Tethered MR Flights - does anyone use this technique

[Av8Chuck]

Can you guys beat each other up elsewhere?

Despite opinions regarding safety Tethering is a way to circumnavigate potential FAA restrictions, however I checked with the local FAA FSDO and they told me that the Tether had to be more than just a constraint, it had to provide either power, control or both. I guess the thought behind this is that the device is in direct control from the ground and if something happened you could quite literally just "pull the plug".

Since the FAA is so ambiguous its hard to know what to believe but it seems that this exemption is also made in other countries, those of you in other countries might want to confirm if that's true.

So I guess it depends on how the "Tether" is defined by our respective governing agencies.

I would also imagine that if this is the case Tether's might also be very helpful for insurance.

 

[Bartman]

Chuck,

I got fed up one day and called the FAA FSDO for the area where I live and told them outright, "I"m doing commercial work with a small RC helicopter and want to apply for an airworthiness certificate for demonstration and development purposes". The guy asked me a few questions and basically said, "we're not interested in you". I hung up and went on with my life.

What I'm trying to say is that it is very hard to rely on what any one FAA person says. The most research that I know of was done in support of Hoverfly's entrant into the category and they're relying basically on what I wrote above (although not because I wrote it ).

When making any decisions on how to proceed one should inject an abundance of caution and common sense before proceeding. I've found that a twenty pound line for a heli with about five to ten pounds of excess lift is plenty safe and that the tennis ball as a weight (depending on winds a bit more weight in the way of fishing weights may be required) under the helicopter is plenty to keep it safely under control.

 

[Bartman]

....................however I checked with the local FAA FSDO and they told me that the Tether had to be more than just a constraint...........

if you really needed to operate in this way with their approval i doubt they could provide the written document where this is specified.

 

[kloner]

haven't done this yet but are gearing up to run prolonged flight testing to get accelerated life expectancy.... got one badass power supply to do it, eltek valere 24/48v 250 amp

 

[Bartman]

it takes some planning to do any real height or to lift any real weight...good luck with it.

 

[Mojave]

haven't done this yet but are gearing up to run prolonged flight testing to get accelerated life expectancy.... got one badass power supply to do it, eltek valere 24/48v 250 amp

Kloner what height above ground level are you planning to fly and what gauge and type of wire are you going to use? Also what type of generator are you going to use (assuming you are doing this in the field away from a standard power outlet).

 

[Mojave]

partial quote ...
When making any decisions on how to proceed one should inject an abundance of caution and common sense before proceeding. I've found that a twenty pound line for a heli with about five to ten pounds of excess lift is plenty safe and that the tennis ball as a weight (depending on winds a bit more weight in the way of fishing weights may be required) under the helicopter is plenty to keep it safely under control.

Bart do you fly the MR tight against the line and have the ground person make sure there is tension? Could you pull the helicopter directly down carefully and have it maintain a good attitude or would it react adversely to these changes?

 

[kloner]

I'm running gear in a cage on the ground for accelerated longevity testing, uses 220 30 amp service.... 100 lbs

 

[Toymaker]

I haven't thought about this much but it seems like there are a few possibilities here.
I'm thinking higher voltage supply could lead to smaller gauge feed wires, lighter. I'd just need to work out a voltage regulator at the MR. It might be cool to do some testing with a tethered MR behind a bike or car. Obviously safely..
vibrations would get transferred up the tether, but having a piece of surgical tubing as a buffer would help that.

Hmmm i might have to play with this a bit

 

[JoeBob]

I was thinking about a tether as a CONTROL cable in situations where electromagnetic interference is a given, such as high tension electric lines.

 

[Dewster]

I like this idea. My only worry would be getting the power line caught up in the rotors. Continuous flight would be so much fun.

 

[Mojave]

I was thinking about a tether as a CONTROL cable in situations where electromagnetic interference is a given, such as high tension electric lines.

You got to be careful with that one - you don't want to do a Ben Franklin!

 

[Toymaker]

I was telling on of the guys at work about this and he said you know what I've always wanted......
He wants a camera on a quadcopter that he can let loose out of the top of his truck so he can see traffic conditions from an elevated vantage point. When he's done he just wants to reel it back down to the "docking station". Interesting idea!

 

[kloner]

one of the car makers had a futuristic ad recently that showed that

 

[Av8Chuck]

I was telling on of the guys at work about this and he said you know what I've always wanted......
He wants a camera on a quadcopter that he can let loose out of the top of his truck so he can see traffic conditions from an elevated vantage point. When he's done he just wants to reel it back down to the "docking station". Interesting idea!

What's he do when traffic starts moving again?

 

[Toymaker]

Keep it throttled up and wind it in like a kite! He'd only need a couple hundred feet altitude. It would be pretty quick...

 

[Av8Chuck]

Maybe but I'm pretty sure in in the Republic of California that since its not hands free it will be illegal.

 

[Bartman]

Bart do you fly the MR tight against the line and have the ground person make sure there is tension? Could you pull the helicopter directly down carefully and have it maintain a good attitude or would it react adversely to these changes?

i don't think tight lines is the way to go as it would pull on an angle if the helicopter were not kept strictly over the winch/spool/etc. i used a weight to keep the line straight down under the heli and then it would kinda hang over to where we were standing. we never really had to winch the heli in but it never seemed bothered even the slightest to the line being there. i've thought about a heli that always had positive lift against the tether so that altitude would be controlled by the tether/winch controller but never actually tried to operate one that way.

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

I was telling on of the guys at work about this and he said you know what I've always wanted......
He wants a camera on a quadcopter that he can let loose out of the top of his truck so he can see traffic conditions from an elevated vantage point. When he's done he just wants to reel it back down to the "docking station". Interesting idea!

I've been trying to find the video that was posted on here a few months back of just such a device. It was a truck mounted tethered multi. The airframe was like that military one that looks like a flying bucket, props enclosed. Looked pretty good for border patrol stuff.

 

[Av8Chuck]

I've been trying to find the video that was posted on here a few months back of just such a device. It was a truck mounted tethered multi. The airframe was like that military one that looks like a flying bucket, props enclosed. Looked pretty good for border patrol stuff.

I don't have the video but I think it was this MR.

http://www.skysapience.com/products/the-hovermast-100