I was in the hunt for something small, stable and that had decent duration, so I've ended up with a Mini Talon. It ticks all the boxes and should be nice an efficient for longer range sorties. I was going to go UHF and 1.3GHz but I've decided just to keep it simple and stick on the L9R and 5.8Ghz video.
Ordered from banggood for just over £50. Took about 3 weeks to arrive and looked like it had been kicked most of the way here from China!
(http://s32.postimg.org/swjkpneq9/2016_04_22_14_12_05.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/swjkpneq9/)
(http://s32.postimg.org/n8hvchzrl/2016_04_22_14_12_12.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/n8hvchzrl/)
Thankfully there was no damage to the foam though, so all is well. Ordered some MG90 servos, a 5A BEC and a 180 degree servo for pan on the camera. Will be running with 5200mah 4S Multistars which should hopefully be a good spot for performance and decent flight times. Some people are flying them with 2 of those batteries! :O
Anyway, started the build tonight by checking everything over, centered all my servos and decided to give it a lick of paint. Just had a quick brainwave for a scheme and masked it up and gave it a spray using cheapo spray paint from B&M bargains. Only £1 a can and it works well. Hitting it with the heat gun drys it quickly and it seems to stick well to the foam. Gave it a quick blast with clear lacquer spray to try and seal it on, then had to retire from the loft before I passed out from the fumes! Really should do it outside next time, had a mask on but by the end it wasn't good!
Still, happy with how it turned out, I'll get some RAF roundels to go on to add some colour and its done look wise!
(http://s32.postimg.org/dxrz3qkwh/2016_04_29_18_05_26.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/dxrz3qkwh/)
(http://s32.postimg.org/pi1e9ijbl/2016_04_29_18_05_34.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/pi1e9ijbl/)
(http://s32.postimg.org/6lhxkgdap/2016_04_29_18_14_51.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/6lhxkgdap/)
Next up will be laying out the electronics, will have a Tornado OSD going in, 40A ESC and 1100kv Turnigy motor swinging a 9x6 prop I think to start with!
There's so much room inside, looking forward to getting on with it!
Nice, looks the business already.
Heard a lot of good thing about these, might have to slip one of these in before my MFTwin build.
Subed
Looks nice mate. I reckon you'll get bored of the 2.4 and 5.8 quick though so going back to your original plan ain't a bad idea seeing as those things cover ground quick and can carry a huge capacity for their size.
Ignore the CG stickers on the wings Ewan, they are wrong, ask me how I know
Hit for just behind the servo cables and you'll be in the ball park
Good luck
TeamFTP has/had one of these and it flew brilliantly. Might be worth pinging him a message asking what setup he had on it (I can't remember).
Cheers guys! Looking forward to getting further with it but away with work this week so won't be able to progress till later in the week.
Quote from: bignose13 on April 30, 2016, 09:24:28 AM
Ignore the CG stickers on the wings Ewan, they are wrong, ask me how I know
Hit for just behind the servo cables and you'll be in the ball park
Good luck
Cheers Simon, I remember you said that before. Did you cut a channel yourself for the servo leads? Could only see the channel for the spar which is glued in.
Quote from: Lola on April 30, 2016, 08:20:33 AM
Looks nice mate. I reckon you'll get bored of the 2.4 and 5.8 quick though so going back to your original plan ain't a bad idea seeing as those things cover ground quick and can carry a huge capacity for their size.
I know, I'm just trying to keep the costs down at the moment, don't really want to buy another UHF system since selling on the EZUHF. Thing is, I'd be happy with the ~5km range of the L9R, its just the 5.8ghz video that lets it down. Did anything ever happen with the 3-4ghz systems that came out a while ago?
Cut my own mate, why they glued the spars and foam covers on is anybody's guess, still a good plane though
I got a 3D print for the front in stead of the ply plate if you want on, I can do this week sometime
needs a mini servo, can do pics if you want
Got any pics? I got a 180 degree mini servo for some pan action so will need a mount! I've got a printer though so could just print it if you have the stl?
Got most of this completed over the weekend, laid everything out and tried to figure out the best way to fit the Tornado and gubbins that were already all wired up from my Z3, there is tonnes of room in this thing! I stuck a bit of balsa on to the spar cage so that the Tornado could sit on that, then stuck the current sensor, BEC and 12v regulator on to the bottom -
(http://s33.postimg.org/cwevyy1u3/2016_06_03_19_18_50.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/cwevyy1u3/)
Works quite well and leaves plenty of space for the receiver and battery etc. I glued the fuse together with gorilla glue and left it overnight to set. I was going to 3D print a canopy for the pan servo (thanks to bignose for sending me one), but I decided to just cut a slot in the plywood canopy that was supplied. I need to make a mount for the runcam 2 and HS1117 camera to go on, but hopefully should work ok!
(http://s33.postimg.org/7otsuhl8r/2016_06_05_20_35_31.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/7otsuhl8r/)
Last night I glued on the vertical stabilisers and slotted the wings on. I think I'll just run some clear tape down the join so that I can easily separate them whenever I need to, gluing seems too permanent.
All together -
(http://s33.postimg.org/d5cgovemj/2016_06_05_21_08_55.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/d5cgovemj/)
Need to do some wire tidying and print a pitot tube mount as well -
(http://s33.postimg.org/h0furfxsb/2016_06_05_21_09_00.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/h0furfxsb/)
As mentioned in jt's thread I used the stock servo rods and adaptor things, but they bend under load and I don't trust the screw tightened onto the rod, so I will probably swap those out. Hopefully can get it finished this week, although we have a heatwave in Scotland just now so working in the loft where I have my desk and stuff is a proper sweatshop so it's really uncomfortable! Need to hurry up and build my workshop in the garden!
Looking good ;D I'm going to put a 'floor' into the support cage in mine too, it seems to be crying out for one to mount an AP, strange that they didn't make it a tray in the first place?
Yeah, I have no idea why they didn't as it's such an obvious place for one!
So my build is 99% completed, just need to decide on whether to use the stock horns or not!
I knocked up a camera mount for my Runcam 2 and HS1177 board camera using some existing models from thingiverse and joining the two to give:
(http://s32.postimg.org/obdcwglbl/Capture.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/obdcwglbl/)
It took a few iterations on the printer but the final result is:
(http://s32.postimg.org/4phzxngtt/2016_06_07_11_47_31.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/4phzxngtt/)
(http://s32.postimg.org/tmgs0tfxt/2016_06_07_11_52_59.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/tmgs0tfxt/)
and fitted to the servo on the plywood camera tray:
(http://s32.postimg.org/gxqmbii9d/2016_06_07_12_16_04.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/gxqmbii9d/)
Pretty pleased with it, I had to cut away some more of the plywood tray to allow it to rotate freely, but it works really well with the 180 degree Turnigy servo. I now need to figure out how to use the head tracker on my skyzones, anyone done it before?
Also did some wire tidying and taped the wings on. Anyone know the final concensus on the cog? Seems a lot of conflicting information out there! I also printed out a pitot tube holder and fitted that, so it's almost there, just in time for crappy weather to come in! :(
Could you please provide an STL for the file or upload the STL directly to thingiverse?
Would love to get one of those printed for another model of mine :)
Sure, I'll stick it up on thingiverse just now.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1613388 (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1613388)
There you go! I should point out that the camera case is 32mm wide.
Iwan, that Runcam2/cam mount is brill, soo clean and simple, this is just what I want for mine.
Just got to buy a printer now lol.
Really look forward to seeing this in action, the Talon has now just jumped over the MFT build.
What pan 180 servo did you use?
Great build, keep the pic's coming ;D
Cheers! I can print one off for you if you like? Servo was this one - http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=46623 (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=46623)
Pretty cheap but seems to work ok, smooth and isn't jittering. Time will tell how it copes in the air. The shaft part is pretty small so I'm a bit concerned it may wobble a bit but we shall see!
By the way, I see you are now using the runcam in the Z3, I also made this mount to keep it flush in the nose if you want one of those printed as well -
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1233694 (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1233694)
Ewan, any chance you could modify that runcam2 / FPV cam mount to fit this camera, I believe it's smaller than the one you've used (only 25x25)
http://www.surveilzone.com/DC5V-plastic-case-mini-sony-super-had-ccd-600tvl-super-camera-2.8mm-lens-for-fpv (http://www.surveilzone.com/DC5V-plastic-case-mini-sony-super-had-ccd-600tvl-super-camera-2.8mm-lens-for-fpv)
If so, could you also provide the file so I could ask someone to make one for me please?
cheers matey.
Sure, no probs. I think my initial version actually would fit that and I have one lying here, I printed it but my cam didn't fit. I'll measure it and if its right I can send you it, or I can easily edit the model and print one for you. I'll check the one I printed when I get home from work.
Ah, nice one mate... cheers.
Just measured it and it's 27.8mm between the posts, so may be a bit big. Want me to make you up another that is 25mm?
I've just measured the bracket that comes with the camera and it's 27.5mm between the posts so 27mm will be nice and snug, perfect :)
cheers mate.
Well I finally got this in the air this lunchtime, fairly uneventful maiden really. Got my friend to chuck it but it went off no problems, initially I thought I had some weird yaw issue as it seemed to be turning left a lot, until I realised its because the head tracker was enabled and I wasn't looking 'centered'. Hit the center button and all was well! Idiot!
Flies well, needed a few clicks of trim. The AP will need some tuning but it did the job in returning under RTH, just wasn't particularly smooth. I gave it some beans and at full throttle was getting about 120km/h, so it's not a speed machine but is respectable! At full throttle though the camera was bobbling around quite a bit, when I landed the servo horn that holds the camera mount on had snapped, so that was why. Needs a beefier connection to the servo I think. For this reason I only got one flight in.
Cruise draw seemed to be around 6A-7A @ ~70km/h (airspeed). Happy overall, the pan mount will need some tweaking, think I also just need to get used to flying it facing forward, was all over the place when I looked around!
The video is boring so won't upload, but here's a still as proof:
(http://i.imgur.com/abgm5JM.jpg)
Nice build.
I must admit I'm finding my mini talon a handful. Take offs are very hard work and normal flight seems to be seat of the pants stuff. Flying with a cyclops like yourself. CG is about right so it could just be me. As a matter of interest what position on the servo/aileron horns are you using?
Great looking build,glad the maiden was successful.
I`ll be using similar setup ,as in the Storm,L9R and 5.8 video.
Does the Tornado do V-tail or did you use a mixer?
Quote from: Antkol on June 23, 2016, 08:13:20 PM
Nice build.
I must admit I'm finding my mini talon a handful. Take offs are very hard work and normal flight seems to be seat of the pants stuff. Flying with a cyclops like yourself. CG is about right so it could just be me. As a matter of interest what position on the servo/aileron horns are you using?
A handful in what way? To be honest I didn't really have enough time to really get used to it, I was only up for about 7 minutes and wanted to land to reset the trims etc but the broken camera mount meant I couldn't go back up again. The elevator seemed very sensitive, so I'll need to add some expo. I have my servo on the 2nd hole down and at the top of the horn on the aileron. It did seem very stable in normal flight though. Where is your CoG?
Quote from: Jake Bullit on June 23, 2016, 08:33:16 PM
Great looking build,glad the maiden was successful.
I`ll be using similar setup ,as in the Storm,L9R and 5.8 video.
Does the Tornado do V-tail or did you use a mixer?
The Tornado supports V-tail so no need for a mixer. I may switch over to UHF and 1.3ghz, I've got the VTx and just got some hawkeye bits from tj on here so will see how that goes. The L9R gives plenty of range but I've always struggled to get decent video on 5.8ghz. Will see how it goes, didn't go further than 500m today as I was just testing stuff out.
6-7A cruise at 50mph sounds v good to me?!
The billers skywalkers etc all seem to sip perhaps 5A but cruise far slower- maybe 35mph.
What sized battery were you carrying? Assuming it was 4s 4000 and perhaps when full loaded it may manage 6-8000 then it's going to be capeable of serious range I reckon.
I've just confirmed that a 8000mah 4s multistar will fit and still give correct cg.
Quote from: iwan_canobi on June 23, 2016, 09:45:57 PM
A handful in what way? To be honest I didn't really have enough time to really get used to it, I was only up for about 7 minutes and wanted to land to reset the trims etc but the broken camera mount meant I couldn't go back up again. The elevator seemed very sensitive, so I'll need to add some expo. I have my servo on the 2nd hole down and at the top of the horn on the aileron. It did seem very stable in normal flight though. Where is your CoG?
Cog is 75mm from leading edge but i do have my servo rods on the max throw, so I change them to what you suggest. Expo's seem like a good plan too.
My Take offs are a bit hit and miss, almost as if it tip stalls and need rescuing straight away. Anyway I will make some changes and report back....
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on June 23, 2016, 10:46:56 PM
6-7A cruise at 50mph sounds v good to me?!
The billers skywalkers etc all seem to sip perhaps 5A but cruise far slower- maybe 35mph.
What sized battery were you carrying? Assuming it was 4s 4000 and perhaps when full loaded it may manage 6-8000 then it's going to be capeable of serious range I reckon.
I may have that wrong in terms of the raw numbers, and it was probably downwind as well. Need some longer flights to really conclude but it is an efficient beast and definitely not as slow a flyer as the skywalker I don't think! I'm using a 4S 5200mah multistar.
Quote from: Antkol on June 23, 2016, 11:48:35 PM
Cog is 75mm from leading edge but i do have my servo rods on the max throw, so I change them to what you suggest. Expo's seem like a good plan too.
My Take offs are a bit hit and miss, almost as if it tip stalls and need rescuing straight away. Anyway I will make some changes and report back....
That's your problem I think, I had my CoG around 68mm and it seemed perfect. What you describe kind of aligns with a tail heavy plane, try shifting the battery forward and give it another go!
Quote from: iwan_canobi on June 24, 2016, 12:14:08 AM
That's your problem I think, I had my CoG around 68mm and it seemed perfect. What you describe kind of aligns with a tail heavy plane, try shifting the battery forward and give it another go!
Thank you for that. I will give it a go on the new CG setting and see how I get on.
Quote from: BlueFlyer on June 23, 2016, 11:45:34 PM
I've just confirmed that a 8000mah 4s multistar will fit and still give correct cg.
I flew mine on a 4S 10000mah multistar only the one flight.
Flew ok, and handle ok.
But a little too heavy for my liking.
Mostly I use the zippy compact 5800mah 4s, with a 3s 800mah for video.
Quote from: bignose13 on April 30, 2016, 09:24:28 AM
Ignore the CG stickers on the wings Ewan, they are wrong, ask me how I know
Hit for just behind the servo cables and you'll be in the ball park
Good luck
I went on Goggle, I searched for "Mini Talon CG" and (out of millions of choices) I clicked on this one :laugh:
Quote from: _tj_ on June 24, 2016, 02:19:51 PM
Mostly I use the zippy compact 5800mah 4s
This is what I'm planning on using so that good news for me, have a few because that's what the Z3 uses.
Made a start on mine today, went for pan & tilt but will be able to change out and use Ewan's Runcam 2 mount as well.
Fitted Carbon strip spars in the hatch to stop it snapping.
A few more pic's of todays shenanigans ;)
(http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss76/mutley2/IMG_0023_zpscowmv8z4.jpg) (http://s563.photobucket.com/user/mutley2/media/IMG_0023_zpscowmv8z4.jpg.html)
(http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss76/mutley2/IMG_0024_zpsqda2lxds.jpg) (http://s563.photobucket.com/user/mutley2/media/IMG_0024_zpsqda2lxds.jpg.html)
(http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss76/mutley2/IMG_0025_zpsomknka5e.jpg) (http://s563.photobucket.com/user/mutley2/media/IMG_0025_zpsomknka5e.jpg.html)
Looks good does that.
Just don't forget to put the servos in the v-tail before maiden haha.
Well you've all inspired to get mine out the loft for tomorrow.
That's if I get my goblin 700 finished by tonight lol.
Hey guys, just re-flashed to Cyclops Storm and there is no V-tail!!! I looked all over and the latest firmware is V2.2 and its not there, loads of sites say it's on there in there sale pitch but it's just Elevon.
So it's upgrade to a Tornado which I already have two or use a plug in mixer, what are people using???
Plug in mixer didn't work for me,I tried two,both moved in the right direction bit would jitter every 20s or so.
I took it out and have gone with ailerons and elevator only on the storm.
Not flown it yet,hoping to maiden next week.
Finger is hovering above another Tornado, I like the idea of airspeed as well, works well on both the Drak and Z3.
How much is a tornado? I think MFD AP isn't that much more
Well I was inspired today.
The mini talon came out to see the daylight.
Spent 15 mins refreshing my memory on how to get in the menu, then how to select something on the MFD.
Once that was sorting Bob was your uncle..............
Or so I thought......
Got to test my new 5200mah 4s multistar lipo that I've had months.
Had a los test to while my friend confirmed the modes where changing as they should.
Flew out to 1.5km after about 10 mins and then tried my rth.
Worked flawless, so thought I'd stay about within 1km.
Flew out to 1km and flew back then thought something odd was up.
My airspeed was dropping. Then rising a little and so forth but not to match the throttle placement.
At first I thought my battery had failed.
Looked at osd 15.8v 20 mins in.
Not that!
Resigned to the fact i wasn't going to make it back.
Time to find a ditch spot easy to remember.
Horse type enclosure one side of the road.
Empty fields on same side of the road
Bingo.
Found plane within mins, as long as it took to get in car and drive 500m up Road.
Looked at motor, burnt as a crisp.
Time to order another motor lol
What was the motor out of interest ?
I've had cheap HK motors ( 3 of them) fail in their first 3 flights.
Hate it when that happens.
:(
Quote from: Dillwhacker on June 27, 2016, 12:03:34 AM
What was the motor out of interest ?
I've had cheap HK motors ( 3 of them) fail in their first 3 flights.
Hate it when that happens.
:(
This is the 2nd one.
1st was a T-motor recommended one, lasted 2 flights.
2nd was NTM Prop Drive 28-36 1400KV / 560W
This could be my fault, has I can't remember what prop is on it.
it might be a 9x6 and i may of over propped it, pretty sure its 8x4 though.
I'll check in the morning.
Next motor it's getting a mod.
I'll be cutting off the excess foam that covers the motor.
I have a feeling there may not be enough cool air getting to it, and being covered with that foam isn't helping.
Quote from: BlueFlyer on June 26, 2016, 10:24:37 PM
How much is a tornado? I think MFD AP isn't that much more
In this country its £135 or from China its £85 and a month wait, on reflection I want airspeed so I pulled the trigger on another Tornado🙈
Thats looking good mutley! Thats a bummer tj, at least you got it back with no damage (other than the burnt motor!). Interesting point about the foam, I'll need to give the motor a touch test after my next flight and see how it is. I'm hoping mine is ok, it can run an 11" prop IIRC and I'm only on 9x6 just now.
Well I checked the prop today.
I was running an 8x4.5
So it was only over propped by .5 according to the specs on HK.
Interesting - two of my failed ones were Propdrive.
One shorted out and the other fell apart.
Both after only a couple of flights.
Quality.
:(
Quote from: Dillwhacker on June 27, 2016, 01:06:13 PM
Interesting - two of my failed ones were Propdrive.
One shorted out and the other fell apart.
Both after only a couple of flights.
Quality.
:(
I nearly ordered another last night on impulse.
And then thought I'd hold off and have a look at some motors first.
Eventually I'll find one.
Still think that foam shroud is suffocating it though.
With it being a pusher its not even blowing any air over the motor.
I was reading on RCGroups some people are cutting a slit and adding plastic spoon vents to help cool the motor, seems like a good idea.
I've also heard a lot of bad things regarding the NTM motors, I've only had one and the bearings were shot on it after a few flights, wouldn't touch them again. I've had loads of Turnigy motors though and never had one go bad.
Yes, I replaced both with Aerodrives and they have been fine.
Well managed a quick flight on mine again after fixing the camera mount, but it didn't go so well. First toss I thought I had my cog correct, just behind the spar, I threw it and it almost went vertical, no issues climbing mind but seemed a bit odd. Anyway, carried on and stuck the goggles on but it was almost uncontrolable in the pitch axis, slightly pulling back on the stick made it's nose pitch way up, then que the awkward fight to regain control. I managed to wrestle it back down and moved the battery forward and tried again, this time it was much better.
Was flying around for a bit but the wind got up, tried the PA mode and RTH, but both were struggling with the pitch. Roll seemed ok but pitch was doing a slow, quite aggressive oscillation. Also felt myself in manual mode that the pitch was far too sensitive, what level of movement do you guys have? I'll need to scale back a bit.
Tried the head tracker a bit but I found it really disorienting when there is no part of the airframe in view. Each time I tried I could get to see the wing tip but couldn't judge returning to center, which resulted in a few panicked moments before switching it off. Thankfully I assigned a switch to disable it! I think I may just take the servo off and stick a mobius pointing backwards on a switcher, I think the rear shot is more interesting anyway, and the servo was causing vibration in the footage.
Anyway, I decided just to bring it down, landed and saw that the hatch was gone! :( Had a quick scout about, but it could have been anywhere in a 500m radius of long grass so I gave up after a few minutes. Will just need to put some correx on! I had it screwed down at the back and velcro on the front, but it must have come off at the front and then separated as the screw and bit of ply was still in place.
Ah well, lesson learnt!
That sucks man :( You get days like that(well I do) where everything turns to crap on you. I'm sure your next flight will go much better. My COG is on the back of the kink in the servo wire, it flies a treat :)
Well, after sorting the hatch with some correx and reducing the elevator throws I flew this again at lunch. It was flying really well but still oscillating in RTH and AP modes, any ideas? -
http://youtu.be/WDJUEYKC3Pc (http://youtu.be/WDJUEYKC3Pc)
I then went out again tonight, found a nice new field close by and even got permission from the farmer! Set up and upped the gains a bit on the pitch, there was barely a breath of wind so I just chucked it, but I had a false sense of security from how easy my other launches had been and I screwed this up. Left my hand at far too steep an angle and after a brief climb it stalled and nosed in hard.
The nose actually coped really well, the battery slid forward and disconnected from the motor and the fuse cracked under the wing. Nothing a bit of hot glue won't sort but really annoying! This will be a reliable bird if it ends me!