This would not take much modification in it's current form to make something interesting.
If upscaled, the jet engine replaced by a rocket boosted ramjet (easily constructed) autonomous, with a automatic weapon... hard points... that would be very interesting...
1. How can the operator, or cameraman, even keep it in sight, much less guide it at such speed? 2. Do you suppose that it would be cost-effective if one wished to deliver a small payload to a building window, if for example one had a friend working somewhere and wanted to send him a birthday greeting? :o)
One only needs to have been at an RC meet and have seen an out of control "pattern ship" punch the spinner, engine and control/servo module completely through the roof of a Camaro to see the possibilities.
As for their usefullness in an AA role, I once saw a pilot playing tag with his semi-scale Fokker DR1 and an increasingly annoyed seagull. Seems the Fokker could turn inside the seagull at will. If you can turn inside a seagull, you can turn inside anything, including an Apache.
The problem is range of the remote. If you make it autonomous with some of the free software out there you can plan the route of flight and the waypoints. Hell it will even come back to you and land itself. Its to fast for recon work I think. That roll is better served with the little helo models. This thing could be a militia CAS platform for sure.
You wouldn't need anything that fancy or expensive to take down any turbine powered aircraft. Just flying one into the air intake(s) would FOD the engine enough to disable it. Alternatively a fairly heavy RC plane flown into the windscreen/canopy would make a fairly good approximation of a bird strike.
Think what a nose full of that nice two-part explosive they sell to make exploding targets wold do to an aircraft. The transmission area of a helo would seem to be a good spot to impact it. Hell! An air cannon firing frozen turkeys or chickens at low flying aircraft would do a world of hurt if they hit. Especially if the impacted the air intakes or windscreen/canopy. Watch some videos of the annual punkin-chunkin contest. They're throwing a pumpkin upwards of a mile these days.
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I am surprised the feds to not classify it a DD and confiscate it...
This would not take much modification in it's current form to make something interesting.
If upscaled, the jet engine replaced by a rocket boosted ramjet (easily constructed) autonomous, with a automatic weapon... hard points... that would be very interesting...
With the appropriate materials in the nose of such a vehicle...
Shove a compact video camera in the nose and you have an really inexpensive recon drone too fast, and too small, be shot down by just about ANYONE.
How in the world do they manage to not lose something that small and so damn fast?
And the best part is: you don't have to know how to take off or land...
:-)
1. How can the operator, or cameraman, even keep it in sight, much less guide it at such speed?
2. Do you suppose that it would be cost-effective if one wished to deliver a small payload to a building window, if for example one had a friend working somewhere and wanted to send him a birthday greeting?
:o)
Talk about the 1000 yd (heh! metre) advantage. What armament would you suggest?
Wonder how a slew of these rascals would do against a Predator RPV, attack helicopter, A-10, or even an AC130?
Keee-rist. You could bolt a knitting needle on the front of that thing and kill someone with it.
One only needs to have been at an RC meet and have seen an out of control "pattern ship" punch the spinner, engine and control/servo module completely through the roof of a Camaro to see the possibilities.
As for their usefullness in an AA role, I once saw a pilot playing tag with his semi-scale Fokker DR1 and an increasingly annoyed seagull. Seems the Fokker could turn inside the seagull at will. If you can turn inside a seagull, you can turn inside anything, including an Apache.
The problem is range of the remote. If you make it autonomous with some of the free software out there you can plan the route of flight and the waypoints. Hell it will even come back to you and land itself. Its to fast for recon work I think. That roll is better served with the little helo models. This thing could be a militia CAS platform for sure.
You wouldn't need anything that fancy or expensive to take down any turbine powered aircraft. Just flying one into the air intake(s) would FOD the engine enough to disable it. Alternatively a fairly heavy RC plane flown into the windscreen/canopy would make a fairly good approximation of a bird strike.
Think what a nose full of that nice two-part explosive they sell to make exploding targets wold do to an aircraft. The transmission area of a helo would seem to be a good spot to impact it. Hell! An air cannon firing frozen turkeys or chickens at low flying aircraft would do a world of hurt if they hit. Especially if the impacted the air intakes or windscreen/canopy. Watch some videos of the annual punkin-chunkin contest. They're throwing a pumpkin upwards of a mile these days.
Lots of ways to skin that particular cat.
The motor alone is about 4 thousand bucks! Money better spent elsewhere.
Still, way cool!
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