My knuckle H combo quad

[Bluesmike]

So I put the BatBone on hold while I wait on some more ESC's to come in. The SkyWalker Quattro was over kill and over weight for the "Bat". In the mean time since I had spare motors and parts... I built the H Quad using scraps from my wood pile and 1/8" ply I found at a craft store. Break down of the build:
Suunsky A2212 1350kv motors
Skywalker Quattro 4n1 20A ESC
APC 8x6 and 8x6P props
EFlite 1800Mah 3S
APM2.6
Turnigy 9X TX/RX

Loaded the X-Quad firmware and was able to get very twitchy hover. Decided to try the APM's autotune feature. Not bad except I misunderstood how loiter mode worked and kept fighting the throttle for hover. Ended up with a spectacular pinwheel crash and broken booms. 2nd attempt same results. So... I figured why not use the Knuckle quad plans and keep it the same size without using glue so I can replace the booms. I give you my oversized Knuckle H:



Flight times are about 5 Minutes. So being a noob to this how do I increase the flight times? Any recommendations for improving my build?

I hope the wife doesn't catch me using the picnic table as my launch pad....

 

[trigger]

Slower motors with bigger props usually increase flight time (more energy efficient).

I would ziptie the loose cables (especially the ones in the blue meshguard) and the receiver's antenna, so that they don't get in the propeller's way in a "hard landing".
How is the frame holding up ? I'd check for flexing in such a big quad, and reinforce whatever need to be.

Otherwise, looks good

 

[cranialrectosis]

You can go to a 2200mAh lipo and you can reduce weight without needing to change motors. I wouldn't go much higher than 2200 though.

The motors and rotors you have are for a moderately aerobatic copter that should weigh <> 700 grams without the battery. The less it weighs, the better this battery/motor/rotor selection will work.

I would use shorter screws so as to not have the little spikes on the underside of the copter and like trigger mentioned, ziptie the cables to keep them so they cannot get hit by a rotor or hang the copter in a tree. Ask me how I know this.

It looks like a nice stable flyer. How long are the booms?

 

[Bluesmike]

The booms are 18". I just used what I had on hand for the screws but will be swapping them out for much shorter next time I make a Lowes or Home Depot run. Then I got to thinking... those damn squirrels in my yard might not like little spikes dropping out of the sky on them. Just kidding! I'm outta zip ties but that is planned as the BatBone ate the RX antenna for my trusty Futaba...

I'm digging my landing gear. They are standing up well to some not so soft landings. I cut 1/4" slices of 1 1/2" PVC pipe out on the band saw. Cut a slit in each one and soaked them in boiling water to soften them. Once they were soft I clamped directly across from the slit with a clamp that had 1/2" wide surfaces and ran under cold water to re-harden. This created a nice flat spot to drill into and fits nicely against the boom.

 

[cranialrectosis]

I noticed the landing gear. Pretty cool.

The little spikes on the bottom of the copter got me when I crashed and the battery came loose and 'interacted' poorly with a too long screw on the bottom side of the copter. It didn't start a fire, but I have never used that $20 lipo again...

 

[RoyBro]

You beat me to it. I was planning to use the dimensions of Josh's original H-quad with the knuckle parts I cut from the plans. I was thinking of using two sets of the hub butted together in the center of the frame for extra real estate.