| Auto Hover - Hands off hovering the Morris TopCap |
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| A thermal image sensor is mounted on a landing gear leg. Gyros are not used on this plane. |
| One advantage to this unit over putting 2 gyro's in the plane is that gyros must be turned on after the pilot finds a good vertical attitude, whereas this unit activated will put the plane in a nice vertical attitude, or replace it if I fell out of a hover, by adding a bunch of power. This plane will torqueroll nice or the aileron trim can be offset in a hovering mode, or the stick can held over some to hold a hover with no rolling. Torquerolling seems to be more stable than a still hover, also if the elevator and or rudder were a bit out of trim in a hover, the torquerolling makes the plane not drift away. Hovering with assistance like this has been done with gyros before and with light sensing units also. This plane uses the FMA Co-Pilot which is an infared heat detecting unit and so is not effected by clouds, and can work well in more bad conditions it seems. It is more stable climbing than descending (tailsliding), and does better in less wind. I am really pleased with the accuracy of the unit to know correctly what vertical is, and correct the tail. It is not being effected by things in the environment like: trees, vans, buildings, etc. Really works well, I have got it in a good stable hover, set the TX down, turned my back on the model, and walked away (model far enough away not to hurt anyone if it went nuts of course) .... Plane: Morris Hobbies TopCap Engine: YS .53 FourCycle Supercharged Radio: Futaba 9CHP Prop: 12-4 Fuel: Morgan Cool Power 30% Flight Stabilizer: FMA Co-Pilot ( www.FMADirect.com ) NOTE: NOT I OR FMADIRECT OR MORRIS HOBBIES RECOMMEND OR IMPLY THAT ANYONE ATTEMPT THIS, OR THINK ABOUT THIS, OR HOVER A PLANE, OR FLY IN ANY UNSAFE MANNER, OR GET OUT OF BED AND GO OUTSIDE OR ANYTHING !!!!! YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK, HOMESKILLET !!! |