My Longest RC Airplane Flight

[@ray_rg23499]

Don’t apologize for being excited! Anyone who sets such a record for themselves would surely feel the same!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! 😄

[@aymericarnaud3437]

Yup :)

[@user-otzlixr]

@@MatthewHeiskell Dont let anyone tell you when to apologize and when not to :)

[@adamfacey5555]

I set out in 2016 with a radian glider on a 3cell 2200 to do my longest flight, it was over 4 hours. It was extremely painful the last hour or so. I was in a lawn chair and got the worst sunburn I ever got. I kept getting thermal after thermal and hungout with birds most of the time but I pretty much used only servos the entire time. I’ll never forget that day.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

That sounds awesome! (except the sunburn, haha)

[@AviationAngler]

Bro that's crazy I just got my radian yesterday and I'm gonna fly it on Sunday hoping for a long flight time but not that long XD I've got 4 1 cell batterys

[@Navigator777777]

Radians are fun.

[@johnnyrocket3200]

Don't apologize for feeling joy! It's the most beautiful emotion and I petty the one's who judge people for that!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thank you so much! 😄

[@pokerchannel6991]

Hi: full scale planes can drop their empty tanks in the military. I believe your plane can be more efficient if after a battery is depleted, the dead weight is dropped. The space shuttle has the same idea. Rocktes also utlize the same principle

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Yeah, haha I’ve thought about this too. I’d love to have several batteries and safely drop them as they are depleted, but it seems tricky, managing the voltage and battery connections

[@idiotequedwaal]

Dropping LiPos around might be very, very dangerous unfortunately.

[@franciscoe.9989]

You can drop off package as long as you have an autonomous flights controller such as pixhawk You ser up the waypoint ( specific location) and the pixhawk will send a signal to the servo to release the package

[@DIProgan]

Rc Bomber

[@terpsquirter7107]

@@idiotequedwaal good thing it’s not a lipo😏

[@slembcke]

Holy moly! I did not think that was possible. It even flies pretty slow for such a heavy plane. Very impressive.

[@RogerTheJanitor]

Ill be honest, when I first clicked the video, I wasn't really impressed. Once I realized how LONG you were flying - I am totally blown away. Really great work.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄

[@gabesilva4481]

Crazy man. Almost 340 miles on a single flight. Good stuff

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄

[@j.s3612]

Wouldn’t it be cool to send it at a general heading towards another city 150 miles away where you have it land and drop off a usb and fly back . This would be supper cool . Probably 😢illegal

[@xxxtrib]

@@j.s3612i don’t think it would be illegal if you register the flight

[@atw98]

Isn't 300 miles 482 KMs? That's more then this flight. Great flight but 2019 with an old Disco did over 300 miles. Good to see there's people striving to do long range though.

[@pascalfust1035]

I really like your pragmatic approach. Instead of trying to work on some technological issues, you step back and realize that other (simpler) solutions appear. Well done

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Well said! Thanks!

[@satyris410]

Fair play to you staying out in a field all day, takes some dedication!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄

[@AeroStuffFPV]

Holy crap! That is fantastic! Congratulations & Hats off on 10h without solar power!

[@FPVREVIEWS]

Yes, they can carry a lot of extra weight, especially with a high aspect long wing.. WOW what a result! would be neat to make a video talking about all of the arduplane settings, and why you chose each one. I see you have comment from Andrew Tridgell. He's the lead dev. for arduplane. Having his compliment to your work is amazing. Great Job!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Hey Spike! Thanks! I bet that you noticed the square APC prop 😁. I've gotten a lot of use out of that info that you taught me (among the many other things)! Thanks again! That's a good idea to explain my arduplane settings. I figured that Andrew Tridgell was a dev, but I didn't know he was the lead dev! Very cool! How are your projects going?

[@bashkillszombies]

@@MatthewHeiskell You should join Aerorozvidka fren. You will enjoy it.

[@robertgittings8662]

​@@MatthewHeiskell*arduplane works with American military questionable human right record ... droning people in the middle east comminuted a lot of war crimes stop supporting baby - killers*

[@AndrewTridgellHome]

fantastic! Getting that sort of flight time takes a lot of effort

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! I tried iNav at first, then I flashed arduplane onto the FC. What a difference!

[@sarantis2]

Did you tried to fly with inav?

[@MatthewHeiskell]

@@sarantis2 Yes, iNav is more user friendly, but Arduplane is better in every other aspect, especially efficiency.

[@sarantis2]

@@MatthewHeiskell I cannot agree more. After this video I order the same plane

[@user-rs8zg8ey2b]

Yes, and money (~$300 battery). Congrats!!! Comparing to gtrick90's 4h 100 mile flight on 4s-7000 with the z84, 7 times the Wh to travel 3.4 times the distance.

[@Joyplanes]

Amazing accomplishment!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to write your nice comment!

[@rico831]

incredible! I have no RC fixed wings but this is the motivation i need!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Multirotor can do very special things, but fixed wing is the king of staying in the air haha. I have both and I love both.

[@Quadcopterguide]

You’re one patient dude. What a cool project. Congrats man!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄

[@griffith500tvr]

In 1990 I found a model plane magazine from the 60s with a description of a 14 hour record flight, it was a huge glider with a 1.5cc motor.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Wow, that’s awesome! I’ve heard of an RC place that flew across the Atlantic too! Amazing!

[@weltvonoben]

Now that's a calming hobby! Great.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Yeah, it was very relaxing to watch and check everything. 😄 thanks!

[@weltvonoben]

Thank you for taking us with you! ​@@MatthewHeiskell

[@EmptyPantryEntrees]

That is freaking incredible!! Helluva lot of determination to make it through the flight! Awesome Engineering job 🤙🏼

[@wiiperico]

Not embarrassing at all man, congratulations!!! You did a really nice job!!!!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks Pedro! 😄

[@MasboyRC]

Amazing, its look so stable to fly, gliding, and cruising. Love it 👌

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! Arduplane flies really smoothly.

[@MasboyRC]

@@MatthewHeiskell yeahhh.. really is. Greetings from indonesia 🇲🇨

[@ethanharcourt1639]

One of the best videos I have seen in a while. Really inspiring. Would love to see a video about the auto pilot components you used

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! The autopilot is nothin’ fancy, just a Matek F405-wing running arduplane 3.9.11

[@M-H433]

F405 wing is a fantastic product by maytec,I still use them with inav,great achievement there.

[@Swimfinz]

...Great Endeavor! I keep watching certain sections over and over. Impressive!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄 Glad that you enjoy this stuff too!

[@Swimfinz]

@@MatthewHeiskell yes!

[@thomashenden71]

Under admittely somewhat optimal and given conditions, solar and batteries can already work quite well in planes, like surveillance drones, training and things like that. 10 hours of flight is really wow, when even one hour would have looked good. Cool!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! Have you seen the drones that perch on power lines and draw power to recharge?

[@ConsultingjoeOnline]

Very nice long flight!!!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄

[@johnmasongrossenbacher2299]

Would love to see some videos on building the battery the specific programming and also exactly which 2400 frame it is, there are several variation of the phoenix 2400 and I want to replicate your current design, I think it would be a great starting point for mounting a 360 pivoting camera underneath been looking at finding a design platform to start from to build something close to the capabilities of the militaries surveillance drones to use during paintball matches

[@MatthewHeiskell]

That's RAD! That would be a really cool recon RC plane. There's an open sources HD FPV system called "ez wifibroadcast" I think there's a newer version now, but basically it uses two raspberry Pi and webcam and USB wifi dongle to do HD wireless video. The only catch is that it uses 2.4GHZ, so you'd need to use a different frequency like 915MHz for RC control.

[@jerryduncan1496]

Very nice achievement. Great video. Camera pan was awesome upgrade! KEEP EM FLYING!! 🛩

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! Will do! 🛩🛩🛩

[@Johnny-tc6tz]

I have watched your video several times and I have to say, You did such a great job with this mission. I think I am going to go out and purchase the same plane just for soaring out in the desert. I subscribed for sure.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks so much! It’s a fantastic plane!

[@morkshanmedia3998]

I’m surprised that thing flies at all that battery looks insanely heavy. This is so cool though props to you for spending so much time on this.

[@DLH-ws2xy]

Ahhh. The sweet smell of success. FYI. My throw......It would have nailed the fence. Love the wing insert design. Great vid. 🏞

[@BenoitDevijver1978]

Congrats for this, you make me and my kids dreaming !

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄 that’s awesome! It’s a great skill set to teach to future generations!

[@esuohdica]

Now THATS a battery!!! Amazing job dude

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄

[@pathfinder.george]

Incredible! A BVLOS flight would be incredibl'ER

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! Yeah, I’m not allowed to fly BVLOS 😔

[@brentthierry1769]

Hello, Yesterday with the small volantex sky rangers 600 ..and 350 lipo ..with good condition 22 minutes ..on thermic .. for me it ll bee so good ..with the gyro assistance it s a good optimisation of the energy 👍

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Wow! That’s awesome!

[@brendendas]

Great flight and project. Subbed.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄

[@akbarshoed]

Dude, you make some high quality videos. Incredible.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! It’s fun to make them, and pretty easy when I’m stoked to share the results of this cool project. Cheers! 😄

[@brintros]

@@MatthewHeiskell now you need to buy a 03 airunit by dji digital camera or add a gopro on your plane and your videos are perfect !

[@TheodorosBako]

Nice project!! Do you mind sharing more detail as to fc placement and battery cutout ? Trying to add fpv gear as well !!!

[@R.B_B]

Great achievement. Will be a great success video or videos series you show how to use, configure and tips and trick with the Arduplane

[@陈启荣-g8j]

Hi, I get 3 questions. 1: Do you change the motor from the original 4023/1050kv to your 4108? 2: How do you connect the flight controller's tele port to the OSD and the data link to the ground control simultaneously? 3:how can you move the camera installed on the tail? I dan't see the gimbal in the Video.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Hello! 1. Yes I changed the motor. 2. The fpv video is passed through the flight controller, the OSD info is added, then the signal exits the flight controller and goes to the video transmitter. 3. The fpv camera is glued to a servo that is embedded in the vertical stabilizer.

[@陈启荣-g8j]

@@MatthewHeiskell Hi,Thanks to your answer. Do you mean you don't use ground control station to control the plane so that you don't use a data-tele module?

[@pdel303]

Spectacular. Congratulations!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thank you so much 😀

[@oadka]

This is an amazing channel! Nice video with very high production quality and great effort! This video taught me that putting solar cells on aerofoils is not a very good idea unless done properly! The bird chirping noises in the background is also nice to hear Thank you and all the best for your future endeavours!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your encouragement! I plan to film a couple new videos this weekend. One about my Talon 250g and the other about my nano goblin. Both of them squeak in under the 250g limit. The nano goblin actually has HD recording too. Both of them are very amazing for their size and weight. I’m talking hour+ flight times if you’re cruising and 30 minutes of ballistic ripping.

[@critical_always]

Great to see a different perspective on endurance flight. I had assumed solar is the only option. But you proved otherwise

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! Yeah, battery power is nice because it still works at night, or when it’s cloudy, or when the days are short. It is also pretty simple and cheap.

[@dronepilot260rc]

This is amazing! I’m gonna build I li-ion pack for my phoenix s 1600

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! Yeah, switching to Li-Ion basically doubles your flight time for the same battery weight.

[@imager09tube]

Excellent guys! What an effort! Excellent video!

[@nevillecreativitymentor]

Why the .... do you need to apologise ... dude you are owed some ADRENALINE from all of us. that was just amazing.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Haha, thank you so much! 😄

[@brendanmcgowan508]

Excellent accomplishment! Excellent video! This is how you edit together 10 hours of flight video into something interesting and compelling. Thanks for sparing us the 10 hours of footage at high speed with a terrible sound track.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks Brendan! I really appreciate hearing that! Cheers! 😄

[@envyem3743]

Hey man. I m completely new to the UAV world. I was wondering how you managed to create such efficient aerodinamics. This is amazing. Keep up the good work!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

It was not especially efficient, half of the endurance came from the Li-Ion cells that I used to build the battery pack. They have twice the energy density of a standard LiPo RC battery.

[@envyem3743]

@@MatthewHeiskell oooh I get it. Do you think optimising the airplanes shape could have a major impact on flight duration?

[@ememeable]

its good to know that flight can be achieved with such weight the next challenge is custom made solar panels that will compliment the wing span then the next challenge will be the regenerating system whereby the solar panel charges the battery when the voltage drops to a certain level the system will require one main battery and one redundant battery when the main battery is low it triggers the solar panel charger and the redundant battery is activated when the main is fully charged the redundant battery is deactivated and also begins to cool while the main takes over i believe this system than bring about limitless flight time in the future i am very busy now trying to settle other projects however i will hope to realise this project in the future sincerely ejike

[@陈启荣-g8j]

Thank you .Matthew. I have successfully tested my glider's maiden flight with the 4108/600kv motor and the 12*12 propeller. However its duration is only 42 minutes with a 5230mah battery which has totally 4166mah discharge amount during the whole flight. Obviously it can't have a flight time to 10hours even If I enlarge the battery to your 50000mah. Let alone the 50000mah battery should be almost 10 times weight of my 5230. I doubt if my glider's CG fitting matters since the vehicle's CG is in the front of the need location even if I don't install any additional devices in it. The design of the plane's force distribution is not so reasonable(you can never make your battery in side the cabin as the original design. Or the CG will be too far ahead.)

[@RobertBoyer-z4z]

Look up Maynard Hill, flew 38 hours, 1883 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, had on board battery recharging

[@MatthewHeiskell]

He’s a legend!

[@jamesturncliff5960]

Im seeing up a 2.4m Ranger want to do some similar stuff.Thanks

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Awesome! It is a fantastic airplane!

[@Ard1400]

Great video! What a long flight. Super!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄

[@localsms]

damn that is so amazing! loved the video

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄

[@Swimfinz]

Cool flight, very nice! Thank you!

[@mikekorovin]

What do you think about making the battery shape fit into the fuselage? It's probably very complicated, but it would be interesting to know how it would affect efficiency. Or make some fairings on the back of the battery to minimize turbulence. By the way, where is the stats table at the end of the video? It would be very interesting to compare with your previous setups!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Good ideas! I bet a fully internal battery would improve the efficiency. Yes, even a faring would help too. I didn't update the data table because this is a different battery (4S 50Ah vs 3S 45Ah).

[@dmytropashko8209]

Awesome! I really like your flight!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thank you! 😄

[@EVERYTHING333-3]

That is the best video I have seen in years!Impressive!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks!

[@HandFromCoffin]

Crazy I just found this.. I'm gonna have to get back into this someday.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

It's a fun hobby, so many aspects to it!

[@Madisonplays305]

I would throw a Dji Caddax system on there, doesn't weigh much and a TBS crossfire receiver. That thing flies great!!! 10 hours has to be a record forsure

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! I've since gotten crossfire and I love it! I haven't switched to HD FPV yet, maybe this summer though.

[@pepethefrog7193]

The shakes in flight is due to high stabilizer gain. You get better efficiency by tuning that down. Aile corrections schould be slow.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

You're right! Better to reply on the I term more and the P term less . . . in the PID control loop.

[@eriknulty6392]

that could easily reach all the way to bob lazars area S4. and thats what i would do. see if those hanger doors actually exist.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Would seeing the hangars be enough? 😁

[@JUGGERNAUT1811]

Great job! This airplane is very good. I have one my version is 2000.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! Yeah, they made a fantastic design!

[@rewirerc5399]

You are a star. Very good video! I'll pass it on!!!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! 😄

[@Mclovetts]

Absolutely sick video.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thank! 😄

[@oranellis]

Genuinely curious how much further it would have flown if the pack was fully internal, but the distance is insane. Literally could go from my house in Glasgow to London

[@Joneszee1969]

That was pretty awesome, thanks for that video. I’d be interested in your tail camera pan until set up.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! It is just a cheap FPV camera glued onto a servo. And the servo is glued into the upper edge of the vertical stabilizer.

[@Joneszee1969]

@@MatthewHeiskell Awesome, very simple thanks for the response. Happy flying

[@MatthewHeiskell]

@@Joneszee1969 I show the pan servo in another phoenix video. Here is a link that will start you at the exact moment, but You might enjoy the whole walkaround section: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g17NYZ6eeJWrbpI

[@horsthorst482]

Congratulations, pretty impressive. If you are going for highest efficiency, I highly recommend changing the prop. A GM - folding prop (Georgi Mirov Propellers) is an affordable solution. More efficient than APC, Aeronaut Cam Carbon or any random prop solution. Between appr. 10 - 20% better efficiency. Keep on flyin ♥

[@陈启荣-g8j]

Hi. Matthew. I have got a 30000mah battery to drive the plane like you. But I just can’t fix it into the plane at the right position. How can you do that? Could you give me the details about this?

[@MatthewHeiskell]

I cut a large section out of the bottom of the fuselage to make the battery fit

[@陈启荣-g8j]

@@MatthewHeiskell Yeah.I do the same. But the battery is still too big to fit in the fuslage since there is a wooden board in the middle of it. And the board is used for fixing the wings. So how can you solve the problem?

[@陈启荣-g8j]

@@MatthewHeiskell And BTW. Why don't you install your autopilot in the head of your plane since there is much of space for it.

[@superskeg]

A significant accomplishment. Historic note, the League of Silent Flight accomplishment program required an UNPOWERED 8 hour flight.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Wow! The only way I can think to do that is to slope soar somewhere with really consistent winds!

[@CESARBREMERPINHEIRO]

Congrats, I never though this very long flight could be possible only with batteries.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! 😁

[@endliberalism4305]

That battery would run my E-bike ! Good job bro.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! Just for fun, what kinda range could you get with my 4s 50Ah battery pack on an E-bike? (riding efficiently on level ground) I might have to build one haha 😁

[@kmieciu4ever]

@@MatthewHeiskell I think e-bike engines require at least 10S battery packs with 13S becoming the new standard...

[@MatthewHeiskell]

@@kmieciu4ever Wow! That is a LOT of voltage! Thanks for the info!

[@dishantbhure9597]

I loved and learned alot from this video

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄

[@TheMrRatzz]

I bet he said "noice" all day... Would have driven me nuts!

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Haha 😄

[@forzabike]

Would you do a video of your whole fpv setup? I'm new to all this and it would be so helpful

[@MatthewHeiskell]

It is really simple, just a camera and video transmitter connected to the F405 wing flight controller. You can search for a setup video for that flight controller and it will have all the info that you want. P.S. sorry for the delayed response.

[@nickthedane1]

Hello sir, im new to these rc planes and fpv models, but not to tinkering with electronics and fabrication stuff with all kind of differences, but how does one get started in building these planes and understanding flight and the workings of this stuff ? I like your material thanx for sharing.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Hello! Start with a simulator. Something like this: www.horizonhobby.com/product/realflight-evolution-rc-flight-simulator-with-interlink-dx-controller/RFL2000.html Flying a RC plane can be very tricky at first. Once you get good at that, you can get a beginner RC plane. Then later you can get fancy and add a flight controller for autonomous flight. You MUST be able to fly the plane manually. It is pretty common to need to take manual control of the plane. There are TONS of good videos on KZbin.

[@nickthedane1]

@@MatthewHeiskell Nice! Thank you

[@mikestubbs8733]

How about clear film top airfoil and have panel internal to wing profile. Love the flight footages

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! Yeah, I did exactly that and made a video about it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoaQq6GklNh3hLM

[@rotormasher]

Wow that's amazing

[@Double-D_291]

Hello, what would happen to efficiency if you were to use a folding prop? Obviously your particular setup isn’t made for slope soaring but I would like to do something halfway so I can get the best of both worlds.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

I think there would be only a small hit to efficiency if you used a folding prop.

[@idiotequedwaal]

Incredible job

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! 😄

[@dishantbhure9597]

I'm surprised brother It's unbelievable 👍😍🤩

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thank you so much! 😄

[@hughie7545]

How much would this cost to buy/build ?

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Starting from absolutely nothing, about $1,000. But most RC people already have a lot of the gear, so about half that. The custom diy battery was the most expensive component.

[@wallaguest1]

amazing, near 550 km of distance is just incredible! half distance of some big countries

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thank you! 😄

[@swecreations]

Considered making a new battery pack using Vapcell F60 6000mAh cells? Should give you a nice ~10-15% boost in range, more if you can build it to fit inside the airplane's body. :)

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Maybe! I’d have to check the specs. Don’t focus on capacity alone, you need to also consider weight of the cell. I did my comparisons based on calculation of watt hours per gram.

[@swecreations]

@@MatthewHeiskell They're about 290-300 wh/kg from independent tests

[@scottz143]

I wonder if you increase the wingspan and create some way for it to fly on thermals, if you could launch it, and have it generate its own power by climbing/descending in a thermal

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Oh yeah! That would be cool! Instead of using he thermal to go higher and higher, you could point the nose down just enough to maintain altitude and use the extra energy to spin the motor and put energy back into the battery. Like regenerative braking on an electric or hybrid car.

[@bsmith8564]

My room mate at Grand Forks AFB summer of 1984 had a 4 hr. + flight of a 2 meter Gentle lady glider High start launch. Only reason he came down was it was beginning to get dark. At one point he was laying on his back watching it with binoculars. It was a speck in the sky.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Super cool! 😄

[@sangjinlee7538]

Your Long range RC airplane Flight is amazing. I wonder about Flight control Display. It consists of number of Satellite, Wind speed, Air speed Distance from home location, etc. What Flight Control Equipment do you use and Is it displayed on your FPV goggle or Laptop. I'd like to know FPV unit and flight control information. You use Taranis x9d plus Accst and I wonder this Propo provide the information and can display. I wonder RTH start around 2500ft and it's not too long and how far range it can record. I wonder The range of Taranis x9d orange module is actually around 1 Km. Thanks.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! 😄I like the telemetry on my OSD so that I can record it easily. It is displayed on my FPV screen. You can also have it sent to your Taranis. You can have it sent to your laptop if you have telemetry radios. Yeah, you can set a RTH distance in Arduplane.

[@СергейЛарионов-у8в]

I congratulate you!

[@hariprasadjain3907]

Beautiful setup! Can you please share the details of the current sensor that you've used? Is it the one that you get with cube?

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! I was using the Matek F405 wing flight controller's built-in current sensor.

[@omershviro]

Can you make a video carrying packages with this rc plane if it could carry 1kg and still hold up like 5 hours it can be very useful and I would love to have a tutorial of how to make one myself

[@MatthewHeiskell]

It could definitely do that. You would just build the battery pack a little smaller so that the max weight stays the same.

[@omershviro]

@@MatthewHeiskell great!! How can i make it myself? Maybe you have a parts list even in general like motor’s kv, battery capacity and cells, propellor size

[@fourgedmushrooms5958]

Holly S! that's a battery 🔋. Amazing what you can do with some extra amp hours. I'm just starting out but already had fun upping the battery on the cheapest planes fly's better and goes triple time

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Haha yeah! Check out the Sanyo NCR18650GA cells. They are the best for this type of endurance flying. You can get an affordable spot welder that operates using a Lipo pack. IMO, the best way is to build your own packs, but the ZOHD LION packs use the same proper cells.

[@nicolaswild2685]

Just found that video during my investigations for a comparable project! Really good job! Would it make a difference to go with 6s and a lower KV motor to get the same RPM? If someone has other good links related to these kind of projects, pleae share ❤

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Yeah, I think running 6s with a lower kV motor would be slightly better.

[@paragliding3297]

Its a glider, use the batt to climb to 500m kill the engine, ensure there are no auto milling of the prop, use thermal to climb what is max of the day (3000m AGL) and stay 10h up there under the clouds, and fly with the battery over the night, in some scenario 20h airtime. :D

[@iforce2d]

wow! great stuff!

[@EhsanAlnazi]

Fantastic, with this type of planes

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! Yeah, I think that’s about as good as I can do with a 2.4 meter wingspan. Pretty amazing that you can just buy one off the shelf, swap the motor and prop and add a big battery and you’re good to go.

[@EhsanAlnazi]

@@MatthewHeiskell yes, I see, and thanks for sharing this.

[@REDROBRCFPV]

Awesome job man 👍🤘

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! I love your work too!

[@camk2552]

340 MILES!!! That is some serious distance congrats

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Many thanks! Sorry for the late reply. Yeah, a few days later I got on Google Maps and started drawing distance lines to see how far it could have gone on a one way mission.

[@KainniaK]

Could you not get even longer flight times if you build a mechanism to eject empty cells?

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Yes, haha, losing weight like burning liquid fuel.

[@Rocketman0407]

Is the Volantex Phoenix 2400mm a good lit/platform to build a long range fpv plane? I just wanna cruise around mostly and do the recordings with a gopro.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

It is for sure!

[@Rocketman0407]

@@MatthewHeiskell Cool, I got most of the hardware except the plane now. Raspberry pi zero, Flight controller, GPS module with compass, reliever, ELRS controller. Need some nice VTX system then. I will go Analoge at first. as for plane I already have a Z84 and a 1.500dm balsa glider. what do you think use the Z84 or balsa glider or get a larger Phoenix? The Z84 is a flying wing with roughly.1 meter wingspan.

[@stephennazworth8330]

This is very inspiring Matthew. Setting this bar and having been over 2 years is impressive. This probably constitutes as a Guinness World Record. Have you thought to reach out and claim it?

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! Glad to hear that you enjoyed it too. I contacted AMA, but there's not a category for this kind of RC endurance flight. They guy was like, "wait, you never turned the motor off?!" haha

[@piotrcofalik4565]

Hi Matthew great video! have you got any more information/instruction on how you made the battery pack?

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! I built the battery pack with a spot welder and nickel strips. There are lots of good tutorials on KZbin, especially the people who build packs for DIY ebikes. The olny significant difference is that RC people don't include balance boards or BMS boards. We let our RC chargers take care of that.

[@piotrcofalik4565]

@@MatthewHeiskell thank you!

[@undeze]

Awesome effort. Well done

[@MatthewHeiskell]

Thanks! 😄