexy.

bigpolla

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

tegronin — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:19:36 EDT

i thought i could use it to get a squirrel's eye view
now i just need to find an army of mutated neo-squirrels, complete with alpha male, to clean the homeless out of golden gate park

tegronin

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

MrBlahBlah — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:18:44 EDT

it would be awesome taking one of these to central park in NYC and flying around the park/city

MrBlahBlah

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Dustin Earnhardt — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:17:36 EDT

That looks amazingly fun. All the sudden I want to get into R/C Aviation now. That video is incredible.

Dustin Earnhardt

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Murph — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:57:58 EDT

An instant Predator kit!

Murph

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

mruler360 — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:56:37 EDT

Remote controlled BB gun FTW!

mruler360

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Benitocarmona — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:45:40 EDT

Great song and good flying. I have an electric R/C Helicopter but i think you need a Nitro one so ir can carry some weight. looking forward on selling mi electric chopper and getting a nitro chopper

Benitocarmona

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

P3nnst8r — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:45:18 EDT

@Kaiser-Machead: Regardless, it'd still rock.

P3nnst8r

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

alycispi — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:40:08 EDT

why not just take flying lessons...

alycispi

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

graham1010 — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:37:09 EDT

that is awesome

graham1010

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Joseph — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:36:31 EDT

That video definitely sells it. If I wasn't on a budget right now, I'd definitely order one... or pre-order I guess.

Joseph

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

ChrisH027 — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:35:05 EDT

@Gann: Where can I submit a pre-order?

ChrisH027

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Git Em SteveDave is starlost — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:31:35 EDT

Reminds me of an episode of NewsRadio where Joe installed a camera into a Boba Fett figure to help Beth cheat from the building across the way. He had on "VR glasses", and they throw the figure out the window towards the end, and Joe is on the bed screaming like he is falling.

OK, it was funnier on the show.

It's in this clip at about 4:30 in.

Git Em SteveDave is starlost

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

weatherman — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:30:39 EDT

I feel like we just saw this footage on Gizmodo not too long ago. Not the plane stuff, but the car footage. Was that a different product?

The opportunity for remote controlled plane dogfighting makes this very desirable. If I had kids I would totally pretend to buy this for them and then tell them they weren't responsible enough to use it.

weatherman

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

dna — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:28:36 EDT

I'm taking one of these to a strip club!

dna

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

GeekyNerdGuy — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:24:36 EDT

This is one of those things that make me say, why didn't I think of this???

GeekyNerdGuy

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Elliuotatar — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:23:45 EDT

It just occured to me the possibility for using this to make amateur films...

Elliuotatar

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

OtioseScandal — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:20:30 EDT

Finally I can contribute to patrolling the border.

OtioseScandal

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Kaiser-Machead on the Edge — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:18:54 EDT

@P3nnst8r: Details man. Details.

Kaiser-Machead on the Edge

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Gann — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:18:21 EDT

I'm going to strap that on an R/C helicopter along with a remotely controlled bb gun. I will call it Squirrel Hunter and all the neighborhood cats will learn to fear it.

Gann

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Brock — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:18:02 EDT

You better be strapped to a very steady chair when flying this. I could easily see you losing your balance and falling over if you were just standing up.

Needs head-up display of altitude, fuel, and distance from pilot.

Brock

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

TheCyberBob — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:12:39 EDT

I dare say that this idea was taken from this guys work: [video.google.fr]

Still cool but not exactly a new idea.

TheCyberBob

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

P3nnst8r — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:06:37 EDT

@Kaiser-Machead: How far does your neighbor live from you that you could actually appreciate the video? Not to mention being caught in the explosion?

P3nnst8r

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

bandit — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:06:15 EDT

The problem is that you really don't know how far from the ground you are, and if you go vertical and stall, you could be losing altitude even as the camera is pointing up. So you need a spotter or maybe even a different person piloting. Conservative flying, at the very least.

bandit

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Kaiser-Machead on the Edge — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:00:07 EDT

Kaiser want camera for first-person on the little moving things. I'd so eat this up for an RC race car, and when I've finally grown tired of first-person view from my toys, I'll send a home-made SCUD missile to my neighbor's window, and I can watch the eerie gawk of terror.

Kaiser-Machead on the Edge

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

P3nnst8r — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:59:49 EDT

If i owned and knew how to fly an R/C airplane, this would be awesome. I'd get it in a heartbeat.

P3nnst8r

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

Darrone — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:58:54 EDT

Yea, definitely an expensive novelty. But still, pretty cool, especially with a shot of it crashing...

Darrone