Tricopter Flight Time

[merit]

Hi Folks,
I just maidened my "FT Anycopter Tricopter" (what are we calling these things?). It flys awesome and went together really easily, the hardest part was soldering the electronics. I used the Turnigy Park 300 motors with the suggested 8x4.5 props and the KK2.0 board. Unfortunately I screwed up and ended up with Turnigy Plush 10A ESCs instead of the 15A multistars I meant to order (don't ask...).

What I'm wondering is, what kind of flight time are people getting? I'm using a nano-tech 3S 2200mah lipo and I'm only getting about 4 minutes. I was expecting more than that. I have some 5000mah lipos as well that I haven't tried yet. The ESCs are getting pretty hot, I may try moving them so that they are in the air flow from the props, see if that makes a difference... Is there a different prop I could use to reduce the amp draw? Maybe that would help. Or I can just replace the ESCs but I'm not crazy about putting much more money into this at the moment and I also don't want to re-solder all those connections (I guess I should have gone with bullet connectors ).

 

[Cyberdactyl]

Which 300 is it?

 

[merit]

Which 300 is it?

The 1380kv
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=14398

 

[Tritium]

Can you hover at 50% throttle or less?

Thurmond

 

[merit]

Can you hover at 50% throttle or less?

Yes, it hovers right about mid stick. I have noticed that I need more throttle as the flight goes on. I only put about 800mah back into the pack so I don't think it was due to the battery dieing.

I moved the ESCs under the props last night, I'll see if it helps keep them cool.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

You're going to get reduced performance as you're overheating the ESC's. One of them will likely burn out in flight.

Put getting the higher rated ones on your "to do" list.

 

[merit]

Putting them into the prop's airflow made a <david>huuuge</david> difference They still come down warm but not molten like before and I'm getting about 8 minute flight times before my lipo monitor goes red. I know I'm stressing them and one will probably fail but at least I can fly while I wait for the slow boat from China.

 

[Cyberdactyl]

I've had a great time with the HK 20A. So much so, I ordered another 4 for future use. I must have several dozen hours driving the mid-size DT750s with 3C 2200 45-90c LiPOs. My quad is around 1500-1600 grams and they only get slightly warm, maybe 100-105F on 90F days running it fairly hard. They're dirt cheap and moderately easy to flash.

 

[merit]

Did my first real flights at the park tonight. It flys awesome, I turned the stick scaling up and had it flipping in every direction, doing some stall turns, good stuff. All until I lost a prop at about 50ft Tricopter doesn't fly well as a duocopter.

Two cracked booms but nothing else appears to be broken.