Guest Cryptic Megafauna Posted January 18, 2017 Posted January 18, 2017 Update! Reply I got to my inquiry for Silent Falcon, good for a grin. (PS: They sent 17 page of spec in PDF if there is somehow a way to put it up if anyone has any interest). " Quote Thanks for your recent inquiry regarding using a Silent Falcon Unmanned Aircraft System for Sasquatch research. With all modesty, we can safely say there is no better unmanned aircraft system for such a challenging mission. Our system is solar electric, which makes it virtually silent at operational altitudes. It also difficult to see. We can say with confidence that it is very unlikely to spook or scare away the elusive Sasquatch. It is important to note that our Silent Falcon system is portable - the entire system fits in the back of a pick up truck. This means anywhere you can get truck, you can operate our system. No runways or other logistics are needed as the aircraft is launched with a catapult and retrieved with a parachute. All the better to get into difficult Sasquatch terrain. The system can stay aloft for up to 5 hours, maybe more under optimum conditions, and depending on terrain and other conditions, can fly as far as 100 kilometers away from its base station. We’re not very knowledgable when it comes to Sasquatch habitat, but if the creature prefers solitude at some distance away from humans, we can get there and back, keeping the system operator safely out of range of a possibly enraged hairy humanoid. Using the SF-ISR-5 CM100 payload, 720p high definition video can be live streamed back to the ground control station at up to 100 km. With a 30X optical zoom, the video quality and ability to detect things in mountainous or challenging terrain is spectacular. If nocturnal Sasquatch stalking is required, this same payload has an excellent infrared video camera. The video is stored on the ground station laptop for post flight analysis and Sasquatch identification. If you were to search for Sasquatch outside the US, in many countries you would have no airspace issues. In the US, if you were to fly beyond visible line of sight in your Sasquatch quest, you would need an exemption from the FAA. We assume most Sasquatch reside far from areas inhabited by humans, which would be an important consideration for the FAA in granting such an exemption. Our system is exceptional at finding, locating and observing, undetected, bad guys. We don’t know if Sasquatch is a good guy or a bad guy, but our limited knowledge suggests he (she?) doesn’t like having people looking for him or staring at him or recording and precisely geo-locating his habitat and activities. Our system is very good at that type of thing. These incredible capabilities do not come cheap, although our system is far less expensive than any other system with similar capabilities. An entire system, including one aircraft, ground control station, communication links, payload (video cameras), launcher and everything needed to fly this type of mission would cost around $300,000. A comparable “legacy” military system with the same or lesser capabilities would be around 5 to 10 times that cost, so we believe we have a solid value proposition for the Sasquatch hunt. Attached is a detailed system description. For such an interesting and exciting mission, we imagine a properly executed crowd funding campaign could get you funded. We would assist you in that, providing Silent Falcon support and lending the credibility of our system to the effort. For our part, we would throw in training on the system, supporting initial Sasquatch seeking flights and spare parts and anything else you would need to find Sasquatch! JB John W. Brown President and CEO Silent Falcon UAS Technologies 11030 Cochiti SE Albuquerque, NM 87123 505-503-6153 (office) 505-321-6531 (mobile)
Guest Cryptic Megafauna Posted January 18, 2017 Posted January 18, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, norseman said: They are full in!!! Now to poll for interested members for running this out in the PNW. It's $300,000 , but if you got a subject on film you could recoup. If funded though crowd funding any monies from the subject on film is profit. I suggest we get a Sasquatch media personality and some free Silent Falcon publicity and tie in with leading media shows. We can co-ordinate with a crowd funding campaign at the same time and even promote the Forum if you like. I guess the problem would not be letting the project go to your head. Edited January 18, 2017 by Cryptic Megafauna
Guest Waggles Posted January 18, 2017 Posted January 18, 2017 Do you mean a real subject on film or someone in a costume? On film through dense forest in shadows? Yea I'm sure your going to "recoup" you $300,000 on that.
Guest Cryptic Megafauna Posted January 18, 2017 Posted January 18, 2017 1 hour ago, Waggles said: Do you mean a real subject on film or someone in a costume? On film through dense forest in shadows? Yea I'm sure your going to "recoup" you $300,000 on that. More on topic for this thread is for those who would like to discuss the Silent Falcon or similar a project. Not really interested in what anyone believes, pro or con, just in what they might contribute to moving a project forward. See the Silent Falcon companies reply to the inquiry above in that regard, they provide all the argumentation you need as to project viability. It seems you might be able to tease out a free use of the system in return for publicity. So properly planned it may cost nothing.
Guest Waggles Posted January 18, 2017 Posted January 18, 2017 (edited) Let's see some demo vids then, with just people for starters. As in Falcon, I wouldn't put (the money) down before you SEE What it WILL do. Talk is cheap. Etc... Just a point. Very doubtful you could raise $300000 off of a gofundme or other groups. BF GFM groups in the past have gotten few funds. Not that drones aren't a viable option, but the people issues would be a nightmare to overcome, see FALCON project. Edited January 19, 2017 by Waggles
VAfooter Posted January 18, 2017 Admin Posted January 18, 2017 What kind of training is required? Hate to see it off on its maiden flight and 20 seconds later Falcon meets a redwood or mountainside..... I would try to partner with a research group on this....or maybe a Tom Slick type individual. Waggles, I think there are some demo vids online. For a platform of this price, I suspect the cameras are going to be pretty good.
Guest Cryptic Megafauna Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 (edited) NUMEROUS PAYLOADS HAVE BEEN INTEGRATED INTO AND FLOWN WITH THE SILENT FALCON™ SYSTEM INCLUDING: Four (4) different ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) EO/IR sensors A gas imaging Midwave Infrared (MWIR) camera A Hyperspectral camera Spectrometer Multispectral Three (3) different mapping payloads… A Complete Silent FalconTM Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) Including Two Aircraft, Launcher and Ground Control System The Silent FalconTM sUAS integrates Thin Film Photovoltaic panels, leading edge modular design, silent, slow spin, high efficiency electric propulsion and state of the art ground control and communications systems to create a logistically independent UAV platform that has extraordinarily long endurance and the electrical power to support a number of different payloads, giving the system capabilities found only on larger, more complex and more expensive systems. The Silent FalconTM sUAS is an open interface system and can accept a wide variety of payloads. Its payload bay is located on the aircraft’s center of gravity and is approximately 230 mm long, 140 mm wide and 200 mm deep. As long as the payload can fit within these dimensions and weighs less than 3 kg, the Silent FalconTM sUAS can carry it. There are limitations on voltage requirements as well as limitations on bandwidth if the data generated by the payload needs to be downlinked. Set forth in Exhibit C is a list of typically requested commercial payloads. The SF ISR-5 gimbal offers an unparalleled combination of small size and superior performance characteristics including High Definition dual imager capabilities in a very low SWaP gimbal. It has 1280 x 720p High Definition video, as well as 640 x 480 infrared sensing abilities without sacrificing performance and optics, including 30X optical zoom A Complete Silent FalconTM Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) Including Two Aircraft, Launcher and Ground Control System Edited January 19, 2017 by Cryptic Megafauna
Guest Cryptic Megafauna Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 (edited) The SF ISR-5’s advanced capabilities and characteristics are typically found in much larger SWaP classes of gimbals that are unsuitable due to size and weight for sUAS applications. These unique features are made possible through the integration of an onboard video processing, which provides capabilities such as high definition electro optic sensing, video stabilization, object tracking and variable H.264 mpeg2 imagery data compression. SF ISR-5 Payload The SF ISR-5’s unique electronics provide it with the widest operating temperature range in its SWaP class which allows it to operate in extreme climates without having an onboard heating and cooling system, significantly reducing weight and power consumption. The SF ISR-5 is equipped with a Hitachi DISC120R 720p HD digital color camera with 30x optical zoom and a Flir 640 Quark 2 IR camera with 19mm lens. The SF ISR-5 offers a Dual Sensor Gyro Stabilized Gimbal, specifically designed for use on unmanned aircraft. It’s ideal for day and night observation and surveillance. Edited January 19, 2017 by Cryptic Megafauna
hiflier Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 It is a very impressive unit. I do wonder though if hovering ability is important. There is no doubt the sUAS will cover a lot of ground though. The optics package is also quite impressive as well. The response they sent you at least wasn't an eye-rolling dialogue. In fact you may have touched a good nerve there Makes one wonder if someone at the company or someone they know won't pick up the ball and run with it, eh? Perhaps that was you intention in the first place. Plant the idea and see how they respond? It was a good move..A move that I'm sure you would like to keep the channel open on. Ya never know.
hiflier Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 The Finding Bigfoot crew could afford it. I mean they don't always have to be on a TV camera to look for Bigfoot do they? Let.'em get back to their roots before fame started taking up all of their time.
Guest Cryptic Megafauna Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 I think since they give you two aircraft you could cut the cost in half through negotiation. So 150,000 guess I can mortgage the house. Or film the launch and sell the footage to some media outlet, should sell if you could get a media personality. Here is the ultimate recon camera platform--see video.
BigTreeWalker Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 That's a lot of interesting technology. It amazes me what people can come up with. But if you want to use that in the forests of Washington State good luck. Thermal imaging still can't see through heavy forest canopies. I do like the idea of using good telescopic equipment and stacking out an area from higher elevations. But I think you would have a long wait on your hands. Having glassed for elk, deer and bear, it does get tedious over long periods of time.
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