Hi, I am Paul and have been obsessed with RC since Xmas 2014 when I received a tiny Cheerson cx-10 quadcopter as a present. That was so much fun, and so I soon ended up with several other toy level quads, and before long onto me building my own quad, a f450 HK frame, which over the months got continually got modified and improved until it ended up as an extended f550 hexacopter with dual-battery tray, retractible landing gear and a 3 axis GoPro gimbal - this is the journey of that transformation: https://goo.gl/photos/JVadowV1ffWWZkyt8
Next was the Tarot 680Pro build. The F550 was a bit underpowered for carrying the gimbal with dual batteries, so decided on the new build. Here are some pics: https://goo.gl/photos/WPQKqhZFAp6Fddf4A
Next decided on a smaller quad so looked at the F330 frame, but then soon realised that it was a bit too floppy! So transplanted in a Turnigy Talon v2 frame cut down to 330mm. Here's the pics: https://goo.gl/photos/g4BwUr8mF75CSkUBA
Man, this wee copter has some major power! Uses a 2600 4s in 8 minutes.
Next I became inspired by Flite Test! I looked into fixed wing trainer and bought a Bix 3. Big learning curve with many crashes along the way! To this day, I don't really enjoy flying the Bix 3 - I never seem to get consistent results with it. Given that I now had a lot of Pixhawk/Ardupilot experience I fancied giving this a go with a fixed wing so bought a FX-61 phantom, which I just love! It is kitted out with all the usual Ardupilot gubbins! Runs Ardupilot Plane 3.5.3 f/w and flies like a dream! I have done a lot of experimentation with bungee launching and launch scripts on the taranis and it works really well. Here's an album of pics: https://goo.gl/photos/ptnyuQfuJpgpXEYZA plus a link to a wing mod I did: https://youtu.be/uIGNVDB7Mi8
I then wanted a plane to improve on the Bix 3 so spotted the Cloud surfer on HK website, so picked one of these up. Must say it flies much better than the Bix 3, although with all these high motor pusher planes I find the throttle really has a massive effect on the rate of climb. I always seem to do best with them much more nose heavy than the manufacturer suggests. In the most part I have found that using the manufacturer recommended CG leaves these planes very tail heavy and a nightmare to control.
Anyway, there's my history - oh and I just built the Mini Mustang from scratch - not quite finished yet, but getting there!
Next was the Tarot 680Pro build. The F550 was a bit underpowered for carrying the gimbal with dual batteries, so decided on the new build. Here are some pics: https://goo.gl/photos/WPQKqhZFAp6Fddf4A
Next decided on a smaller quad so looked at the F330 frame, but then soon realised that it was a bit too floppy! So transplanted in a Turnigy Talon v2 frame cut down to 330mm. Here's the pics: https://goo.gl/photos/g4BwUr8mF75CSkUBA
Man, this wee copter has some major power! Uses a 2600 4s in 8 minutes.
Next I became inspired by Flite Test! I looked into fixed wing trainer and bought a Bix 3. Big learning curve with many crashes along the way! To this day, I don't really enjoy flying the Bix 3 - I never seem to get consistent results with it. Given that I now had a lot of Pixhawk/Ardupilot experience I fancied giving this a go with a fixed wing so bought a FX-61 phantom, which I just love! It is kitted out with all the usual Ardupilot gubbins! Runs Ardupilot Plane 3.5.3 f/w and flies like a dream! I have done a lot of experimentation with bungee launching and launch scripts on the taranis and it works really well. Here's an album of pics: https://goo.gl/photos/ptnyuQfuJpgpXEYZA plus a link to a wing mod I did: https://youtu.be/uIGNVDB7Mi8
I then wanted a plane to improve on the Bix 3 so spotted the Cloud surfer on HK website, so picked one of these up. Must say it flies much better than the Bix 3, although with all these high motor pusher planes I find the throttle really has a massive effect on the rate of climb. I always seem to do best with them much more nose heavy than the manufacturer suggests. In the most part I have found that using the manufacturer recommended CG leaves these planes very tail heavy and a nightmare to control.
Anyway, there's my history - oh and I just built the Mini Mustang from scratch - not quite finished yet, but getting there!
What is that ancient knobby device your Mustang is sitting on?
