Greetings,
I am trying to assemble a Zeta FX-61 wing with FPV equipment and a Pixhawk controller while I learn to fly on a simulator and using a cheap small wing like this: https://modelistam.com.ua/images/letajushee-krilo-joysway-invader-3.jpg Before you say that’s a stupid thing to do and I am approaching the hobby in the wrong way, let me tell you how it started.
Like many people getting into it nowadays, I started with a phantom 2, and I had a lot of fun flying it. Last year however I heard about Parrot Disco, and I was very impressed with the idea. I never realized before autopilots for fixed wing aircraft, let alone flying wings have gotten this far. I watched a couple of reviews, and to my surprise they were mostly negative, with people saying how there was no way to fly it without the autopilot babysitting you and land manually. They also mentioned how you could build your own wing for half the price and have the same functionality with Ardupilot.
So I decided that would be an interesting experience to do just that. I had no idea what I was getting into before I set my sights on this wing and started to gather information on what I need to complete it. I know this is not exactly a hard project for most people here, but I knew nothing about any of this before I started, aside from basic principles of flight from my brief time with flight simulators. Needless to say, I had to spend more money on it than what a Parrot Disco would cost me and I sank a lot of time into it already, and I still have some way to go before I fly it, but I’d like to think I learned a lot from it. I didn’t have a radio or monitor/googles or even a soldering iron, that’s why it quickly got rather expensive.
Naturally, I also have a few questions. Of course, they are not the only ones, but fortunately we have a lot of educational videos on the topic.
I am trying to assemble a Zeta FX-61 wing with FPV equipment and a Pixhawk controller while I learn to fly on a simulator and using a cheap small wing like this: https://modelistam.com.ua/images/letajushee-krilo-joysway-invader-3.jpg Before you say that’s a stupid thing to do and I am approaching the hobby in the wrong way, let me tell you how it started.
Like many people getting into it nowadays, I started with a phantom 2, and I had a lot of fun flying it. Last year however I heard about Parrot Disco, and I was very impressed with the idea. I never realized before autopilots for fixed wing aircraft, let alone flying wings have gotten this far. I watched a couple of reviews, and to my surprise they were mostly negative, with people saying how there was no way to fly it without the autopilot babysitting you and land manually. They also mentioned how you could build your own wing for half the price and have the same functionality with Ardupilot.
So I decided that would be an interesting experience to do just that. I had no idea what I was getting into before I set my sights on this wing and started to gather information on what I need to complete it. I know this is not exactly a hard project for most people here, but I knew nothing about any of this before I started, aside from basic principles of flight from my brief time with flight simulators. Needless to say, I had to spend more money on it than what a Parrot Disco would cost me and I sank a lot of time into it already, and I still have some way to go before I fly it, but I’d like to think I learned a lot from it. I didn’t have a radio or monitor/googles or even a soldering iron, that’s why it quickly got rather expensive.
Naturally, I also have a few questions. Of course, they are not the only ones, but fortunately we have a lot of educational videos on the topic.
- I know it is optimal to place your receiver and transmitter on the wings, but I am afraid it could weaken the wing significantly. The transmitter I use is FrSky X8R, and it is 14mm thick, which is more than half the thickness of the wing towards its tips.
- I am also not sure how to properly secure them there. I’ve seen a couple of arrangements, but it was never discussed explicitly how they were secured. Do you glue them in or use a combination of friction fit and tape? Often they are placed under the wing with only antennas going through the foam, but I don’t know why. I also dislike placing the receiver in the wing because this way you need to attach the wings to do any kind of adjustment or calibration on the system, but I guess this is a necessary evil.
- I also have doubts how to secure the servos that move the ailerons so that I could replace them in case of a failure without mutilating the foam. I don’t like the idea of wrapping the servos in tape and using apoxy to glue them in. Using hot glue to secure them without putting any glue underneath the servos so I can use isopropyl alcohol to remove them seems week. What do you recommend?
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