Searching for airframes for unmanned surveillance heliopters

[Krzysztof Bosak]

Hi all, I wonder what is the availability on the market of semi-industrial grade RC helicopter bodies.

For example like this one, Aquila UAV from UAVS Poland.

Is it possible to buy something resembling this off the shelf, with holding space for a gimbal cam in the nose?

[John Bond]

Scale is important when looking at plastic vs metal gears.  For a typical model size heli plastic wins.  Even for an "industrial" machine it is more than strong enough.  It's lighter, self lubricating, cheaper, and requires less maintenance.  Get to the size of a manned heli and you need metal.  You've basically increased the load so much that you are in a different realm.  Again, even though a model heli may look like a manned one they are different enough in scale that what's best for one might not be for the other.