52 RadioControlModelNewsIssue100February2010Issue 130 is also available for Apple, Android Kindle fire devices at www.rcmnews.com 52

Drone Zone

UAVwashardenoughtoexplaintothegeneralpublic.ThentherewasUAS(UnmannedAircraftSystems)NowwehaveRPA.(RemotePilotedAircraft)andRPAS(systems).RPAseemstobetheonethatwillbecometheworldwideindustryterm.Effortstoforcesoftdrinksellerstoexplainthat“it’snotCoke,it’scola”haveprovenalmostfutile.ThetermDroneisheretostay.Thathorseboltedyonksago.

Dowehavegooddronesandbaddrones?Beingonthereceivingendofaparticularoperationmightchangethatperspective.Thiscolumnisconcernedwithciviloperations.Notmissions.Thattermhasanodi-ousmilitaryconnotationthathasbeentaggedonlytothemoresensa-tional flights that make it to the TV News.

FlyingRCforcommercialrewardisn’tnew.Whatisnewisthatregu-lationsareintheprocessofbeingpromulgatedinmanycountries.Australiaisattheforefrontofthatchange.TheAdvisoryCircularfromCASAwhichforallintentandpurposesturnthenewregsintoLAWshouldn’tbetoofaraway.

Helicopters and fixed wing have advantagestoo,butMultirotorshaveopenedupsomanynewareasofoperationthatnotonlyreducesrisktoaircrew,insomecasestheyaretheonlyoptiontoliftsomethingaloftsafely.Thesemarvellousmachinescandosuchmorethanmanyofus

Richard Fraser helps out a competitor whose pilot was unavailable

All systems go!

Australia’slargestcirculatingR/CModelMagazine 53 Please mention to advertisers you saw it in RCM News #130 53

Gear up and on the climb. Job sheet called for pic to be shot on dusk

Gear down heading back in

everimagined.Onsimple4rotormachinesthecostofafailureishigh.Morerotorsincreasesredundancyaswellasliftingpower.

ItiswithgreatinterestthatIintro-duceacompanythathastakenthisnewtypeofspecialistairworktoawholenewlevel.

XM2AidanKellyLukeAnnellsandStephenOhspecialiseinaerialcinematographyfromdrones.The

companyistwoyearsoldalthougheachpartnerbringsmanyyearsofindividualexpertise.AidanownsARKRCandisaveryhandy3Dhelipilot.AsisLuke,whoalsolooksaf-termachiningandbuildingtheirownflying camera platforms. Stephen is

thefoundingDirecterofXM2andhis background is in film, production/ direction.

XM2Dronesaredesignedinhouseandfeaturetwinmotorsoneachboom.Puristsmightsaythatthere

54 RadioControlModelNewsIssue100February2010Issue 130 is also available for Apple, Android Kindle fire devices at www.rcmnews.com 54

is slight loss of efficiency with this configuration but that is more than madeupforwithreducedsetuptimeandmaintenance.OneversioncanrelayHDvideowhichisrecord-edontheground.ThelatestplatformisdesignedtolifttheRedDragonhigh definition camera which records intheair.Thesensorhas9timesthepixelsofHDandcanalsoshoot100framesofHDstillspersecond.Thebody fits wide aperture Zeiss lenses. LowFstopsarevitalwhenlightislow.Integraltothewholeoperationarethegimbalswhicharemadeinhouse.Considerabletimeandex-pertiseistakentotuningagimbaltoparticularbody-lenscombination.

Timeismoneyanditreallyappliestoanindustrystandardthatachieves

oneminuteofuseablefootageperdayonlocation.Avisittoasmallproduction filming on location should beenoughforanyonetounderstandwhycostperdayseemsastronomi-cal.

Anothersellingpointoftheseincred-iblystableandmanoueverableaerialplatformsisfastturnaroundtime.Shootingascenefromtwodiffer-entdirectionsoftenrequiresheavyequipmenttobemovedoutofshot.Achangeofangleatadesertscenerequiresthesandtobeswepttore-movefootmarksleftbythecrew.Aspayloadcapabilityincreases,dronescanreducetheneedforlayingouttracksforcameradollies.Swappinglensesrequiresgimbaldampingtobere-calibratedorthegimbalchangedtoonethatmatchestheweightandcentreofgravity.Fastturnaroundisverydesirable.

Aconsiderablenumberofcommer-cials and film works are in the can awaitingrelease.DavidAttenbor-oughattheGreatBarrierReefisone.

Stephen Oh brings a cinematography and production background to XM2

Red Dragon camera high

definition video camera can

shoot 100 fps DH still shots

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Australia’slargestcirculatingR/CModelMagazine 55 Please mention to advertisers you saw it in RCM News #130 55

TheMoonandtheSunisafeaturefilm due imminent release.

Eventhougheveryonedreamsoftheimpossibleshot,muchofthebreadandbutterworkiscreatingPOVs.(pointsofview)HavealookatthefootageontheXM2.comwebsite.Trackinghorsesalongthatridgeforthirty seconds for the feature film demonstrates brilliant flying and cameracontrol.Theimageremainsstableandinrightinthecentre.Notehowmuchthetreesaremovinginthefirst shot in the mountains lifting up through the trees. Mountain flying in windyconditionsisverychallenging.Flyingoverwaterhasitschallengestoo.Amovinghorizonmakesitquiteeasytosuffermotionsickness.Onemistakeandyoulosethelot.Evenifthegearcanberecoveredsaltwater,rendersitunusable.

AidanshowedmefootageforanupcomingTVseriesandoneshotthattookmyfancywasoftheim-possiblenature.Trackingavehiclethrough the scrub then flying through theforkofatreeisrightupthereupforanyoneinthe“Howdidtheyget

Flying under pressure! How does a $100,000 payload sound? With an AUW (all up weight) of 40 kg this new design will lift an Arri Alexa M camera.

A world first

Air to ground HD video recording capability

No need to holler for a Marshall

Drone Zone

56 RadioControlModelNewsIssue100February2010Issue 130 is also available for Apple, Android Kindle fire devices at www.rcmnews.com 56

https://www.facebook.com/XM2Aerial

http://vimeo.com/103982608http://vimeo.com/102807856

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=85027636&x-yt-ts=1422503916&

v=eAgyKeG0YXU

Drone Zone

thatshot”fraternity.Thiscolumnisn’taboutgivinguptradesecrets,soMum’sthewordonthat.

ThecompanyhasachievedAustraliawide area certification from CASA whichmakesquotingjobsmucheasierandfaster.Newdevelopmentsingimbal,imagingandmultirotorcraftarebeingphasedin.XM2’slat-estdroneshouldhaveachievedcerti-fication by the time this magazine has gonetopress.

CoMMerCial Flying Inthe1980sIwasoneofasmallgroup of people operating fixed wing and helicopters. I only shot film. Dabbledwithvideo,butvibration

wasaproblemrecordingonboard.No so with film. A sixty powered heli hadnotroublewhatsoeverliftinga1.5kgSLR,Evenon40degreedays.My last fixed wing model had all the conveniencefeaturesbuiltin.OS90

fourstoketoreducenoise.Carburet-torairboxforoperatingfromdustyor sandy strips. Huge flaps, main gearbrakes,viewingwindowfortheframecounter.Fuselagedoorwithwindow,tochangerollsandcheck

Checking site for obstacles

Cinematography demands good gear

Australia’slargestcirculatingR/CModelMagazine 57 Please mention to advertisers you saw it in RCM News #130 57

camerasettingsfromdataback.Twopiecewing.Dihedraltailplaneforimproved pitch control when flar-ing with ninety degrees of split flap selected..

Redundancyisvitalwhenofferinganyserviceonacommercialbasis.Redundancyalsoreferstobackuponboardsystemsincaseoffailure.BackthenIoperatedstandardra-diogearandreliabilitywasneveraproblem.Oncethejobinvolves

Get to know the rules. » For recreational use visit casa.gov.au/sportaviation

» For commercial use visit casa.gov.au/rpa

Was this shot from a pole or copter?

Drone Zone

crewsonlocation,twoofeverythingisrequired.ShootingstillswithinanhourofhomeIoftenonlycarriedonemodel.Anyfurtherandinwentaspare.

The most challenging flying was forFilmandTVDirectors.ManyofwhoImethadonetraitverymuchakinwiththatoftheFamilyCourtLawyer.Theyhavetoknowwheretogetinformationonanawfullotofsubjects.Buttheypossesslittleor

noexpertiseinany.Norhavelittleinterest.Explainingwhyyoucan’tdowhattheywantsoonbecameoflittleinteresttome.

IfyoutakethetimeandefforttoobtainandpayforyourOC,dealingwithpushyclientscomeswiththeterritory.Therewillbeaminoritythat does not care if the flight was legal.Aresponsibilitythatrestsentirelywiththeoperator. StephenGreen.

This operator is about to obtain his OC flying DJI’s new Inspire 1 with dedicated camera