For FPV flying, the kit includes a tiny camera/video transmitter that attaches to the top of the fuselage. You must provide goggles or a monitor to view the video.
of extending the Radian’s unpowered descents for as long as I can. Be careful if you catch a thermal because the camera system could drain the battery while you’re gliding. The Radian can be a fun
aircraft for cruising around at partial throttle. For this kind of fl ying, you might need no more room than a basketball court (indoor or outdoor), but having more space will allow greater freedom of movement. A
Recording Your Flights The incredibly small size and weight of the Spektrum
VA1100 FPV system lets you fly FPV with some amazingly small models. One of the tradeoffs for using such tiny aircraft is that they are often unable to carry the extra weight of a secondary camera to record the flight. The only way to save footage is to record the downlinked video stream. Although there are many ways to do this, one of the easiest is to use an integrated video receiver and digital video recorder. I’ve been using the Lumenier DX800 from GetFPV (
getfpv.com). It has a 32-channel 5.8 GHz receiver, so it can pick up the video downlink from the Spektrum unit. The video is displayed on a 5-inch LCD screen. A foldout sunshade is included to make the screen easier to see on sunny days. When the DX800 has locked onto the desired video
signal, you simply press the record button to save the video to a micro SD memory card. The Spektrum camera transmits at relatively low resolution, so don’t expect cinema-quality footage. Even so, I still enjoy recording and watching flight videos that are shot at places where only ultra-micro airplanes can go.
park near my home has a few acres of open fi eld. Although it’s too confi ned even for some of my moderately sized park fl yers, it is perfect for the UMX FPV Radian. This model has a bit of aerobatic capability. With a preliminary, speed-building dive, the Radian will pull through a respectable loop. I’ve even been able to sustain inverted fl ight. The AS3X stabilization makes the tiny Radian behave like
a larger airplane and allows it to be fl own in a light wind, but gusty breezes will defi nitely knock it around. The real limit to the wind conditions it can tolerate is its relatively slow speed. Before launching, make sure that you can make forward progress into the wind! I’ve fl own standard UMX Radians on several occasions and
I’m sure that the weight and drag of the video gear detracts somewhat from the performance of the FPV version. My senses, however, are not calibrated precisely enough to detect any signifi cant differences in climb, glide performance, or aerobatics. The camera system pulls 300 mA of current, which is
signifi cant when using a 150 mAh battery. This certainly reduces the fl ight times. I estimate that you lose roughly one or two minutes per fl ight because of the FPV gear. Flying the UMX FPV Radian with goggles is easy, thanks
to the airplane’s slow speed and smooth maneuvers. If you’re new to FPV, this is a good way to adjust to the restricted fi eld of view and reduced situational awareness that comes with goggle-based piloting. Of course, your spotter is there to help fi ll in the blanks, but it helps to have an airplane that moves slowly and isn’t demanding to fl y. When done correctly, FPV is a safe, fun, and exciting way
to experience RC fl ight. The simplicity and small size of the UMX FPV Radian makes FPV accessible to more people in more places. If FPV fl ying is on your RC bucket list, this model provides an easy-fl ying, low-risk way to have a go at it.
18 PARK PILOT [Winter 2016]
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