NEW HEEWING Ranger T-1 VTOL PNP Edition: First look!

[@JohnVHRC]

I look forward to these vtols getting dialed out of the box, then Ill buy one!

[@bartonfink5051]

The canned Ardu settings are where the value is for me, especially for VTOLs which need that secret parameter sauce. So great job calling them on it. Once I see this I will pick one up.

[@upperechelon3456]

Excellent video Lee [as usual] its about time this finally happened. Soon as I finished your video I went to the site and they were all out. I'll wait for the regular release. I'm definitely not on the fence anymore. 😄

[@MattysDroneWorld]

You know, after flying fpv for 2 years now, I have been eyeing one of these vtols! Shelby Voll flies wings, and I love it! Your awesome with these things man, great job! ❤

[@LiftVector]

I am really looking forward to the day I try VTOL! I'm sure you will guide me to a successful first flight when the time comes. Impressive craft!

[@beefybeef1326]

Very nice!. Really want one of these once its all tuned. Thanks again for the great video

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic review, Lee! Thanks!!! 😃 Finally they put in the market like that! It's much easier this way! Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@patricehonvault2612]

After seeing your video I ordered the T1 Ranger VTOL. I haven't made the first flight yet, I'm missing a spare part for my Cadxx Vista. However, while making adjustments to the aircraft, I noticed that the neutral setting of the aileron servos was very poor, it was better but not perfect for elevator. In fact, by choosing manual mode, the servo arms were not perpendicular to the servos, the control surfaces were not in neutral. I put the arms back perpendicular and adjusted the control rods to put the control surfaces in neutral. Obviously in Qloiter or FWBA mode, this doesn't matter much, the flight controler will correct the attitude of the T1. But in manual flight, this could surprise the pilot. Have you noticed a problem like this on your T1 Ranger VTOL pnp? It is advisable to redo the compass calibration, by default Ardupilot ticks 3 compasses in the options, but there is only one compass in the T1, should I leave all three ticks, or only one during calibration? Patrice

[@illuminatorix]

I have just bought one (not yet received it) and I really hope I can figure it out and fly. My only concern is the GPS location since I'm going to add a DJI O3 unit all the way the GPS is now with a gimbal for head tracker. Thanks for the video and your help!

[@pauladiti2820]

Hello Lee, Thanks very much for this first look at the VTOL T1. I am pretty new to RC and have flown only a little with a floatplane (Albatross). In the mean time I bought the Heewing T1 Ranger VTOL PNP and it arrived within a fortnight, so far so good. I intend to fly it with my RadioMaster TX16S II and have put a FlySky FS-iA10B receiver into the plane and here is where I got stuck. I have elevator and aileron control and at one point I had the wing motors running but as soon as I switch on, the motors convert to the forward flight stand and the tail motor is not running at all. This can mean that I need to do a lot of programming in my radio or... I do not have the right receiver. I am using the receiver in SBUS-PPM mode (channel 1) with a three-wire connection to S9 on the Flight controller, the TX16S Mode is respectively in Multi, FlSky2A, PPM,SBUS. Is this receiver not suitable for this setup and what should I use instead? Hope you can point me in the right direction, or maybe you know of someone that can explain to me what is going on. Regards from The Netherlands, Paul

[@Painless360]

Common connection types used are SBUS and CRSF. Which one are you using to connect to the FC?

[@pauladiti2820]

@@Painless360 FlySky calls it i-BUS but I use it as if it is s-BUS and that works for my Avios Albatross with ZOHD Kopilot lite. Maybe I should buy a RadioMaster receiver?

[@Painless360]

IBUS does work with SBUS inputs usually. It was an odd idea from FrSky... Happy flying!

[@pauladiti2820]

@@Painless360 Thanks for the info Lee, I'll start looking at my programming skills for the RadioMaster :-)

[@johncarold]

Hi Lee, I love my Ranger T1, but the conversation was too expensive. I like the new kit, butim not sure about the price. My favorite is the OMPHOBBY ZMO, I just can't afford it. It definitely nice once HeeWing has it set up a little bit more easy. Thanks again for the video and information about this kit.

[@willay747]

Nice video! Looks like a nice plane but your link provided is not working. Found it but sold out already..

[@Painless360]

Link was for the pre-release. I can't find one for the released SKU... Happy flying

[@tomleonard1533]

Great to see that thanks

[@jimmytheriot8978]

Check out my T1 ranger vtol fpv flight with my homemade fpv cockpit if you haven't yet

[@JC-tx1pd]

Nice review, thanks. How long it will be in the air and how many km will fly with one battery? Thank you.

[@Painless360]

That depends on the size of battery, how long you spend in hover and how you use the throttle in forward flight... 20-30 mins should be possible with care... Happy flying

[@JC-tx1pd]

@@Painless360 Thanks

[@davidlee50]

What is the rotation of the front motors and what would be the proper 3 blade prop?

[@Painless360]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Direction of rotation?

[@Todd_G_FPV]

Do u have a video on how to put a dji vista or 03 unit in this kit? I just got the pro ordered so hoping to have some fun around Christmas time!

[@Todd_G_FPV]

I already fly fpv drones but never tried a plane let alone a vtol so this looked like an affordable fun setup

[@Painless360]

I have one on the Walksnail system, the setup is almost identical kzbin.info/www/bejne/m57XgYmLnN2SbNk

[@Todd_G_FPV]

Thank u!​@@Painless360

[@typxxilps]

I still wonder when we will see these kind of planes in a slightly more pogressive design with not a tilting motor configuration but with the whole wing and motors pivvoting cause that would be by far the most efficient way to take off and do the transition from hovering cause the drag of the wings would be gone during take off and the plane would get lift from the very first moment the wing starts to tilt. I had seen such model somewhere in the suisse for drone delivery cause there efficiency will be the king and make the difference how many deliveries could be achieved cause flying to another delivery point 1 km away is a huge saving compared to flying 4 km back and then start a new 4+1 = 5 km flight. Lot of time means lots of ressources lost and also high cost cause cost of such drones will be paid more or less by airtime or simply charging cycles of the battery. And then efficiency will matter big time cause 30% more flight endurance will beat any other competitor. Why 30% ? Well , the inefficiency of the most motor pivoting vtols will suffer during flight by the additional drag and weight from the rear motor, then the additional weigt of that motor and its esc. Therefore flight time should be a lot better for such models with a tilting wing in the right position. Now I found the page again: search for 'dufour aero' or simply add a dot between I guess the transition will be a lot smoother than this Osprey style design even though it makes me wonder why the marines had choosen that instead of a pivoting wing. The wing axle will have its own problems for sure too, but if that would be doable the gains could be huge but also depending what it will cost and need in weight and money to pitch a wing from inside the fuselage that might become bigger, will need a motor and most likely a fixation during flight

[@circleofowls]

You might be interested in the PteroDynamics drone. It's not a hobby product but the mechanics are fascinating and might be possible to DIY.

[@droningon825]

Just ordered this thanks for the video. Just wondering would I be ok to run on a home made 4s2p Lion battery pack 7000mah approx LG MJ1 cells used

[@Painless360]

Only room for 4 liion cells inside with a flight controller from testing here.. best of luck

[@droningon825]

@@Painless360 it dose look longer 2 long 2 wide an 2 high would make the pack. should be with me in next week or so. so can find out for myself. just though if can get cg ok with its wing span should be ok with weight

[@l33sno]

What Lipo does this plane take

[@TheRattleSnake3145]

Anyone know of a setup video for this plane? All I can find is for the converted version or they don't actually show you what to do.

[@Painless360]

Same process as the DIY one. Full setup of the PNP coming when Ardupilot 4.4 and improved tune is out... Stay tuned

[@TheRattleSnake3145]

@@Painless360 ok, thanks!

[@forrestallison1879]

HOW is yaw controlled? Front motors bank?

[@Painless360]

Exactly. Tilting front motors. Happy flying

[@pilotmiami1]

bravo.perfect

[@KK-ol5ov]

I fly FPV drones but lately I’m keen to learn to fly fixed wings uav. Would this Hee wing vtol be a nice introduction as I am afraid to launch.

[@Painless360]

Yes, but not in the VTOL setup. Go for the standard plane and fit INAV to help you launch... Happy flying

[@KK-ol5ov]

@@Painless360 thank you, I will look into that. So INAV can help it stay afloat when I hand launch it.

[@Painless360]

Yep, Autolaunch...

[@KK-ol5ov]

@@Painless360 thanks, I see many times people launching and crashing that made me think it took lots of skill. I need to find a local flying spot next.

[@daniel.b9797]

Is it really a plug and play? Did you ever test it out? If so, please tell me the link of the video.

[@MrBEEFCAKE26]

Can you hook up a vista or.dji air unit to flight controller on board ?

[@Painless360]

If there is a spare UART (Serial Port) then it should do... I will be revisiting this model soon, so stay tuned!

[@MrBEEFCAKE26]

​@Painless360 will do thanks painless

[@jeffpv7468]

So basically what I've heard from the comments is, Airframe good, and tune bad. I think I'll go with the PNP vtol with tout the FC and put my own guts in. I got my OG Heewing tuned out pretty good until a motor mount busted in flight. I think ill get the VTOL version and copy the guts I had in the old one to the new one, with the exception of the Telemetry SIK Radio. The one thing Ill need to find Is transition and tuning params for the VTOL part of the aircraft. Which should be fun to get my hands on. 😄

[@Painless360]

Lots of work on this... Stay tuned

[@dougmcpheters1546]

When Lee speaks RC, the universe listens! 👂🦻🎇

[@GhostRyderFPV]

Good day, Sir. I'm throwing together my own VTOL Ranger, with he conversion kit - I was wondering what HeeWing did with the wingtip LEDs in this VTOL PnP? Thank you!

[@Painless360]

I can't recall. See my own Ranger T-1 VTOL build series.. Happy flying

[@JustFavorites123321]

Great tease ;-). I got mine last week but have only managed to qloiter and qland so far. ERLS on uart1, dji on uart2. So the stock gps/compass got too hot and stopped working (too hot to touch in fact). I replaced it with a Matek M10Q-5883 and the GPS and compass work fine and are staying cool. I don't know if I'll put the plastic gps cover on again. Can you ask them about the lack of a boot loader button and although ardupilot sees it as a MatekF405-TE, Heewing warns you that you can only use the Heewing firmware. Is this a real STM405? So far this looks like a great value on a proven airframe and a proven VTOL conversion kit.

[@knowledgeis5855]

Thanks Steve. I have this and a DJI 03 to put into it. What would your best suggestion be. Should i widen the camera hole or mount it above the nose?

[@Painless360]

I've not tried to fit an 03 but gave installed the previous generation of DJI Air Units. Camera in the nose... Best of luck

[@rogermeagher2194]

Got mine a few days ago, but having issues: 1. The pre-configuration has ARMING_CHECK = 0, which means no arming checks at all. In this state, I can get it to hover in Q_Stabilize mode. If I try to implement any other Arming Checks, it returns: PreArm: Internal errors 0x4000 l:213 spi_fail and will refuse to arm. Heewing pointed me to their most recent instructions, which have not solved it. 2. The GPS is highly affected by any camera in the nose, and will refuse to find any satellites (tried 2 different analogue cameras). Heewing suggested that I move the GPS puck somewhere else. Humph. Any tips on solving the internal error message would be greatly appreciated. 3. No Logging! (unless I've missed something).

[@Painless360]

I'd keep at HEEWING as I've not got enough into this to comment - yet.

[@JustFavorites123321]

I think what they mean by the instructions for PreArm check is that they say to turn it off in the instructions. Doctor, it hurts when I do this. Doctor "Don't do that". Problem solved ;-). Not.

[@JustFavorites123321]

Set LOG_BACKEND_TYPE to 0 and you should be good to go on adding arming checks.

[@Alexei2904]

Amazing video series, you helped me decide to get this model but I have a question regarding the flight controller, is it worth getting the FX-405 FC from heewing or investing a bit more in the Matek F405 VTOL. I am thinking maybe with Matek I can run this model also using INAV and is a target that is clearly updated.

[@Painless360]

INAV doesn't support VTOL. You'll need Ardupilot... best of luck!

[@DimisFpv]

How time can fly?And with battery ?

[@Painless360]

Check out my build series for this model, I cover that.. best of luck

[@spectator_mr]

Can it land and take off in plane mode?

[@Painless360]

If you want to, but that kinda missed the point, no?

[@pierluigizagaria]

What would you recommend between this and the fimi manta?

[@Painless360]

As a VTOL? Nothing at the moment... Happy flying

[@pierluigizagaria]

@@Painless360 i would like to start with planes. The T1 seems to be really good. Would you reccommend other planes in the same size?

[@Painless360]

The T1 is probably the one used by the largest group at that size.. So help can be easier to find.. Best of luck!

[@emperorkalel]

Can I use any battery with this one?

[@Painless360]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Can you elaborate?

[@emperorkalel]

@Painless360 Sorry, I meant any 4s battery because heewing sells a 15.4v lipo but most 4s are not 15.4v

[@Painless360]

I use a regular 4s here... Happy flying

[@emperorkalel]

@@Painless360 thank you

[@sherwoodp2738]

Do you have a *.param file available to download that has been tuned and fully flight tested to include the RW to FW & FW back to RW transition modes?

[@Painless360]

See my video from last weekend all about that. Download links are there... Best of luck

[@davidn7795]

Nice

[@simonwood8685]

I was going to buy one of these but the bit about the tune put me off.... I bought the xiake 800... Now I'm replacing the flight controller with a matek h743 wing and m10 gps and compass .. I think I'll wait until companies start making really reliable and well tuned vtol craft.. The company that does this will sell loads.. Im okay with inav and betaflight... But ardupilot as feature rich as it is is daunting for us mere mortals lol

[@Painless360]

I have to agree. Heewing, OMPHobby or Jumper have an opportunity to take the market by releasing a fully tuned and tested VTOL setup for ALL parts of the flight so that pilots just need to add a radio and FPV great to fly without issue. I'm still pushing them..

[@simonwood8685]

@@Painless360 thanks for your effort hopefully they will listen 🤞

[@youngmangoingwest]

And ... its gone from their web page!

[@TheRattleSnake3145]

Sold out. :(

[@Painless360]

These things are very popular..

[@lord_of_sofa3434]

back in stock

[@kieren7763]

I have a printable vtol mechanism on thingiverse for the big cheap gliders i copied the idea from these planes i like the idea so much

[@christhorney]

keen on the flight video to see if they have it working proper or not, if not its a bit of a joke lol they should pay some ardu devs to spend some time developing a solution to intergrate into ardupilot so they can ship a polished product, im sure it would sell a lot better if it wasnt such a shambles of a product with no real software support