Twitchity Hex - Oh boy, here we go again!

[Twitchity]

This is a beautiful build. The frame is amazing. Does Twitchity have a store front or is it word of mouth?

Thank you. Everything has been through word of mouth right now, so no store front. I'm still trying to find a reliable source for carbon fiber so the quantity of frames I'm able to make is limited. I'm currently out of CF at the moment but hope to order more soon.

 

[jhitesma]

So a box arrived from FLA today with the reason I've been putting off finishing the hex arms:

New experimental arms...52g


Original Arms...89g.


For more details about this experiment see my post in my quad thread.

I'm really not sure if this material will be a good call on the hex with it's longer arms. But since I paid for the sheet and twitch was willing to cut them I figured we should give it a try! 37g savings isn't huge...but it's almost the weight of a mobius and is slightly more than a 40% weight savings on the heaviest part of the frame so it's nothing to really sneeze at either.

The difference in strength on this material on the quad arms seems minimal...but on the hex with it's longer arms I'm a bit more nervous about it. Still, I love hybrid materials and want to see how it does!

Of course the other drawback to this is it's going to delay the hex a bit longer because now I want to do some test flights on the quad with the new hybrid arms before I steal it's ESC's and I still haven't got around to ordering new ESC's for it (and it's going to be a bit longer before I do get new ESC's because I'm paying for this material with money I was going to spend on ESC's.)

Still...I love trying new things and having the first hybrid hex seems like it's worth the wait

 

[jhitesma]

So looks like I may be making some progress on this soon. Got some good news at work today that included a little bonus

Set some of it aside for my wife and a bit for some "responsible" spending but still have enough left over to pickup new KISS esc's so I won't have to steal the ones off my acro quad

Except then I went to the flyduino site to order them and they're out of stock So maybe progress won't be THAT quick.

But once they come back in stock...this should start moving forward.

And yes, I know I could order them from getFPV, I'm a big fan of getFPV and they have them in stock...but I'm still on a tight budget and would rather wait a little longer and save a few bucks ordering them direct from Flyduino.

The project that resulted in this bonus also has potential for another bonus in a month or two if things go well...so that may take care of a brainFPV board for this build as well

Guess I need to decide if I want to stick with the original arms or see if the hybrid arms do any better on here than they did on my quad...being wider than the quad arms I think they may still be worth trying on this build....and I don't exactly plan on flying this one as crazy as I fly the quad (not yet at least!) Hmmm.....

 

[cranialrectosis]

and I don't exactly plan on flying this one as crazy as I fly the quad (not yet at least!) Hmmm.....

Famous last words...

 

[rcflyer729]

really nice looking hex i am about to start making mini h quads out of carbon and sailing them for around $60

 

[jhitesma]

Well, just got the notice from flyduino that 18A KISS's are back in stock! Thankfully it happened before life had a chance to toss anything at me that would take away the funds I have set aside for them so the order is placed and they're on their way!

I actually ordered 5, I only need 4 but figured having one spare on hand would be good insurance I'd have gotten 2 spares but my bonus wasn't THAT big

Big question now will be what FC to use. I do have an afromini on hand which can do 6 motor outputs...if I do use that I'll probably go with cleanflight...but that could be tricky since the pin mapping on the afromini is a bit different. I may also have a flip pro I can use and I may have something else kicking around...getting hard to remember

Eventually I plan on doing a BrainFPV board on it (which appears to have dropped in price a little bit as it's only $130 now instead of the $150 I remember it being) but budget for that won't be available for awhile.

Can't wait to get this guy in the air. I should probably place a big prop order ASAP

 

[jhitesma]

So it took 5 days for my KISS ESC's to get from Frankfurt to New Jersey...then 6 to get from New Jersey to Yuma. The went out for delivery this morning - and my wife has the day off and was home. But somehow she didn't hear the mailman at the door and I got the dreaded orange slip

So tomorrow I get to drive to the post office to pick them up. USPS is a freaking joke. Took them longer to get them across the country than it did to get them from Germany to here...and then can't even bother to knock on my door while the car is in the drive and someone is home. Postman was probably just too lazy to bother knocking. I miss our old postman, if I wasn't home to pick something up but he saw me coming home for lunch he'd back track to bring it so I wouldn't have to wait another day and go to the post office. This new guy just complains that he can't cut across our yard and has to actually walk to the sidewalk to get from house to house and complains about our dog barking from inside the house. (Our 13 year old 30lb dog who would do nothing more than beg for belly rubs if she actually got out and was faced with him without a door between them.)

So looks like tonight I've got a date with the laundry room sink and some wet dry sandpaper, the soldering iron will have to wait until tomorrow.

Going to go with the afromini for now - long term plan is to go brain on this build but it's not quite in the budget for a few more weeks.

 

[jhitesma]

Well, planned on digging in tonight as the KISS ESC's arrived! But...I've been having some major issues with my right wrist and forearm the past week and really didn't feel like sanding tonight. Plus I had to make room on my table and before I could make room on the table I just had to make a little bit more progress on the project that's been hogging the table and making my hex get all dusty:



So, after gluing two more pieces on that that I cleared things out and took stock:


Hmmm, I still need an RX. Forgot about that. I'll have to either whip up a flysky DIY or move the openLRS on my emax over...that's just one zip tie and two connectors so it's not a big deal to swap around. Not sure what I'll run on here long term - I'm still not sure just what niche this will fill in my fleet. I'm hoping to eventually put a gimbal on it and a brainFPV FC so it may be nice to go LRS on it and just pop a different RX on the quad.


The big question is...which of those two sets of arms do I want to use?

I'm tempted to try the hybrid material...but I'm worried about how well it will hold up after my tests on the mini quad. These arms are wider...but they're also longer and this is going to be a heavier build.

So let's hear it - what do you guys say. Should I try the hybrid arms or just stick to the CF?

 

[Balu]

Should I try the hybrid arms or just stick to the CF?

Yes.

SCNR

 

[Twitchity]

I would say give the hybrid arms a try. They are wider than the quads arms so hopefully they'll take more abuse, plus what else would you use them for? Also, if you keep it off the ground you won't have to worry about breaking them

 

[jipp]

heh i have a balsa wood project on my desk too. i need to get some plastic to cover it. what is the hybrid material made of?
chris.

 

[cranialrectosis]

You will never know until you try. It will bug you incessantly until you try and know for sure.

I think you have to try the hybrids just to defend your own sanity.

 

[Twitchity]

heh i have a balsa wood project on my desk too. i need to get some plastic to cover it. what is the hybrid material made of?
chris.

The hybrid is a birch plywood core with carbon fiber laminate on each side. It's about 40% lighter than a solid piece of CF and just about as rigid. It does seem to break easier though from his last test on a quad.

 

[jhitesma]

Also, if you keep it off the ground you won't have to worry about breaking them

I thought you'd know me better by now

Don't forget Cranial is begging me to fly this convertible style without the top as an acro beast before going full FPV with it

I guess the masses have spoken and I'll give the hybrid arms a go first!

 

[Twitchity]

I thought you'd know me better by now

I do... that's what I said that :black_eyed:

 

[narcolepticltd]

it's not like there's video evidence of them striking the ground or anything...

 

[jhitesma]

Ok, been slacking on updates...but here's a big one:



It's together and has flown Just a quick hover in the dark on stock PID's in Horizon mode because it was darn near pitch black out tonight....but it flew.

I'm running the latest version of cleanflight on the afromini and using my homebrewed FlySky RX (well, I still haven't replaced the broken boom on the Knuckle so why not borrow it's RX for now.) 2 KISS v1.0 18amp ESC',s and 4 v1.1 - I have to say I kind of like the old v1's better as the jumper pads seemed easier to solder. But the new bigger motor pads on the 1.1's are nice even if I'm not a fan of the lead free solder used to pre-tin them (I suspect they're actually hooked up and tested now since the pads looked like they were hand soldered and they were obviously hand packaged in random bits of static free baggie.)

I have photos from the build up and will be sharing them...but don't think I'll get that post done tonight.

Oh - and this is far from "finished". I do plan on adding the upper level and FPV gear to this bad boy. But Cranial challenged me to fly it convertible style as an acro beast first and since I don't have the FC I really want yet...I figured why not give it a go!

Hope to test fly it tomorrow...but the airshow is in town and going to eat up most of our day so I may not get a chance

Ha! Who am I kidding, of course I'll pop it in the air at least for a minute or two before we leave Not that I'll have time to get it tuned in well and really give it a good go.

I'm impressed so far. It purrs with no props on those KISS, and with props it sounds more like 8" or 10" props with the six 6" slicers going. Hovers with almost no throttle so I'm pretty sure it will perform well when I get a chance to really open it up.

I'm on my very last props though Going to have to place an order ASAP!

 

[jhitesma]

And...glad I did a quick test flight. Just checked the weather. 30mph winds tomorrow (going to make the airshow interesting) and rain on Sunday.

At least I have Thursday and Friday off next week and no plans so I'll probably get to fly a bit then

 

[califrag]

very clean build!! wow no heat shrink on those kISS ?? wwwaaaaaahhhhtttt

lookin forward to seeing some vid and stats on flight times etc.

I feel ya on the weather! I've been down for a week and just got my twitch hex's arm fixed and now there's a storm dumping all kinda wet outside. I've only been able to just motor test to make sure everything was still spinning so really itching to get in the air.

Flying the little hubsan x4 indoor just isn't the same....

 

[jhitesma]

very clean build!! wow no heat shrink on those kISS ?? wwwaaaaaahhhhtttt

I'd call it simple more than clean That homemade RX is ugly as sin and could be done a lot better. The orange signal wires I'm not huge on either...I'm tempted to para-cord the power wires but don't want to do pink with the purple and being so short it seems like paracord would be a serious pain. And the wiring on the afromini is uglier than it looks - I just hid most of it between the two plates But that's just temporary until I can afford a brain.

As for the KISS...I"m out of the right size clear heat shrink and hate to cover them up with black with those pretty blue lights I will be giving them a wrap with "clear" silicone self fusing tape though - just wanted to do a quick test flight first to make sure all the motors were going the right direction since that tape is expensive.

I'm also thinking about painting the edges of the arms since the plywood is kind of ugly. Speaking of which...you should see the bottom of this thing...that's UGLY with the unfinished bottom of this hybrid material!

lookin forward to seeing some vid and stats on flight times etc.

So am I Though with my current prop shortage it may be a bit for anything too exciting as I'll be flying as much like a granny as I can stand util after my parents visit so I don't run out of props. I REALLY want to take my dad for a "flight" with the FPV gear this time!

I feel ya on the weather! I've been down for a week and just got my twitch hex's arm fixed and now there's a storm dumping all kinda wet outside. I've only been able to just motor test to make sure everything was still spinning so really itching to get in the air.

Flying the little hubsan x4 indoor just isn't the same....

I think that's what we're about to get the remnants of It's been great the past few weeks but I've had no time to fly even though all my stuff was ready to go. I'm guessing now that I'm going to have time the weather will stay nasty for a few weeks.

I still have my proto-x but it just hasn't been flying well since I burned out the one motor. Even with 4 new motors it just feels "off" now