T1 Ranger Custom VTOL Conversion - Part 1

[@GhostRyderFPV]

I have a T1 PnP, that came with the V1 ESC's (20A). The VTOL conversion kit had the same V1 ESC, at the time. Unfortunately, one smoked in flight - vertical mode on my way to land - but I was able to glide in for a smooth landing. Thanks to some _Epic_ support from HeeWing, I scored a full set of the V2 25A ESCs for cheap, and the bird has been solid as a rock for almost a year now. For such a little plane, it's a ton of fun! I have a couple neighbors with DJI's, who put them up once in a while to hover around and take videos. The best fun on Earth is to fly over, switch to hover mode, and orbit them _with a plane_ then fly away like a boss 🙂

[@ArxangelRC]

Yeah, if you transition high enough, there is time to get a hold of it and land it as a plane, well done! And yeah, it is a ton of fun indeed! Hahahahahahahahahaha, taunting the DJIs is a MUST! Well done on that as well! :P

[@MrZeek101]

Already looking forward to the next video in this series. Good to see you back on Nikolai you have been missed. Take care

[@ArxangelRC]

Thanks mate, working on it little by little, should be out... relatively soon! :)

[@stardustsparklin]

Great video as always! Happy you're back!!

[@ArxangelRC]

Thank you! :)

[@robertgoldbornatyout]

💯💯💯Great video as always! Happy you're back!!💯💯💯

[@ArxangelRC]

Thank you! :)

[@knight907]

Looks awesome. Great job. Looking forward to seeing how it flies and some FPV footage.

[@ArxangelRC]

Thanks, should have seen that by now I guess! :)

[@AerialWaviator]

A great start to a T1 Ranger video series. Always look forward to you videos, and insights. If you got an earlier T1 Ranger KIT, there have been a couple for revisions to upgrade ESC's to higher amps and motor mount redesign. Cooling inlets were added either side of the front camera also on latter editions. Early motor mount had a tendency to develop cracks at screw holes in time, and thus a motor could come free. HeeWing has been nice enough to include details and graphics of the changes on its website, and have been accommodating of pilots experiencing issues. Having done the VTOL conversion, removes this risk and worry for you. Perhaps you can use thumb screws to secure the wings, to make assembly tool-less? The attachments is indeed one thing that could be improved. Also include an extra set of pass-thru wire connections for the VTOL option.

[@ArxangelRC]

Thanks! :) I can't say for sure if this is an early model or not, but it seems to work alright for now. Will see if I can find some thumb screws that would fit the job here... but the VTOL stuff has not required any additional connections between the fuselage and the wings.

[@sarangthemalbert8547]

I'm also doing the same project. But since I can't get the T1 ranger I'm making one from scratch hope it flies. Love your videos ❤.

[@ArxangelRC]

Thanks mate, good luck with your project! :)

[@dallasb7117]

I put the VTOL motors and 25amp ESCs on my standard T-1..Have Always flown 4s 1800 mah packs and I just put a small strip of Gorilla tape along edge of wing to fuselage. Never had an issue and I often punch Full throttle . Maybe not an eloquent fix..But Works great ! Happy Flying 👍

[@ArxangelRC]

Well that's the problem... why does it need any kind of fix... why hasn't it been made properly from the factory? I haven't had to tape wings as a precaution on anything after the X-UAV Clouds... and we are talking large and heavy mapping planes!

[@dallasb7117]

@ArxangelRC Haha ok, we "shouldn't " have to do it....but it IS a fast and Easy Precaution ...I haven't heard about a lot of people disconnecting a Wing in flight...maybe it's been happening to the masses..but a couple strips of tape, take it off and easily break down the plane and you're packed in your MC Boot ready to go !

[@ArxangelRC]

@@dallasb7117 I suppose... but I still would keep the screws in... I don't trust it otherwise! :P

[@taggerung890]

wow i'm surprised there was so little damage in after that nose dive

[@ArxangelRC]

Yeah, like I said... the foam is pretty decent! :)

[@erwinfelisarta]

How about mounting the runcam thumb pro on the gps mount shaft. This will help move the cg back

[@ArxangelRC]

Hmmmmm... yes indeed it would... but it might also affect the compass... would need to test this! :)

[@Videolinquency]

Did you actually make the landing gear work on the regular version? Mine was a great disappointment; it insisted on ground looping after a meter or so. The wheels didn't seem to bind, but the right one must have done just that. Did you do any kind of mods or hacks to achieve a straight ground roll? Differential thrust?

[@ArxangelRC]

It worked for like 1 landing, until I discovered the high thrust to wing mounting system issue. The landing gear broke during crash landing in the first such event, so I haven't used it since! I one landing they worked well, and the plane did not tip forward, although it was tail heavy during that landing... so that might have helped! I adjusted CG and after take off... at some point one of the wings disconnected and the plane crashed to the ground, breaking only the landing gear... soooooo... can't say more on it! I did have differential thrust though, can't say for sure I used it during the two rolling take offs to keep it straight... might have!

[@trumblez]

ELRS on 200hz for planes is total overkill, I run 150hz on freestyle drones that need fast reaction time and 50hz on planes since I dont even really feel a difference between 150hz and 50hz

[@Ryedady]

It doesn't matter so long as everything's working, I run my crossfire at 150hz 500mw and at 9.5 miles when I lose video I've had 0 loss on my crsfr, never have had a need to run it at 50.

[@ArxangelRC]

@trumblez I honestly have no idea... this is my first go at ELRS and I don't really know much of its details, it is what was set by default!

[@trumblez]

@@ArxangelRC ok, no problem, take it as an advice

[@ArxangelRC]

Thanks! :)

[@fpvnwv1493]

Nice bike! And plane. You planning on getting a t2 up?

[@ArxangelRC]

Thanks! Not sure about the T2, time will tell! Lots of other things to deal with a finish first. :)

[@phillip7047]

Dose covering the GPS have any effect on the performance? What is the best size prop's for the stock motors for long range flight?

[@ArxangelRC]

Plastic is transparent to the radio signals, so it doesn't affect it much! As for props, can't say for sure, but generally for a non-vtol version with only tractor motors, higher prop pitch should be able to give you a more efficient flight.

[@phillip7047]

Great. Thank you. Really enjoy your videos very helpful. Love those cloud flying videos.

[@ArxangelRC]

@@phillip7047 Thanks, I love them as well! :)

[@hoanguyenphuong6405]

x9d still best ! i'm still using x9d plus se 2019 :D

[@ArxangelRC]

@@hoanguyenphuong6405 It is indeed! Mine is from the first ever batch out of the factory, its even older, non Plus. :)

[@hoanguyenphuong6405]

@@ArxangelRC you do like some new tx product by Frsky ? Tandem maybe ?

[@ArxangelRC]

@@hoanguyenphuong6405 They do have some pretty sweet looking radios lately, but I don't have much experience with them, although if mine fails, I may get one if the new ones, they look good and I am reading some good comments about them.

[@qcsupport2594]

I feel so lazy when I watch you casually knock out a conversion like this. To me just the 3D printing alone is a tour de force. But I have to admit I had a very evil chuckle when you looked at the specs on those red-bottom motors @5:15 and said "I knew I would have to limit throttle in order to prevent the motors from pulling the plane apart in the event of a sudden full throttle situation". Mwahaha

[@ArxangelRC]

Hahahahahaha... well... its not really anything special... somebody had done the hard work on designing the 3D parts... printing them is relatively straightforward. Rest is just wire work! And yeah... following my recent experience with the MFE Fighter, I knew full well exactly what could happen if overpowered motors are left unchecked! :D