K.C.'s Garage

I was doing some fast, straight line FPV flying with one of my quadcopters and a few things struck me about how multicopters fly in a straight (horizontal) line; The more you pitch forward (to go faster) the less aerodynamic you are The angle of the pitch actually serves to reduce lift, effectively fighting the motors Finding the maximum forward speed is a risky, manual process. So what if you wanted to build a multicopter optimized for forward flight?  I've seen some 250mm FPV racers that actually had the front two motors angled forward to increase the forward speed at a lower pitch angle.  I found myself asking - what if you could dynamically actuate the front motors forward instead of pitching the whole aircraft?  (Similar to the motors on an Osprey, but sans wings.) Vectored thrust on multirotors is uncommon, but not new.  Still, this idea has a singular purpose which makes working out the details and controls a bit easier. So, I decided to build one....

So you got a quadcopter or other multirotor aircraft recently. Welcome to the hobby! Here's some notes about getting started, learning to fly, and what to watch out for. This is not an all-inclusive list, and I highly recommend also reading / watching some other guides . Above all else, be safe and be mindful of where you fly. Don't fly over unwitting crowds or people, over other people's property without their permission, or any place that might pose a hazard to aircraft, automobiles, or people. I highly recommend learning to fly with an inexpensive "nano" quadcopter such as the Blade Nano QX or the Hubsan X4 (Amazon).  If your first quad is a DJI Phantom 2 or something of similar size and weight, please consider buying an inexpensive nano quad like the ones mentioned here and learning on that first. There are a few reasons for this: You will crash. Crashing a $60 quad is a lot easier to deal with than crashing a $600+ quad. Small, lightweight...

Update :  Have one?  Building one?   Click Here: Donkey Quad Manual A while ago I bought an inexpensive HobbyKing F330 frame, thinking I would use it with some SunnySky X2212-9 1400KV motors and 8" props I had.  Unfortunately, that turned out to be a very unstable combination.  It was fast as hell, and good at aerobatics, but I couldn't tune the shakes out of it.  I decided those motors were just too big for that small 330mm frame. On a whim, I was looking at the cheapest 3S capable outrunners that HobbyKing sells when I ran across these ugly duckings here: The Donkey ST2004-1550kv , "When pulling power matters and looks.. well.. just don't." HobbyKing Donkey ST2004-1550kv The mounts are nonstandard ugly aluminum tangs with holes in them.  The sticker oddly says "ST2204-1550kv" whereas the website part number os "ST2004-1550kv".  They have 3mm shafts, but don't include any collets or prop adapters. But, they're dirt ch...

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...