ZOHD 250g Dart INAV Maiden flight tips

[@xaviersillen3428]

Great advice on CG, prop choice and FC angle offset. Extra tip: check that the motor mount (two carbon plates) assembly is square. It comes pre-assembled but it is not always perfect. If the motor axis aka thrust line is pointing down when looking towards the back (up when looking towards the front of the plane), the motor will push the tail up on launch resulting in a land dart. It is easily corrected by adding a couple of washers between the motor and the mount on the bottom side.

[@cmulder002]

Yes trust line is often ignored and people try to compensate for incorrect trust line with the CG or trim . If the model changes direction; either left/rigth or up/down when applyig trottle fast the trust line is wrong.

[@sckirk2]

Spot on Sir, luckily mine was pretty darn square.

[@sckirk2]

Just did my first FPV flights on my dart 250g today. A number of your videos and a couple others have helped me a long the way. Pro-tips now, the F411-WSE fits fabulously on the step wall back of where you currently have it, some of your plug connectors might be a bit long though, i soldered mine. VTX beside the battery with a cooling straw, HD record in the front via turtle V2. Balance wise i'm middle of my battery tray area with the 2s lion. 3s lion jammed up against the FC just almost hits my CG. Final fix and efficiency improvement is to step the motor off the back. Rag the nuts did 10mm using a motor mount kit. I simply bought 8mm nylon standoffs in M2 and 12mm m2 bolts. (solid one piece bolt through the mount, standoffs, and into the motor. Be here in a China month. In the meantime she is flying fabulous but yes i had a hard time on the board pitch even going back to your FC location setup (flat). The problem is that its tempting to flatten that forward step out on the bench and set zero for the pitch in setup.... but no, i have found that a good "zero" pitch is with the plane leaned back and resting on its vertical stabilizer tails. Its not perfect but a starting point... and then your RTH/ALT HOLD/ect wont try to crash your plane into the ground. OH and BTW i loved your Autolaunch setup, I have used it and customized it (i'm running 20 deg). Having the prop spinning is huge for power up delivery but honestly it tells me the autolaunch is working. My throw is definitely forward but almost an up chuck too, plane never goes below my head level.

[@spinlaunchglide]

Thanks for this video and the inav series, this helped a lot in getting my Dart 250 into the air today.

[@johnchandler4565]

Interesting to hear that you've adopted the two bladed prop on 3S; I also found that was the best way to get the 250G moving quickly from a hand launch, instead of becoming a lawn dart (and I struggled with that for some time). I've read on some forums that the 2 blade on 3S will fry the motor, but I really only get near full throttle on a launch and the odd high speed run; my motor doesn't get hot. Nice video Lee.

[@Painless360]

See the note in the description.. Happy flying

[@drstrangeluv25]

Burnt out my motor with 3s battery and 2s prop after testing a few seconds.

[@clayquarles8650]

Oh my goodness.. So wish I had this 4 months ago.. I wrecked mine 20 plus times before I figured it out.. I needed more weight on pitch, more angle on autolaunch (25) , DON'T throw it upwards, but faster forward (like a dart!).. I also gave it 4 degrees pitch on board level.. Now, so much fun. and haven't "darted" it into the ground since! Im flying heavy (335 grams).

[@simonwood8685]

Thanks for the tips about full throttle and launch angle.... I was about to take everything out and put the kopilot back in...... Changed the settings and flew first launch.... Before that it was nose into the ground everytime..... Thanks 👍😁

[@Painless360]

You're welcome. I am glad it saved me a lot of messing about! :) lots of ideas in the comments about why it wasn't working but it's down to these few tweaks to get it working on this model.. Happy flying

[@kamoileslie3726]

@@Painless360 I did this but I'm still going into the ground. I'm using 2 lion with the 5" prop. Any other suggestions?

[@timothyhighstone9300]

Always good stuff here!!!!

[@BatzBenzerFPV]

thanks. that helped so much. now it flies. ❤

[@Caroline_Tyler]

I have mine with a 3S 186650 Li-ion pack set way back close to the CofG, with a Runcam split in the nose and the F411-wse directly behind it. Needless to say it ain't 250gm anymore but flys just great.

[@sckirk2]

Lol, the 250g dream

[@maxun1]

Love you tips, mine has everything in the back, and my F411 is in the same position, I do have a big camera, runcam eagle 2 full side, and 2 Lion, this plane was a 100 day one. All work perfect, is my grab and go with no drama.

[@sleepingbearffg5008]

Been looking forward to this

[@ericeves6452]

Hello Lee, I'm having an issue with my Dart 250g. There are pitch wobbles when applying up elevon. It happenes in both stabilized modes and manual modes too. I'm currently flying with it on the factory CG marks as well. This makes it 'interesting' to try and pull out of dives, etc. Any advice on how to cure this issue?

[@MCsCreations]

Amazing flying, Lee!!! 😃 Thanks a lot for all the tips!!! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@dronepilot260rc]

I'm just now getting this. The stock 1406 2600kv seemed a bit underpowered on 3s ( maybe I'm just used to fast fliers) I tried 4s on the stock motor and 5050 prop. Killed the motor in 5 seconds haha. I now have a xilo 1408 3600kv motor on a 4032 tri blade genfan and on 3s, it's definitely the right amount of power to weight. I'm running a radiolink Byme-D, stock esc, 1408 3600kv motor, 2s 1800mah with added weight , nano crsf (run on sbus) it weighed in at 245g. Giving up the 250g dream and running a 3s 1500mah with same 3 blade prop and this is a great prop flier 😎🤙

[@Painless360]

Smaller models like this don't need lots of power and are not really designed to be rippers too. The limited foam and CF in them make them too prone to flutter at higher speeds. I also gave up on the sub 250g area (with the exception of the ZOHD Drift) as the compromises to get to the weight make them not for me.

[@airhogfpv1283]

Do you use the stock Inav tune for the 250 G? Great looking build! Love the carbon style tape at the front to cover the cam!

[@Painless360]

I did. That cover is just a piece of carbon effect vinyl cut into shape. Very light but looks the part... Happy flying

[@MikeS-iy7kb]

Hello, just watched this video, and noticed that at the 8:28 mark a quad landed in front of you? Anyway, I thought it was kind of funny! Love your videos, keep up the great work!

[@lightshade95]

The ZOHD is affected by the dynamic instability called Dutch roll. Wind has a different type of instability on an aircraft

[@afterburnerrc6333]

Just to clarify, with the model (bottom of fuse) sitting flat on a table you want approx 5 deg of uptilt as its read from the FC? I actually have mine set to zero with the wings flat but have not flown mine yet. Great tip on the launch angle, I have heard others going as much as 45deg

[@rohansully584]

Had all these issues this morning! I'm noticing it struggle on launch with the 2S Lion 5" 2 blade prop set up

[@blackbirdboy1]

I've heard of people putting the FC in the nose & 3S Lithium pack behind it on or near the CG.

[@goku445]

ragsthenutsoff has a video on his setup. I'm really not comfortable putting the FC in the nose tho.

[@blackbirdboy1]

@@goku445 Its not in the nose exactly. He's got a hybrid cam in the nose. The FC is behind that where the battery would be. Its up to you. You HAVE to be creative if you want to work around the limitations of an a small airframe without adding more weight to the tail to achieve CG. His flew great. I know from personal experience that the FC DOESN'T have to be placed on the CG to be affective

[@goku445]

@@blackbirdboy1 I would be scared of the battery smashing into it. Also the canopy lid doesnt close with a 3s 18650 pushed far back. Well I'll have to find a way. :D

[@blackbirdboy1]

@@goku445 I'm sure a bit of trimming with a craft knife & or a hot piece of metal will get you the room you need to shut the lid. Matt Ogborne used a 3S Lithium pack i believe. So you can wire it up how ever you need to make it thin and long to fit it. If do that personally. A 3000 or 3300 3S will keep it 8n the sir for well over an hour cruising around at 2-3A.

[@goku445]

@@blackbirdboy1 I guess you are right. I don't like doing heavy surgery to my planes. I bought 2(!) 3s ZOHD LiIon packs for planes too small (mini AR wing and dart250) and now I struggle to find a way to use them. I even thought of dissembling them... haha Well, we'll get there eventually. For now the 1300 mah lipos will do the job. :)

[@Euwanh85]

Can someone ln the 4x4 2 bladed prop fr ths please

[@RB-qg1qx]

Good info Lee and other posters, thanks!

[@martinmacko7297]

Hi Lee, can you pls post link for 4x4 prop u recommend? I am bit afraid to run t now with 5x5 after many people burned motors after ... THX!

[@Painless360]

I dug one out of my spares bin here. Best of luck!

[@martinmacko7297]

@@Painless360 one more question pls. In stabilized mode my servo throws are to small in my opinion. Which param to tune for increased throw in stab mode? Many thx Lee!

[@Painless360]

That is how it works. Setup the throws in manual mode.. Happy flying

[@chrispfligler5892]

I’m having the same nose planting issues with my reptile dragon 1200. I’ll gIve these tips a shot. Thanks

[@dude770725]

Careful! The reptile dragon has a totally wrong CG by the factory! You are not the first to probably totally destroy it because of that! Google it and search for CG reptile dragon in YT and you will find out!

[@sckirk2]

The board pitch for me was inverted to my thought process. You may be adding pitch in the wrong direction. My suggestion is to place your plane where there bottoms of the wings are departing from parallel to the ground by 3-5 degrees (obviously wings pitched up for a climb). This is your neutral flying position and under the setup tab in inav you should see around 0.0 degrees of pitch if you have adjusted the pitch angle on your board right. I do a similar setup for roll but i set up my plane on equal height risers under the wings. Flight controller pins for the servo make my board slightly off center (1.4 degrees) for roll. After one day of flying i think i'm within a degree or two off but inav can handle it. Going to wait for a calm day to fine tune the rest.

[@frankyflowers]

it would be cool it you tried it in wind stronger than most people with only one model would ever dare. I wonder if the autopilot would compensate in crazy ways.

[@Painless360]

I get what you are saying. I tend to fly larger, heavier more powerful stuff here. I still like to fly when there is more than a breeze. Check out the recent builds.. Happy flying

[@cancerjeezus]

Can that thing carry a gopro?

[@Painless360]

I wouldn't try. It's designed to be lightweight..

[@Kinex605]

I took the all of the advice from this video but I kept the 3-bladed propeller and it launches beautifully. One issue I'm running into, however, is that the magnetometer doesn't seem to give me the right heading even when calibrating an orienting it right in iNav. Sometimes it looks accurate while flying and later it doesn't. I mounted the GPS in the same location - could the cover magnets cause an issue? Would a buzzer underneath really disorient it?

[@Painless360]

I don't use the compass on fixed wing...see my video on that..

[@Kinex605]

@@Painless360 Thanks for the tip! Your video titled "Fixed Wing Flight Controllers - Do I need a Compass?" that I found explains my question perfectly.

[@gonhana1624]

How do I display information such as distance, height, direction and voltage on my goggles?

[@Painless360]

If you want that then you will have to install a flight controller. See my videos where I added one to this model... Best of luck

[@gonhana1624]

@@Painless360 Thank you very much. I will study by watching the video.

[@gonhana1624]

@@Painless360 There are many videos available. Please let me know which ones you find instructive.

[@Painless360]

Please see this video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmXWoIVshsyCoZI - that should help you find those videos of mine and help you find the answers you need quickly

[@gonhana1624]

@@Painless360 Thank you very much.

[@BryonGaskin]

Is motor direction supposed to be CW or CCW. Mine came CW. Using the bi blade prop that came with it, numbers to the front?

[@Painless360]

Yes. See my video: New pilot tips: Installing your prop (don't get it the wrong way around!)

[@BryonGaskin]

@@Painless360 Thanks. I watched it a couple of times but kept getting confused. The Dart 250 is my first wing/plane. My Dart came with the motor spinning clockwise. ZOHD would be wise to provide better instructions on motor direction and proper prop placement as I'm guessing the Dart 250g is probably a lot of people's first wing.

[@Painless360]

I have videos all about that. My videos on FW basics are worth a watch if you're new to it. I'll also add your question to a new one I'm doing for the Painless360 Answers series too..

[@rogergravel6638]

Thanks for your video i flew my 250 dart about 75 times last summer i have a zohd kopilot in it and it took me a while to have a successful launch at first i tried auto launch with a 3 cells 850 lipo and the 3 blades prop the delay is to long with the kopilot and it was a tad nose heavy then i balance it flat with the 2 blade prop with a little up elevon mix on a switch full throttle a little up angle in manual mode and up she go then the motor burned brand new 850 lipo and 5 inch prop was to much you have worn out batteries i think that is wy you didn't burned your motor yet so i switched to a 4x4 2 blade and have the perfect combination its one of my favourite fpv plane

[@Painless360]

I would like to see more pilots making videos and content with that type of great detail in. It helps new owners avoid the trial and error. Happy flying!

[@rogergravel6638]

@@Painless360 Thanks Lee you are a n inspiration to me and many of us in the hobby

[@Dv9UnKnoWn3]

What was the auw?

[@Painless360]

About 263g with Lipo. Covered in the other videos on this..

[@gosurc1860]

Same issues on my 250. What version of iNav is this?

[@Painless360]

2.5.2

[@gosurc1860]

@@Painless360 - I’m trying 2.6 and I got it off today for the first time after a number of failed attempts. I copied across settings from another pilots 2.5 and it seemed to launch fine

[@gosurc1860]

@@Painless360 I just checked 2.6 and using the 250g preset it says “Please set the Stabilised Roll weight to 80, and set the Stabilised Pitch weight to 65”. No wonder it wasn’t working properly ! I had it set to 50 & 50 per default

[@NATGEOANDSTUFFPaulbrannan]

Great work Lee.emaild you my friend.stsy safe and keep up the great work

[@drstrangeluv25]

Heads up for others: I burnt out my motor with a 2s prop and 3s battery.

[@comsterfpv9668]

I got into the habit of holding my planes nose down until the moment of launch. Oddly, it has seemed to make a difference. The explanation could be integral term wind up in the PID control. Or maybe just superstition.

[@Painless360]

It was odd that this exact Autolaunch setup has worked on every single other model without tweaks - hence the video for others who struggle even after following my Autolaunch video. I have a video that I made with Pawel on the whole iterm/AIRMODE stuff coming soon as its often misunderstood and something I see repeated often in the forums.. Happy flying