K.C.'s Garage

I had the EDFs mounted to the frame with zip ties for the first test.  That proved a bit unstable.  I also had the problem of the motor housings sticking down lower than the rest of the quad, which posted a threat to them on landing. Talon motor mount So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone by making some EDF mount brackets that extended vertically below the bottom of the motor housings.  The Turnigy Talon frame I used included these aluminum "T" mounts, intended to be mounted horizontally at the end of the tubular arms to allow you to mount the motor on top.  I simply turned them 90 degrees so that the flat face was vertical to align them with one of the two flanges protruding from the side of the EDF housings. To mount the EDF flanges to them, I fabricated a mounting bracket to use as a clamp.  I used an old license plate frame that I cut into four equal length parts and drilled matching holes in: Four mounts cut from a discarded license pla...

I decided, against conventional "wisdom", to construct a quadcopter that uses Electric Ducted Fans (EDFs) for thrust.  There is conjecture all over the internet as to why this is a bad idea, but I was having a hard time finding any real science or performance data to back it up.  So, why not build one and see what happens? What are EDFs? EDFs are basically small, higher pitch, higher rpm propellers (sometimes called "impellers" in this application, to differentiate them from conventional propeller design) inside a cylindrical duct with a tapered inlet and as little clearance between the blades and the duct wall as possible.  They look more like jet engines than conventional propellers.  Tangent: Modern jet engines actually are turbine driven ducted fans, called " turbofans ." The primary benefit of a ducted fan is increased efficiency of the propeller by preventing (or reducing) the phenomenon of "tip vorticies" and allowing a greater ra...