You're going to be grossly overweight for a 550, I fear. The substantial weight increase in the camera, the increased weight of a much beefier gimbal, plus a sharp increase in the power needed to drive the gimbal around and keep the multi in the air, if you could in fact GET it in the air...
I get notams all the time from AOPA, but this time AMA sent em out to members via email.....
I've been told that presidential seal on AF1 is tagged and they see anything to do with it if it's ever posted/hosted..... I pressed my luck and posted some stuff and was never contacted....
I suspect...
Ah, so it WAS for a POTUS visit. Although I know the FAA is absolutely reeling from their defeat in Court (I've spoken with a few former colleagues in the FAA since...they had some VERY interesting opinions of what would happen as a result), trying to exercise some type of control over UAV...
Having spent nearly 40 years in the aviation industry, I'll jump in there; No, it's highly unusual to see a NOTAM specifically identify model aircraft.
Reading between the lines a bit, they do mention a VIP aircraft...is the POTUS scheduled to be in L.A. for anything during those times? That...
Also, just based on his name, I'm betting he's using a Draganfly Innovations quad. They are a pretty small company and fairly good at staying in touch with their customers...I wonder if sending them a copy of that photo of him may shake loose a lead or two?
Do you have any multi-rotor experience at all? If you're completely new to the whole thing, the 550 would serve you quite well
for a fairly long while. The biggest obstacle is that you will have a pretty steep learning curve at the start, as well as the inevitable
crashed that may cause more...
I think you'll get very minor variations to the comment above from most people. After all, if you didn't enjoy it as a hobby, it's unlikely you'd be frequenting sites like this. As many people get into this as a business then begin flying recreationally because they enjoy it as those who get...
Jaybeast, while the gimbal you reference will work, there are several gimbals MUCH more capable ( and expensive) on the market. It depends on what you want, and how much you can afford to spend. Generally speaking, buy the best you can afford to buy. if you buy the one you linked to for cheap...
Boy will I ever second that about Multirotorheli. I dropped $2000 + there in one order...most of it was delivered around the time it was promised...except for two batteries. I contacted them; they only had one in stock, and a new shipment coming on Monday (this was a Thursday)No biggie, right...
A "Manned Aerial Vehicle"?
http://youtu.be/CzP0Zqxam7E
Whatever, it is just awesome! I don't know how practical it may be in terms of flight times, etc. but it's just BEGGING for advancements in electric motor/battery energy density to come along.
I would think almost any of them large enough to be flown outdoors...certainly any 300-330 size (the Phantom I mentioned fits in here). As Bart said, and I agree completely, there are lots of ways to drop the line from the very effective and very simple method Bart outlined, to something much...
for $300 you'll have a tough time buying something with a level of autonomy adequate to get it back without you interacting with it. A couple hundred dollars more would get you into a DJI Phantom with a Naza M V2 which can operate semi autonomously using an iPad or an Android device for mission...
Since you're only shooting stills, why not keep it VERY simple and suspend it upside down? All you really need is a lightweight friction ball mount attached directly to the bottom plate, then screw the camera onto the mounting stud. The friction ball mount will give you all the adjustability you...