Houndpup Rc
Legendary member
Hey, I use those too! (Seem to be good, they stood up well on my 158mph radjet👍)
FT Bronco VTOL
- Thread starter jpot1
- Start date
tomlogan1
Elite member
Thank you, again!
tomlogan1
Elite member
Initial test fail.
1 3300 3s battery may be too heavy (nose mount).
2 gyro not providing enough stability as plane yawed back and forth on the ground and greater power induced a spin on the ground.
Looks like I will have to move forward with the flight controller.
"I told you so(s)" well earned.
1 3300 3s battery may be too heavy (nose mount).
2 gyro not providing enough stability as plane yawed back and forth on the ground and greater power induced a spin on the ground.
Looks like I will have to move forward with the flight controller.
"I told you so(s)" well earned.
Houndpup Rc
Legendary member
Well, you never know for sure until you try!😂👍
FlyerInStyle
Master member
I didn't think yaw would be that big of an issue honestly. I'll have to keep that in mind. A test is a test, and it's always worth it. Flight controller setup should be simple, I am willing to help if needed.
Piotrsko
Legendary member
If it is prop induced yaw, which it sounds like, want to add a couple of washers under the motor mount tab upper left looking at front of plane. (In X mounting, otherwise in plus shape mounting both the top and right hand side mounts) needs to be visibly offset down and to the left viewing from tailfeathers..
Another technique is to avoid slamming on power. Practice taking a 3 to 5 count from off to full throttle and torque turns will be reduced
Gyros don't respond fast and hard enough for ground control. Airborne you have slop. ( hmmm word of the year misapplied )
Another technique is to avoid slamming on power. Practice taking a 3 to 5 count from off to full throttle and torque turns will be reduced
Gyros don't respond fast and hard enough for ground control. Airborne you have slop. ( hmmm word of the year misapplied )
I stole one of the tilts for my snow skimmer off this dual tilt tri before getting it flying. It flew as a bicopter before. Same basic principle but adding a third prop for better pitch balance and control. That is an OLDE F3 FC from last decade and a custom mix.
Video of it flying without the 3rd prop as a bicopter with prop ducts:
Same basic thing as the RCExplorer BiCopter before David released it.
And my RCExplorer version.
AdityaPratap
Member
VTOLs can be very tricky. I’m interested in your project and ran into a similar yaw issue using a flight controller (SpeedyBee F405 Wing on ArduPilot). I fixed it by slightly tilting the front motors. I’m currently flying a ~30% larger FT Alpha VTOL, and it’s stable now. Interested to see how your next iteration goes.
Also, thanks to jpot1 for sharing the tilt-rotor STL files.
tomlogan1
Elite member
Show off !!
tomlogan1
Elite member
I'm using the same tilt mechanism from jpot1 and it performs very well. I'm running 3 x 1100 kv motors with 1045 props. All running on 3s. The 3300 3s battery may have been too much ballast, but I've had to eat a little crow as the 6 axis gyro did not provide enough stability to take off. I do have a Speedy Bee 405 Wing that is my next attempt but my soldering skills are horrid so I'm trying to teach myself how to do that skill and not ruin the flight controller. Until then, I presume this project is on hold. I can still fly the plane as a standard twin motor with a 2200 3s battery so not everything was a waste.
AdityaPratap
Member
I’ve built multiple VTOLs over the past few years and ran into the same issues early on — either the setup was too heavy or underpowered (sometimes both). VTOLs almost always end up heavier than expected, so power margin is critical.
What worked for me was going with more powerful motors; on my builds each lift motor produces around 1900 g of thrust at full throttle. That extra headroom made a huge difference for stability and takeoff.
You might also want to consider moving to a 4S (or higher) setup if your motors/ESCs allow it. The added voltage can really help with thrust and responsiveness, especially during hover and transition.
Houndpup Rc
Legendary member
One thing that is sure to help with soldering is invest in some decent solder and flux...I went from the cheapest stuff I could find on amazon to some branded stuff at Amain Hobbies and it definitely made a difference! (Get a sponge too)
tomlogan1
Elite member
Have the sponge, the brass pad and the shakes.
jpot1
Elite member
@tomlogan1 hope you get your soldering figured out. The Speedybee FC should take care of stabilizing hovering. When I’m in angle mode it’s very stable. I did purchase smaller drone motors that can run on 4s. Hoping the lower weight motors offset the heavier 4s lipos.
tomlogan1
Elite member
Thinking of replacing the Speedy Bee with this;: https://www.heewing.com/pages/fx-405-vtol-flight-controller
Solves all my soldering issues. Comes with Ardupilot pre installed. I guess flashing INAV is optional.
Solves all my soldering issues. Comes with Ardupilot pre installed. I guess flashing INAV is optional.
Houndpup Rc
Legendary member
I am pretty sure INAV won't work on that.... I suggest maybe watching some videos on soldering, and make sure that you are using a real iron (Not a wood burning tip) and just get some practice in
Soldering is something, that if you get into FC's something more unavoidable, and its nice to be able to choose your FC for its technical benefits instead of soldering ease....Before I was miserable at soldering, but once I watched some videos it finally made sense and became MUCH easier! (I actually kinda like it now!)
tomlogan1
Elite member
If I go that way, it's Ardupilot.I am pretty sure INAV won't work on that.... I suggest maybe watching some videos on soldering, and make sure that you are using a real iron (Not a wood burning tip) and just get some practice in
Soldering is something, that if you get into FC's something more unavoidable, and its nice to be able to choose your FC for its technical benefits instead of soldering ease....Before I was miserable at soldering, but once I watched some videos it finally made sense and became MUCH easier! (I actually kinda like it now!)
Houndpup Rc
Legendary member
Yup
(Just be aware that Ardupiloit is much more complex that INAV!...But also has a lot more capabilities)
FlyerInStyle
Master member
would you say there are any makor downsides for this configuration (specifically for a vtol of course) in realtion to a quadcopter? I amgoing to be designing my next vtol soon,a nd am trying to decide if the extra dead weight of a quad motor is worth it (The front two will tilt forward anyways). I built a quad jsut for fun and it flies much smoother than my tricopter boomin flerken vtol, but I think that can be attributed to the flerkens larger weight and surface area.
