VTOL Building Tips with Ben from 3DXR

[@kenhaupt1865]

My wife and I were just talking about building a VTOL project over Christmas as well. Perfect solution for a road trip companion. I'll probably follow you along with your build and also transition my zohd dart 250 into a VTOL rig. Can't wait!

[@beefybeef1326]

Brilliant video- was very interesting and full of useful information. Really look forward to your VTOL project.

[@mikegriffiths7487]

Hi Lee, this video is very timely for me because I’m in final assembly of my first VTOL tailsitter. I am following ArxangelRC to build an ArkBird VTOL. I am using Arduplane flashed to a Matek F405-wing and setting it up in Mission Planner. I have already been greatly helped by several of your videos, for example the one you did with Ben of 3DXR about Mission Planner Secrets. It’s amazing how much skill and knowledge is freely available from the community of RC modellers - not to forget the incredibly generous efforts of the developers

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic chat, Lee! Thanks a lot! 😃 Pretty interesting subject! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@vince086]

Started looking at the tail sitters as well. Really like the idea of not having any "dead weight" like the usual quad planes. I'd love to build one. Can't wait to see what you end up going with and building.

[@ryanlemons3255]

Dead weight Flys better in wind you wouldn't be able to lift off from tail sitting under higher winds while you could just point the tricopter quad plane more into the wind

[@akkaradechsrithongchai7766]

i think so.

[@BossGarage]

Started looking at drone stuff two weeks ago and I loved it! And the VTOL it's even better 😮

[@SohelFPV]

First of all a huge thanks to you. Your videos have helped me a lot in building my first pixhawk quadcopter. Now i want to make a standard quadplane style craft. It would be very helpful for many peoples out there if you could make a dedicated video of explaining the build process(specially tha configuration, flight modes, transition etc. )/tutorial of standard quad plane style VTOL craft from generic or basic parts needed.

[@Painless360]

VTOL series planned. Stay tuned

[@SohelFPV]

@@Painless360 thank you very much Waiting for that

[@AnasSuhaimi]

Superb topic.... THANK YOU very much, Lee.

[@ibrahimkocaalioglu]

Nice video. Thank you very much. For takeoff you may use high current li ion used in e-cigar

[@DadsRCHangar]

I hope you guys stayed safe! Really great video about VTOL, great fan of the Harrier. Be interesting what you do over Christmas. 👍🏻

[@sjakrs8930]

Looking forward to the build series!

[@haydenkim1580]

This channel best ever for me because I'm a drone engineer and I always want to learning learning England English accent. England English accent good for male.

[@kjsj2304]

Lund

[@alexislechevalier1022]

Thank you for this really interesting interview.

[@NATGEOANDSTUFFPaulbrannan]

Interesting video lee.great stuff my friend.stay safe and keep up the great work.

[@Skaaptjop]

also want to build a tailsitter, hope to see many videos on your build!!! thanks for your great content!!

[@flytelaw1]

Very interesting concepts, Lee! Can't wait to see what you come up with:-) Cheers.

[@taqyon]

I would love to have Ben's comment on that baby shark airframe. I'm considering getting one but it's an expensive risk!

[@superflanker07]

Oh man!!! really nice video!!!!!! lets start to build!!

[@AllAroundTube50]

One of the best planes on the market right now for under $200 is the XK X450 VTOL. It's considered 'a toy' probably because it comes with a proprietary controller and the flight controller is not open source (can't use Betaflight or iNav), but that little VTOL is a load of fun for the money.

[@jetmartin9501]

Great video!

[@SonAndDadFPV]

Great Lee,I'm building an S800 quad plane for the moment with Ardupilot on a Matek FC but can't find a lot of vids about it 👍

[@irsyadismail]

Matek H7 slim?

[@SonAndDadFPV]

@@irsyadismail MATEK F765-WING

[@irsyadismail]

@@SonAndDadFPV what esc did you use? 4in1 or individual escs. Wondering if a 4 in 1 can plug into big motors🤔

[@SonAndDadFPV]

@@irsyadismail got a 4in1 35A esc

[@glenrharding]

Fantastic and informative video, thank you!!

[@akkaradechsrithongchai7766]

Very nice , i am a waiting your build one.

[@benjaming9835]

Fantastic, I’m two weeks into my first VTOL quadplane build. Looking forwards your next q-plane video.

[@ryanlemons3255]

Why not tricopter vtol

[@benjaming9835]

@@ryanlemons3255 well it’s a bicopter build using ardupilot and it’s q-plane functions.

[@jwc4520]

Once more a chance to learn a new thing or two. Seems the learning curve will be steep this go round . Yet I look forward to learning at 71 ...like I did in college so many years ago. Engineering 101, you can't learn it all, but you can learn much, and know where to look for the answers ... so I'll be looking. Stay safe .

[@kjsj2304]

I request you to make a complete series on VTOL build Regards

[@philhunter2609]

I'm currently experimenting with various Tailsitter scratch builds designs. A tailsitter with non-vectored motors is probably the most difficult type of VTOL you can try. I look forward to seeing which route you decide to take. Good luck! :-)

[@NukularPower]

as usual Painless is ahead of the game! I'm sure everyone else will be making VTOl vids soon...

[@Painless360]

Maybe. Definatley feels like I started a trend with my Drak build ;) Happy flying!

[@sl66ggehrubt]

Any suggestion for this scenario: 8S for heavy lift of the vtol tail sitter vehicle using lipo for 200+ amp output, 4S lion battery bank for endurance ... How to integrate the two power systems? Diodes, switch? If I just parallel them there will be a current rush and it'll burn up in a glorious DIY 🔥 disaster..

[@Painless360]

Different power circuits for the two systems. I'll cover it in the series

[@brooksy2mike]

I built a Tricopter VTOL (front rotor tilting variety) out of a Skywalker 1900 in 2018, using Arduplane. On reflection, it's probably not the best frame for it but I did it to to see if it was possible (it is), thinking that I doubted many other people would have butchered a Skywalker in such a way. I can dig out all the old video, edit together and post some thoughts on my experiences if anyone's interested?

[@Adam_8]

Share with us, can't wait 😉

[@brooksy2mike]

@@Adam_8 Here is an early test video. Not sure if I can post link in comments but will try. Not got round to editing a proper video due to issues at home so I thought I'd at least post this. It shows an early problem where I tried to change from forward flight (FBWA) to VTOL flight (QSTB) then back again but it got "stuck" in the wrong mode then you'll see it just fell out of the sky shutting all motors down. Fortunately I had enough height to recover and still had control of the control surfaces. Never did get to the bottom of the problem. Subsequent to this video I made a mistake and went into manual mode close to the ground which instantly cuts the rear motor (it's supposed to be an emergency mode), but it just fell out of the sky and smashed into lots of pieces. Took ages to repair so will be more careful in future. Since this video I've add a smart switch to switch between a high C lower capacity vertical flight battery, then a larger capacity lower C forward flight battery. This allows you to maximise your forward flight time with a battery designed for longer lower current flights. If this battery gets depleted there is still the other high C battery for landing vertically. Hopefully I will get flying again soon but have been out of the game since Covid started due to long term shielding. I'm wondering if I should keep developing the current model or try fitting the components in another frame. The Skywalker is not a good frame for this and I only used it because I had it lying around (and it was a challenge as I haven't seen anyone else do this). With all the equipment it is severely overweight and in forward flight it has to fly so fast to stay in the air it's scary. Because of the power required in the forward motors (to hover vertically), there is no problem travelling fast in forward flight mode though. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHncpp2VopWNjKM

[@brooksy2mike]

Also forgot to mention, since this video I've also gone from 4s to 6s design to try and reduce current consumption. You'll notice that with 4s it pulls 100A in VTOL mode which is way too high and means the already thick wiring gets too hot.

[@tedbrosky]

Thanks a lot that was very helpful

[@martinverbaas]

I cant find a place to buy a starter vtol 🤔

[@toddmusser8555]

What a great surprise! I have been slowly working on making a vtol and there is a real shortage of videos of actually how the programing is done. Coming from quadcopters and betaflight and going to pixhawk is very intimidating. Pixhawk is so advanced but isn't exactly as user friendly as betaflight or inav.

[@Painless360]

Check out my Ardupilot builds. You'll need to have those basics before VTOL setups... Happy flying

[@robertparenton7470]

How do you separately calibrate ESC that is in this config Herelink Ground Control to Herelink Air unit on drone connected to Pixhawk 4?

[@Painless360]

Not sure, I've not played with the Herelink a lot. I'd guess it is the same as any other reciever? I'd check the Ardupilot docs in case their is something specific.. Best of luck

[@peterhancox5268]

Would love you to buy a cheap foamy plane (Bixler 1) and convert/build it as a VTOL, very interesting project

[@MrCorr3d]

See my build of similar very cheap setup, search "VTOL easyglider", Easy glider is like the easy star which bixler is a copy of.... Used OpenAero on a Kk 2.1.5 control board as less than £15.

[@Catiadr]

Bringing mine back online with newer technology.

[@kevinhoskins2142]

We would sure like to know more about the quad that Ben has on the table in front of him. It looks like a interesting design. Is it his own design or is it available in the marketplace? Thanks.

[@Painless360]

See my recent PixHawk Arducopter build where i made that..

[@awshima]

Build the tail sitter with the AR Wing Pro!

[@Painless360]

Elevons won't be big enough.. ;)

[@beefybeef1326]

@@Painless360 elevon extensions? 😉

[@kraftrad7840]

very interesting!

[@MadRC]

Looking forward to the series, nice to see Ben it’s been too long with all this nonsense going on.

[@TweakRacer]

Are you still going to build a VTOL?

[@madhurajdubey6117]

Sir I want set vtol with cube orange on baby shark I want video plugin channel no also mension

[@Painless360]

I don't understand the question..

[@JR-kk6ce]

Looks like it is going to be a very difficult series to produce because there seems to be a certain amount of serendipity involved.

[@Painless360]

Any first VTOL build need to be viewed as a fun adventure.. ;)

[@JR-kk6ce]

@@Painless360 LOL! That's exactly how I viewed my marriage.

[@edivollgas719]

really hoped you would go the tailsitter concept path. other look like two purpose systems patched together not the minimalistic design virtue specially important for air going things. resulting in too much of everything, and lot interaction complexity and lost efficiency. just in my opinion.

[@Painless360]

If you know of a good quality twin motor wing platform with big enough elevons I'd be interested in looking at it..

[@edivollgas719]

@@Painless360 thanks for the reply. I am a fan of the method and refinement achieved in the ar wing pro development path. So for me it would be great to see a vtol branch of this as a proto in your quality. Ideally ending in a refined product for us all .... Available options I know of is the arkbird vtol and several wing conversions using 3d printed motor pods ..... So for my christmas list there is a vtol wing in painless360 / ar wing pro quality 😊.

[@Piereder1]

@@Painless360 Perfect timing! I just equipped a Flite Test Spear with two power pods as a tail sitter, really to allow for some creative damage in the early trial stage (and safe some money!) And I have a PX4 sitting idle :-) Can't wait for your videos!

[@edivollgas719]

@@Painless360 found a guy on youtube ArxangelRC who built the arkbird with matek controller and ardupilot. wanted to go that way might be with a modded arwing ...... control surfaces .... stabilizers for landing .... motor pods .... but now must wait and see whats the painless360 solution ..... not to miss on the best

[@fazrulrusdi9557]

Is that bluerov2??

[@Painless360]

Yep

[@TegoSuwarto]

good

[@shadowofchaos8932]

His workshop is nice. I'd hate to see his battery and electronic bills. That big vtol is a dream own.

[@Painless360]

It is like Aladdins cave for 'serious RC' systems. It always costs me money as I see stuff I want!

[@frankintegrity7996]

Oh to be let loose in Bens workshop.RC geeks porn.

[@caringcenter5375]

interest vid. please me VTOL quadplane tutorial

[@DronePlayground]

👍👀🇭🇷

[@eurakhunt3554]

70th comment