I have to say, WOW! This is one of my favorite episodes. I liked the dynamic that Josh and Josh had, I liked David's humor and accent, Peter is coming in to his own on the show and podcasts (which I have been catching up on recently), but I am REALLY liking Eric and his AP view on the multicopter builds/setups. This is something that I am interested in and the drop bracket for the servo and the tough tilt is simply genius. It is one of those, "Wow, that makes a LOT of sense!" type moments. Thanks to Josh Bixler and Eric for their informative videos and thank you to the rest of the FT crew for making these videos possible.
Adam, you are too kind sir. I cannot explain how happy I am to be part of this team.....and I am stoked for what the future holds. Thanks again for your kindness my friend.....it truly means more than you can imagine. :)
Eric Monroe well i can just repeat what Adam said. Your work added so much to the team, ands a bit because of you i actualy Started to build an AP Platform. If i may ask after the Tri-Copter Episode, what kind of Frame would you choose now to start with? i got a TBS Discovery Clone (F500 Alien V2 Spider Quad) by now, but i am considering the Dragonfly Frame with the drop bracket and the landing gear. Would that be wise?
My first multi-rotor is David's Tri-Copter V2. I put on 3 - 450 Slow Fly motors with 12" props. She hovers at about 30% throttle with a 2200 3S motor. I learned a lot about flying mutli-rotors and building with this copter. You guys are the reason I am flying. Thanks for being awesome!!!!
Thank you, I just turned my tricopter into a pentacopter and wow what a sweet flier. I had a little trouble with the parallel motors on one esc but now have it dialed in.
At 11:37 Bixler says he has a complete setup for a tricopter using the naze32 fcc. I can't find it on the site anywhere. All that's listed is the kk2 board. Help? I'd like to get my fortis frame working properly.
I came here to find out how the tough tilt motor mount actually works so I can use it in a Scratch-built model. But there's no video of how it tilts or works. At the very end of the video I hear there's a build video of using it. Maybe that video is what I need to see. Better yet, SHOW US HOW THE TOUGH TILT MOTOR MOUNT WORKS!
I have the gimbal controller shown on the dragonfly frame at 15:45 (not the horizon one, with a go pro) and I'm really struggling to get pitch control. The word pitch is written between two sets of 6pins, which is it referring to? Be a real help if anyone knew! :)
Would it be possible to have an x quad mode set on a multiposition switch, so if you lose your tail you could flip the switch to fly in an x quad mode?
I wanted to buy some of the stuff you showed in your video and I see links but everything goes to dead pages. Where are the tough servos and tough tilt motor mounts?
In you tough tilt video you show a tall frame . Also with sliding batt. mount. My question is it coming to the store, plans or what? Thank you for you time and help.
So my first question when looking at this (I do not understand what is meant with a spline mount, maybe that is it) is why don't you just mount the electric motor directly in line with the servo shaft?
I want Eric's tail servo mount and landing gear brackets. Also, one thing I would like to see you guys address is what pdb you use, and how you mount one when you're not using an Electrohub.
I wonder if a break point could be designed in to the servo mount, sounds like a lot of servos are getting killed with the new supper strong tail pivot. Maybe just a single thin zip tie to hold the servo so in a crash rather then stripping a servo you just replace a ziptie.
They mentioned that Josh burnt one of his ESCs in the crash when the motor got loose. And to test if it would fly with one of the motors failing they simply put it in the air without the motor connected.
It says on the website that the power packs are 'coming soon', when will they be available for purchase? I want to give you guys the profit for when I buy my first airplane
I just go and take out all my old 980's and build a X8 and then you decide to show me this Dragonfly. I love racing quads and multirotors, and I love building them, and I live to FPV but I also began just to learn AP and how to get good video- the Dragonfly is exactly what appeals to me- I have yet to get a good tricopter built I am happy with but love how they fly- I have Y6 here waiting for good weather to maiden, but that 5 motor rotor has my voter for the best camera toter yet.
Just out of curiosity, how well would the Tough Tilt work for a Bicopter, or better yet, a remake of the Avatar Scorpion build that you guys did a while back? Would love to see something like that again
Nice guys. Did you gyd modify the Yuneec gimbal so you can use fpv goggles instead of a tablet device? I saw the CP antenna at minute 13.26 and that got me wondering,
Is there a very simple build kit for assembling your first quad? I am looking to do one that is relatively inexpensive to start with. I want to start with something that really teaches me the basics of quad parts and what they do. Can anyone help?
I have had a Bat Bone since the week they came out. Realized I didn't know Multiwii and then stopped working on it. Never been flown. Just last week I set it back up and still don't know Multiwii but I will be getting this on the way soon as motivation to get my nose to the grindstone.
I am just getting into quad copters, are tri-copters harder to fly ? Could you do a video comparison of quad rotors and tri-copters (good vs bad etc) ? Also what would you rate as the best budget quad copter with video transmit capabilities ?
That's a coincidence.. I've just posted P2 of my tricopter build series :P Anyhow! This tail-setup looks GOOD indeed! Thanks for all the design / test work you people did for this! Cheers and thanks for sharing :)
Hey, great show guys. Love everything you guys do. I was wondering what Eric used to cover his electronic on his tricopter? I couldn't figure it out. Thanks.
Can you please make a tricopter power pack because I am trying do go lo cost on a tri -copter and it will be my first scratch built multirotor. It would be a great help thanks.
Trent Lukaczyk servo motors have unique spline patterns on their output shafts. Sadly, they're all different, and they're all patented. FliteTest had to come up with some way to get around this, and I'm curious what it is.
***** can see it here -- 13:53 there's a trough in the hinge facing the servo that can accept servo horns, looks like you screw the horn into the tilt hinge
I can understand servo output shafts being different and incompatible because that's just the way things are, forcing change just for the sake of it and costing the consumer more in the name of 'progress' but I can't understand how the form of a simple spline can be inventive and be the subject of a patent. It's just a bit of mathematics controlling a cutter to make the tooling, that's not inventive it's just a standard industrial process.
Hey. have you ever tried to generate the counter torque of a trycopter by a flap under the Propeller instead to Tilt the whole Motor. this can be much better because there are less vibrations an no coriolis forces to handle
my tilt never broke, the old landing gear nylon ones. ill still buy a tough mount because of how clean it looks, but scratch building is still a good option
i made a switching octocopter. four upwards and four downwards motors and props. so if i flip over,i can use my downward ones to get back in air and flip180 degrees.
How about you put the 6th motor on a tri setup on the back pointing down but not on the gimbal so you have the thrust and a sort of redundancy for a easy setdown if gimbal motor fails and it cuts the stress on the tilt unit in half by letting down pointing motor do half the work.
Does anybody know the effect of having props overlap, like when you have two motors mounted one on top of another? RCtestflight did a study where he shows that the efficiency goes way down....which makes sense, because the second prop isn't getting clean air...
Hi, I have a problem and need help. I have a xcopter, that it cames with a KKmulticopter blackboard (controller board) but it isn't calibrated, when i want to fly, it begins to spinning. What can I do??????? plese HELP ME :(
I have to say, WOW! This is one of my favorite episodes. I liked the dynamic that Josh and Josh had, I liked David's humor and accent, Peter is coming in to his own on the show and podcasts (which I have been catching up on recently), but I am REALLY liking Eric and his AP view on the multicopter builds/setups. This is something that I am interested in and the drop bracket for the servo and the tough tilt is simply genius. It is one of those, "Wow, that makes a LOT of sense!" type moments. Thanks to Josh Bixler and Eric for their informative videos and thank you to the rest of the FT crew for making these videos possible.
Adam, you are too kind sir. I cannot explain how happy I am to be part of this team.....and I am stoked for what the future holds. Thanks again for your kindness my friend.....it truly means more than you can imagine. :)
Eric Monroe well i can just repeat what Adam said. Your work added so much to the team, ands a bit because of you i actualy Started to build an AP Platform. If i may ask after the Tri-Copter Episode, what kind of Frame would you choose now to start with? i got a TBS Discovery Clone (F500 Alien V2 Spider Quad) by now, but i am considering the Dragonfly Frame with the drop bracket and the landing gear. Would that be wise?
My first multi-rotor is David's Tri-Copter V2. I put on 3 - 450 Slow Fly motors with 12" props. She hovers at about 30% throttle with a 2200 3S motor. I learned a lot about flying mutli-rotors and building with this copter. You guys are the reason I am flying. Thanks for being awesome!!!!
that penta tricopter thing looked pretty awesome! Would love to see and hear more of it soon!
12:49 That's awesome that you finally got a chance to try out a T-Copter Josh I have one and love it!
Peter that is the coolest Tri I've ever Seen !! Awesome work everyone from flite test :) Will be ordering a multi rotor kit ASAP !!!!
Thank you, I just turned my tricopter into a pentacopter and wow what a sweet flier. I had a little trouble with the parallel motors on one esc but now have it dialed in.
I like Peter's Easter eggs. Like his tribute in this video to the possible ban of the green tipped 556 ammo.
Keep up the great work I can't believe what you have done for the rc community
Love Eric's expertise on the show. Huge wealth of information.
At 11:37 Bixler says he has a complete setup for a tricopter using the naze32 fcc. I can't find it on the site anywhere. All that's listed is the kk2 board. Help? I'd like to get my fortis frame working properly.
just bought one with the camera tray and the servo. Cant wait for it to get here!
10:40 What quadcopter is this, are there build instructions and a part list. For beginner and noobs???
Planning on a tricopterbuild soon and going to keep this in mind.
Also... what was the gimbal pictured in 15:19?
Yay!!! thank you so much for having the power packs now available. great episode
I came here to find out how the tough tilt motor mount actually works so I can use it in a Scratch-built model. But there's no video of how it tilts or works. At the very end of the video I hear there's a build video of using it. Maybe that video is what I need to see. Better yet, SHOW US HOW THE TOUGH TILT MOTOR MOUNT WORKS!
Do I see a new FT swappable at 21:30 the green biplane in the background looks almost like a jenny or some type of sopwith
hey peter at 16:01 are those green tip rounds.
Another fun episode those tough tilts look strong as hell I'd love to see a build video on that DragonFly!
19:22 is that live ammunition glued to the side of your tricopter?
I have the gimbal controller shown on the dragonfly frame at 15:45 (not the horizon one, with a go pro) and I'm really struggling to get pitch control. The word pitch is written between two sets of 6pins, which is it referring to? Be a real help if anyone knew! :)
Would it be possible to have an x quad mode set on a multiposition switch, so if you lose your tail you could flip the switch to fly in an x quad mode?
Hey FT. I would really appreciate if you would show us how you mounted as installed the gimbal on your dragonfly build.
Cheers
I wanted to buy some of the stuff you showed in your video and I see links but everything goes to dead pages. Where are the tough servos and tough tilt motor mounts?
I wish I knew when the ft 250 quad will come out so I know if I should wait or get the tri!
Great stuff guys! Any idea when you'll have the racing power packs available?
Is there going to be build videos for the multicopters with the power packs?
In you tough tilt video you show a tall frame . Also with sliding batt. mount.
My question is it coming to the store, plans or what?
Thank you for you time and help.
can you guys please make a video on how to make the landing gear and the camera mount?
So my first question when looking at this (I do not understand what is meant with a spline mount, maybe that is it) is why don't you just mount the electric motor directly in line with the servo shaft?
Great vid!!! Really love your videos with multirotors.. Can't wait for more!!
Peter love the suable inclusion of your "green tip" ammo, are you guys all enthusiasts?
I see your using the graupner transmitter. Could you review it. Cause im trying to use it for the multi rotors
Im getting a dragonfly and was wondering how you painted the booms. Could I just spray them black?
I want Eric's tail servo mount and landing gear brackets. Also, one thing I would like to see you guys address is what pdb you use, and how you mount one when you're not using an Electrohub.
How come all the links to buy anything to do with tricopters are broken and the pages gone, does anyone stock any of these components anymore ?
I was wondering why you guys never use slow fly props on multi rotors on the show. Any other input?
I wonder if a break point could be designed in to the servo mount, sounds like a lot of servos are getting killed with the new supper strong tail pivot. Maybe just a single thin zip tie to hold the servo so in a crash rather then stripping a servo you just replace a ziptie.
those landing skids are not on your site. ??
Does the Standard Quadcopter Electronic kit come with a flight control board? It doesn't appear to in the store....
18:40 what was going on with the motor cut offs?
They mentioned that Josh burnt one of his ESCs in the crash when the motor got loose. And to test if it would fly with one of the motors failing they simply put it in the air without the motor connected.
What are those blue motors Scott was using on the dragonfly?
Is there any plans available for Eric's tricopter? I love the look of that thing!!!
Does anyone know if there are detailed plans of the separable landing heard for the anycopter? I can't figure out how it hooks onto the hub.
It says on the website that the power packs are 'coming soon', when will they be available for purchase? I want to give you guys the profit for when I buy my first airplane
Did you modify a Yuneec/Blade CGO2 camera to run off their bird and with a different transmitter? Do you have a video on that process?
The yaw on my tri works well to the right, but It takes alot more movement to left stick to make it go left. any suggestions how I can correct this?
i love your work, and you guys add to my passion for this hobby!
What gimbal is that??
i want the plans for the landing gear pls
what do i order to make this 5 rotor 'tricopter'?
I only see the tough tilt ...
I really like it and want to order it now :)
For the Pentacopter what is the best size propeller and in wich direction should they turn?
so what bimble and camera are you using in this video that you've painted black?
cool :)
What do you guys use for gimbals for a gopro? You should do a video on gimbals!
I just go and take out all my old 980's and build a X8 and then you decide to show me this Dragonfly. I love racing quads and multirotors, and I love building them, and I live to FPV but I also began just to learn AP and how to get good video- the Dragonfly is exactly what appeals to me- I have yet to get a good tricopter built I am happy with but love how they fly- I have Y6 here waiting for good weather to maiden, but that 5 motor rotor has my voter for the best camera toter yet.
So I know this is kinda old but doesn't Malloy Aeronautics have a patent pending on the overlapped propeller?
What's the AUW of Eric's tri without the camera? It appears to be around 1200g.
Wich propeller size is better for the pentacopter and wich direction should they be spining??
Hey FliteTest Can you guys share what shelled 3 axis gimbal that is and what camera rides inside? Thank you.
Hi flite test, I see you're using a mz18, if you do a review of it, please can you include how to use it with a pixhawk (with or without telemetry)?
what about doing a Tricopter with a "Tail Prop" like a helicopter for yaw? Just thinking out loud...
Just out of curiosity, how well would the Tough Tilt work for a Bicopter, or better yet, a remake of the Avatar Scorpion build that you guys did a while back? Would love to see something like that again
Nice guys. Did you gyd modify the Yuneec gimbal so you can use fpv goggles instead of a tablet device? I saw the CP antenna at minute 13.26 and that got me wondering,
Is there a very simple build kit for assembling your first quad? I am looking to do one that is relatively inexpensive to start with. I want to start with something that really teaches me the basics of quad parts and what they do. Can anyone help?
what is the story on the modified cgo2 camera?
I have had a Bat Bone since the week they came out. Realized I didn't know Multiwii and then stopped working on it. Never been flown. Just last week I set it back up and still don't know Multiwii but I will be getting this on the way soon as motivation to get my nose to the grindstone.
What gimbal and camera is that on the pentacopter?
... nice video and solution of the tilt mechanism :-) needs a strong servo but why you don't go to a simple swashplate solution?
I am just getting into quad copters, are tri-copters harder to fly ?
Could you do a video comparison of quad rotors and tri-copters (good vs bad etc) ?
Also what would you rate as the best budget quad copter with video transmit capabilities ?
Love the 5 motor setup! One day! Keep up the great videos!
That's a coincidence.. I've just posted P2 of my tricopter build series :P
Anyhow! This tail-setup looks GOOD indeed! Thanks for all the design / test work you people did for this!
Cheers and thanks for sharing :)
***** This was what I thought Jack ;)
I can't have a Real opinion offcourse prior to flying it myself. but it looks good :)
***** I think YOU should build one :)
***** Cool :) Looking forward to that Jack :)
And what illness is that?? :(
***** Allright.. Hope things improve sooner rather than later than..
X FLIGHT101 Yes! Thanks mate :) I came across this one :)
If my tail-setup doesn't work out, I might give this one a try :)
how can i build a long range tricopter ? and how can i design it to get the longest flight times possible??
What's the gimbal on the dragonfly?
What is that camera/gimbal on Josh's 5-copter?
Hey, great show guys. Love everything you guys do. I was wondering what Eric used to cover his electronic on his tricopter? I couldn't figure it out. Thanks.
can anyone tell me what this gimbal is that Josh uses on his dragonfly tricopter?
Can you please make a tricopter power pack because I am trying do go lo cost on a tri -copter and it will be my first scratch built multirotor. It would be a great help thanks.
That pentacopter (dragonfly) is so cool. Can you share its setup for Naze32?
I want to build a multicopter that can lift about 10+ lbs. can the tricopter do that?
I can't tell from the product photos, so I'll ask here: how did you get around the proprietary spline issue?
***** curious about this too. what patent are they referring too?
Trent Lukaczyk servo motors have unique spline patterns on their output shafts. Sadly, they're all different, and they're all patented. FliteTest had to come up with some way to get around this, and I'm curious what it is.
***** can see it here -- 13:53
there's a trough in the hinge facing the servo that can accept servo horns, looks like you screw the horn into the tilt hinge
Trent Lukaczyk ah, I suspected it was something like that. Good eye!
I can understand servo output shafts being different and incompatible because that's just the way things are, forcing change just for the sake of it and costing the consumer more in the name of 'progress' but I can't understand how the form of a simple spline can be inventive and be the subject of a patent. It's just a bit of mathematics controlling a cutter to make the tooling, that's not inventive it's just a standard industrial process.
If you lose the tail on the penta, maybe you could switch from tri copter to some crazy half inverted quad mode?
Hey. have you ever tried to generate the counter torque of a trycopter by a flap under the Propeller instead to Tilt the whole Motor. this can be much better because there are less vibrations an no coriolis forces to handle
I've been thinking of the same thing and saw a video somewhere on youtube (don't have the link now) of someone who's done it - it works.
Please tell us more about that C-Go2 gimbal mod! That flight footage is awesome!
Great video guys... Nice that you threw in quite a few tips - from lessons learned. *_cheers_*
Hey, does anybody know what gimbals they were? Those dome ones? Also any idea what camera they were using in it?
It was probably either a gopro or a mobiüs
Could be a yuneec ( I have no idea how to spell that lol ) gimabal/cam combo.
Skyler Asher It's the gimbal that comes on the 350QX3 AP Combo and the Yuneec as well. Integrated camera gimbal.
Yeah I think you're right, though annoyingly most of them are not standalone gimbals! I'm looking for a dome gimbal for a vtol :p
my tilt never broke, the old landing gear nylon ones. ill still buy a tough mount because of how clean it looks, but scratch building is still a good option
Hey Id have a question about the ElectroHub DragonFly Kit when i select : Add Camera Mount this option comes with the land gear ?
What battery did you run on the dragon fly?
Nice video but David needs to come back😭😭
Joshua Jerred so get a new one
Ryan Mckenzie
He can't. He "Ran it out in a fabulous way" and its 2 years untill he can get a new one.
Joel Walker That's strange, since he's been over there visiting after he moved back home.
gecko2421 Yep. He can visit anytime, but not work without a work visa.
T Est Ahh cheers, thought it might be something like that..
i made a switching octocopter. four upwards and four downwards motors and props. so if i flip over,i can use my downward ones to get back in air and flip180 degrees.
How about you put the 6th motor on a tri setup on the back pointing down but not on the gimbal so you have the thrust and a sort of redundancy for a easy setdown if gimbal motor fails and it cuts the stress on the tilt unit in half by letting down pointing motor do half the work.
might work but would loose a lot of yaw control
how good is the tricopter with wind becoase i live in holland and i would like something that i can fly more than one time a mounth
Does anybody know the effect of having props overlap, like when you have two motors mounted one on top of another?
RCtestflight did a study where he shows that the efficiency goes way down....which makes sense, because the second prop isn't getting clean air...
Hey guys why could you not simply tilt/yaw 2 motors on a quad?
You guys have the best job in the world, I want to be part of your team. So jealous.
Where are some good sites to source multirotor parts?
Where can I buy the camera you have on your tricoter Josh.
Hi, I have a problem and need help. I have a xcopter, that it cames with a KKmulticopter blackboard (controller board) but it isn't calibrated, when i want to fly, it begins to spinning. What can I do??????? plese HELP ME :(
Which Graupner radio are you guys using and how is it?
Maybe josh knew back then what flighttest would become. Nice to see the old field and pylon!