THE UKS LEADING DRONE AND MULTI ROTOR MAGAZINE
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SPECIAL EDITION
2015
2015
UK
EXCLUSIVE! New Rotor Tech Explained & Explored
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW 15 page UK Drone Show Guide & Exhibitor Listing
IF Q BRANCH BUILT A QUAD THE PORTA-QUAD ZIPPY V2 BUILT AND FIELD TESTED
Are You
Ready To Race? THE PRO-TUNER EQUIPPED VORTEX FROM IMMERSION RC IS!
IMPROVING ON PERFECTION Issue 03 £4.99
SPECIAL RCFLIGHTCAMERAACTION.COM
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EDITION
FROM ENTRY LEVEL QUADS TO FPV RACING, AERIAL FILMING, IN-DEPTH BUILD GUIDES AND INDUSTRY INNOVATION
HEADS UP!
UK FPV HAPPENINGS! Reports from The UK’s Biggest FPV events FRONT COVER_V1_RCFCA_DEC15.indd 1
DJI Take The Phantom 3 To The Next Level 26/10/15 11:59:42
INTRODUCTION: WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE
New Rotor Tech Explained & Explored
lift OFF A Big Thank You…Anticipate Big Things Ahead The response to issue two has been truly overwhelming. Since its launch I’ve had more phone calls, emails, social media messages and direct contact at race events and shows than anything so far in my career as an Editor and technology journalist. The fact that we looked at both the fun and serious sides of the Rotor scene really seemed to hit the spot with you, the readership. Issue three is more of the same, and after easing ourselves into the world of FPV last issue we takes things up a notch with event reports from the three biggest race meets the UK has seen in 2015 (page 76), a fun, palm-sized indoor or outdoor FPV racer (the Blade NanoQX FPV, page 90), and a full on ARTF Race Quad in the form of the revolutionary ImmersionRC Vortex (page 10). The latter is a very portable, one-box-solution that just requires a suitable CPPM receiver and 3 or 4S LiPo adding. It incorporates a comprehensive OSD menu system, a Raceband VTX with SpiroNET antenna, a Fatshark FPV Camera, and bespoke Pro-tuner Cleanflight software with auto PID adjustment (based on flying style, cam choice, motors and LiPo used). It can literally go from box, to being airborne in just minutes…But that’s not all folks! Stuart Markham builds a very unique bamboo quad creation from New York based Shen Drones (page 38). Its designer Andy Shen is making big waves in the global FPV and Racing community with his very different approach to both materials and quad design. Staying with the unique and innovative, Australian company Portaquad also sent us their latest Zippy-2 folding frame, and in our James Bond themed review our New Zealand based contributor Antonio Noblejas reports back to you (and Q) after ascertaining its suitability for use in the field, and if it could survive 007 at the controls (page 30)! Back in the UK, DJI’s latest Phantom 3 Professional takes to the skies above the Warwickshire countryside (page 64). It’s evolved massively from the platform we featured on the cover of issue one, and now has features like waypoints and a very impressive OSD and downlink facility. It’s a platform perfectly suited to both amateur stills and film-making use and professional operators wanting a compact and easily transported rig with good flight times and a 4k camera. At the other end of the spectrum we have the perfect first filming platform in the guise of the Syma Explorer V2 (page 24). This sub £100 quad is perfect Xmas present material for anyone who aspires to be a multi-rotor pilot and has features and functions normally found on platforms costing four times its price.
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CONTRIBUTOR LISTING: Adrian Jones, Antonio Noblejas, Clive Pratley, Stuart Marham. With invaluable help from LHC, Stefan Mirfin, the British FPV Racing Association, Neil Cody and i-Drone EDITOR Peter Gray peter.gray@traplet.com DESIGN & MAGAZINE LAYOUT Steve Harbron
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Lastly, we have an exclusive 16 page supplement showing you what will be on offer at the upcoming UK Drone Show. This event, held at UK the NEC Birmingham on December the 5th and 6th, heralds the start of a series of shows that will regularly bring together the biggest names in UAV Manufacturing, Retailing, Training, Insurance, FPV Racing and Drone Innovation. RCFCA is proud to be associated with the event and be its official media partner. The supplement also includes information on the guest speakers and interviews two key sponsors of the event. RCFCA will also be on hand with a dedicated ‘Innovations Zone’ and RCFCA trade stand. I and the team will also be heavily involved with the FPV Racing and product demonstrations in the Flight Area. And our stand will feature many of the companies and products we have reviewed in the first three issues, and sneak peeks of what we will be featuring in issues 4 and 5! The Drone and Multi Rotor industry is growing at such a huge rate that this is the one must attend event in 2015, for the general public, manufacturers and commercial operators. We hope to see you there!
Final Thought Again, a huge thank you to everyone involved in putting RCFCA together, it’s truly a labour of love and we really hope it shows in the writing and content. And to you, our ever-expanding group of subscribers and readers. Thank you for joining us once again on a LiPo-fuelled journey of fun and exploration. We have even more of the same planned for issues four and five, and hope to make the magazine a more regular occurrence on the newsstands…
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MANAGING DIRECTOR Tony Stephenson
2015
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Tom Stephenson ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVE Helen Lockley Tel: 01684 588548 email: helen.lockley@traplet.com ADVERTISING COPY CONTROLLER Cindi Griffiths Tel: 01684 588517 email: adcopy@traplet.com TRADE SALES EXECUTIVE Angela Price Tel: 01684 588568 email: angela.price@traplet.com PRINTED BY Warners plc PUBLISHED BY Traplet Publications Ltd., Traplet House, Willow End Park, Blackmore Park Road, Malvern, WR13 6NN, England. Tel: 01684 588599 Fax: 01684 578558 email: customerservice@traplet.com SOUTH AFRICAN DISTRIBUTION Traplet Publications South Africa (PTY) Ltd., P.O. Box 1067, Oudtshoorn, 6620, South Africa Tel/Fax: +27 44 272 5978 email: southafrica@traplet.com AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTION Traplet Publications & Hobbies, P.O. Box 501, Engadine, NSW 2233, Australia. Tel: (02) 9520 0933 Fax: (02) 9520 0032 email: sales@traplet.com.au
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2015 Traplet Publications Limited. All rights reserved.
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Peter Gray EDITOR RCFCA
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This publication is printed by Warners 01778 395111 This magazine is sold subject to the following conditions: that it shall not without written consent of the publishers be lent, resold or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in excess of the recommended maximum retail price. All rights strictly reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without the prior agreement of the publisher. All letters must be accompanied by the sender’s full name and address. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited correspondence nor some of the opinions expressed. All material and artwork originated by Traplet Publications Ltd., photographs, drawings, plans used in this magazine become the publishers copyright under Copyright law. Some photographs may have been digitally re-mastered. The Company reserves the right to suspend or refuse any advertisements without giving reasons. Whilst every care is taken to avoid mistakes, Traplet Publications Ltd. cannot be liable in any way for errors or omissions. Nor can the Publisher accept any responsibility for the bona fides of advertisers. ©2015 Traplet Publications Limited ISSN 9-772056-728009
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PRODUCT REVIEW: PORTA-QUAD ZIPPY V2 COMPACT
Available from: www.Porta-Quad.com Global Price: $80 + Approx $15 shipping (airframe only) SPECIFICATIONS Will fold into a GoPro sized carry case for easy transportation Tough design built to take knocks and survive to fly again Designed optimally for 1806 2280KV (or similar) motors Use standard compact 12 A or 12 A 4 in 1 ESC GoPro or Mobius action cam options 5" or 6" Props can be used
A
fter successfully negotiating multiple stages of security at MI6 HQ, I was eventually placed in a white room with a plinth at the centre on top of which was a small zipped up black carry case. The newer, younger, geekier Q walked in briskly and before I could even speak a word said: “Bond needs a portable FPV and HD cam enabled multi-rotor that he can take with him anywhere without arousing suspicion”. He then went on to say that he had put a gentleman called John Middendorf onto the project and that he had a sample for me to test and get field ready. It transpired that John had trained as a mechanical engineer at Stanford University, and after spending a life exploring the world’s mountains and rivers, his interest in quadcopter design arose from imagining what it would have been like to have had a full feature FPV quadcopter with him when exploring some of the world’s most remote places. As an example, it could take days to find the optimal route through say a glacier and onto a difficult climb; but with a FPV quadcopter, reconnaissance is fast and easy. (When not working on projects for Q branch, John Middendorf is a full time teacher of mathematics, science, and robotics in Tasmania and examples of his design work can be found on www.bigwalls.net www.lynxgeos.com and www.johnmiddendorf.net). Q then went on to say that he wanted me to finish the build, having been selected and watched for months online on the various forums I frequent, before being background checked and vetted and then cryptically summoned from my home in New Zealand. I had 48 hours to finish the build then submit my report to M before it was put into the hands of Bond himself!
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My Name Is Zippy,
Zippy V2…
PORTA-QUAD ZIPPY V2 COMPACT FOLDING QUADCOPTER AIRFRAME
WORDS & IMAGES: ANTONIO ‘SKYFALL’ NOBLEJA
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