Kv on a tri copter

Toddy

Junior Member
Hello all, for awhile now I have been reading different ideas and various builds from as many places that I can find. I'm intrigued by the tri copter, never flown or owned one as of yet.
There seems to be two sides that people go to for there motors, high Kv small prop or low Kv big prop. Could someone please explain to me the advantages of both? I would like to fly in wind as there seems to be plenty of it here and not worried about cameras or FPV gear. That can come latter once I can keep it in the air for ore than a minute hehe.
I have a blade MQX which I am reasonably competent at but still crash every once in awhile(apr twice per battery:eek:)
Thanks for listening to my rantings and for any help
 

johanjonker

New member
I couldnt see myself useing a hi kv motor on a multi rotor. I use this biggest possible prop size the motor can handle, to get the thing stable..
Benz98 even recomended a slow fly prop, and I looked on google, seems most people are useing SF props..

as far as KV is concerned, smaller props with a high pitch gives you more speed compared to a lower KV motor gives you more power.

as far as wind is concerned, bigger props is more stable..
 

FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
I'm going to throw all of the recommendations to the wind (so to speak... :))


Smaller faster props should do better in the wind. The higher KV allows for quicker course adjustments, and if you've ever tried to fly a plane with a big prop that was free spinning at zero throttle versus one that's fixed in place, you will notice that the entire rotor disc acts as a flat surface. This produces more drag, which in wind, would be a bad thing.

Just tossing that out there.

Personally I like about 1300 kv on an 8" prop.
 

xtrmtrk

New member
Yeah, add another vote for smaller faster props in the wind. They can just react faster. Plus they don't have as much surface area and are a wee bit less wind resistant.

I have 3 tricopters with kVs ranging from 380 to 1200. Those 380s with 13" props fly for 25 minutes. But they are IMPOSSIBLE to control with any wind.
 

Mustang7302

Senior Member
Yeah, add another vote for smaller faster props in the wind. They can just react faster. Plus they don't have as much surface area and are a wee bit less wind resistant.

I have 3 tricopters with kVs ranging from 380 to 1200. Those 380s with 13" props fly for 25 minutes. But they are IMPOSSIBLE to control with any wind.

What cell count are you running on the lower KV motors? Are you using ESC with SimonK firmware for faster response times?
 

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
FPV and Aerial Photography, Low KV is best. 350KV and 16" props to 1100KV and 8" to 10" props

Acrobatics, High KV best. 1800KV to 2600KV with 8" props.

My FPV Model Hex uses 920KV and 10" props and my TriCopter D4023-850 Motors uses 11X4.7 Props.

My Acro Model Quad uses 2600KV motors and 8X4.5 props and Low Latency High Speed ESC's. This one will fly in any wind condition the pilot is capable of flying in.

All these on 3S.

Thurmond
 

Toddy

Junior Member
Thanks for all the advice.
Well I have ordered my KK2 board and a few extras for my build. Now I'm looking at the Turnigy L2210C-1200 Brushless Motor (150w) and will be using the turnigy plush 25amp ESC for something in between a 700kv and a 1400 Kv motor, from what I can tell it should swing a 9x47 or a 10x47 prop, which should give me a little better wind resistance (maybe) but still give me good stability. Since I have never flown a tri copter I'm only guessing so anybody got any input? The more the marrier.
 

Toddy

Junior Member
Yeah, add another vote for smaller faster props in the wind. They can just react faster. Plus they don't have as much surface area and are a wee bit less wind resistant.

I have 3 tricopters with kVs ranging from 380 to 1200. Those 380s with 13" props fly for 25 minutes. But they are IMPOSSIBLE to control with any wind.


I'm having enough trouble getting one tri copter past my wife!! Hehe
I would love to try FPV but that will come once I have mastered flying it. Are they much different to the quad copters to fly?
At first I will just fly around with a small key chain camera just cause I can and it will be interesting to see the footage. I have an AXN floater that I have been putting the camera on with not a lot of success. A little gerky with my flying ability and the dreaded wind that we have down here at the moment. Very much looking forward to getting the tri copter up and flying.