| Frequently Asked Questions |
What skills are necessary to operate the UAV? Could you estimate how much that would cost? Would that increase delivery time? What are the UAV dimensions and weight? Can you break the airframe down for travel? How big are the payload bays for cameras? What are the payload weight restrictions? What kind of winds can the Zephyr be operated under? Does the plane stabilize itself over water? Is it legal to fly these aircraft under FAA regulations for model planes? What is the normal time to delivery of your systems? How many flights can the Marcus Zephyr take? How much payload capacity does the Marcus Zephyr have? Are batteries included with your systems? At what temperatures can the Marcus Zephyr operate? What is the maximum wind speed the plane can fly in? Is the Zephyr UAS really better for taking aerial photography than traditional aircraft?
What skills are necessary to operate the UAV? For starters, Radio Control experience will be essential. Controlling a hobbyist RC aircraft in the past will be of great value. If you do not have any RC expereince we suggest you start with a trainer aircraft such as the Easy Glider. Do the prices of your systems include a Remote Control unit and receiver? If so, what are the details of the controller and receiver? How many channels, who makes it, etc.? If not, what type of controller would you recommend? Yes, an RC controller is included with all of our complete systems . The standard controller we usually set people up with is a Futaba 6 channel FM transmitter and 6 channel Futaba receiver. Upgraded controllers can be included for an additional fee. The Zephyr UAS is an electric powered flying wing that is flown autonomously through it's own onboard autopilot system. An Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) provides stabalization for the aircraft. GPS navigation is used to guide the aircraft to it's destination. The
UAV is landed using the included manual RC controller, but is stabilized autonomously. Full duplex uplink allows for What are the options for mounting a small digital camera (Canon s90 for example) inside the Zephyr with a servo to trigger the shutter every 5 seconds?
What's the difference between the thermopile and the IMU autopilots? The thermopile autopilot relies on determining a hypothetical horizon (used to adjust / maintain stability) by measuring the temperature difference between the sky and the ground or surface of the Earth (e.g. water) over which the plane is flying. IMU stands for Inertial Measuring Unit and actually has teeny, tiny gyroscopes and accelerometers in the unit that measure the attitude (pitch and yaw) of the plane independent of a horizon. This gives the IMU advantages when traveling through fog and in mountainous regions where a view of the horizon is lost. Do you offer the Zephyr without the real time video feed and antennae? If so, how much would that package cost? We offer you our basic package without Real Time video and no tracking antenna for $6999. This would allow you to plug in your own camera and potentially a servo to trigger it. Optionally we could also plug in a camera of your choice with an integrated servo at a greater cost. It should be noted here that a system without the tracking antenna has a much lower video and telemetry range (distance from the ground control station and the plane in the sky). I am also curious about the stability of the aircraft at various wind speeds. The ability to operate in windy conditions is important for the aerial photography I am interested in doing and ideally I would like to get imagery as close as possible to orthogonal on a consistent basis. Our flying wing airframes work great in high wind environments. They also have an edge over conventional airframes in that you can place the camera right on the center of gravity so that any rotation of the wing results in less overall change for the camera. In fact, the military is moving towards flying wing airframes specifically for the extremely high wind tolerances. What are the UAV dimensions and weight? These are about 54" from wing tip to wing tip, 14" from the front tip to the back of the motor mount and 27" from front tip to a line connecting the wing tips, tip to tip with elevons down or horizontal. About 5 lbs before batteries and other payloads are installed. Not really, the airframe is one solid piece although the winglets do come off for shipping.
Between 25 - 80 mph
The main payload bay that is empty is approx 6.5" x 3.75" x 1.75” deep. The bay that the real time (R/T) video cam SHARES with other electronic components is approx. 6" x 2.5" x 1.75 deep. Extra payload after R/T video and batteries are loaded is about 1 kg - 2.2 lbs. What kind of winds can the Zephyr be operated under? Winds that are handled comfortably vary between 0 - 50 mph although we've only really tested it to about 30-40 mph.
Yes this is the case. Taking off and landing are handled manually via the Remote Control unit, otherwise its switched automatic navigation for waypoints and loitering. The Ground Control software is the AttoPilot™ software that comes with the autopilot hardware. With it you can predefine way points, tell the plane to go into loiter mode or to move on to another predefined way point (during flight). It accepts, records and displays in flight telemetry data. You can see our limited warranty on our website at http://www.marcusuav.com/tos.htm . Does the plane stabilize itself over water? Yes, the plane does stabilize itself over water (thermopile version). Your major problem here would be if you attempt to fly through fog. Also though, we offer an IMU version of our system (for more money of course) that does not rely on the ground / sky temperature differential for stabilization, as does the thermopile version. Is it legal to fly these aircraft under FAA regulations for model planes? FAA regulations are constantly changing so we’re unsure of what the FAA rules on model planes are but the last time we checked it seemed that their recommendation for small UAVs (and our understanding is that this is only a recommendation) seems to be to fly no higher than 400 feet. In any event, it is the responsibility of the end user to ensure that all government regulations are followed.
What is the normal time to delivery of your systems? Delivery takes 4-8 weeks depending on availability of parts. Most parts are readily available but our airframe is manufactured by a third party that takes 3-6 weeks to deliver to us depending on their workload. Are batteries included with your systems? One complete set of batteries is included in the price of each system. Battery chargers and storage containers are NOT included but may be added to the purchase price at the customer’s wish. How many flights can the Marcus Zephyr take? This will depend on the conditions it's subjected to. The lifespan of a Zephyr UAS can be 200 plus flights as long as you treat your aircraft with care and learn proper operation techniques. Sufficient RC flying experience will go a long way to ensure many flights. Yes we provide spare parts for everything we offer. You can talk to our support team and find out what part your going to need to buy. If you can't get a part locally, we can sell you addtional parts. How much payload capacity does the Marcus Zephyr have? You can strap up to 2 LBS of payload to the aircraft. We will replace any defective parts for the life of your Marcus Zephyr package if misuse is not present. At what altitude can the Zephyr UAS fly? Altitude is limited by battery power and any respective regulations. The radio modem can transmit up to 7 miles. 30 MPH. At what temperatures can the Marcus Zephyr operate? The Marcus Zephyr can not operate at temperatures lower than -40 F.
The Marcus Zephyr can fly in winds up to 40 MPH.
With rising fuel costs, plane flights are soon becoming a thing of the past for taking aerial photography or conducting surveillance. The Marcus Zephyr can fly in tighter spots and get better close-ups than a traditional |
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