BlueFlyer's FlyingWings Falcon Evo FPV Build Log [pic heavy]

BlueFlyer · April 23, 2015, 08:18:12 AM

Thanks a lot guys.

I've been able to give it a few hours each night this week. So I'd say around 8-10 hours in total. Thing is, I don't head out to the garage for a 2 hour block... I'll pop out there, quickly do something on it, come back inside, watch telly, eat tea, go back out do something else...and so on.

Billy_boy_2010 · April 24, 2015, 01:35:54 AM

8-10 hrs isn't too bad!

I'm surprised there's only room in the bay for a 3s 2200 battery though. I think a lot of people would want to get 3-4000 in there. I run a 3300 on mh 37" cap.

When can we hope for some flight footage?

BlueFlyer · April 25, 2015, 05:06:41 PM

If I had everything I needed, and didn't paint anything, then I could build one of these in a weekend no problem.

The battery bay is plenty big enough for the 2200mah with room to spare. FlyingWings.co.uk say it can also hold a multistar 4000mah 3S.

The thing is billy, this isn't a big platform... it's designed to be light so loading it up with lots of mah will just make it heavier than it needs to be. the AUW of mine is 854g, that's including the 2200mah 3S LiPo in it's bay, the GoPro 3 up front and a 500mah 3S inside to compensate for the lack of OSD at the moment... I'm pretty sure a GPS puck and a basic OSD PCB won't weigh more than this 500mah 3S lipo.

Thing is, it's still a bit tail heavy so I may end up putting some dead weight on the nose, hidden within the foam.

BlueFlyer · May 02, 2015, 05:24:50 PM

OSD arrived today and was fitted in no time, love how much space there is inside the main bay and that I only needed to cut bays in the wings for the VTX and the EzUHF RX. The Falcon is now ready for it's maiden, shame the weather isn't :(

looks like I'll be able to get a 2nd 2200mah 3S inside the main bay, pushed right up against the front bulkhead (probably velcroed) so I'll have 4000mah 3S and my version of the ECO powertrain, hopefully I should be able to get decent flight times and stay in the air longer than I'm on the ground... after all, that's what it's all about.

BlueFlyer · June 09, 2015, 10:31:49 PM

Can't believe how long this thing has been finished but I've yet to fly it... well tomorrow is the day when all the planets have aligned just right lol... weather is good, plenty of daylight after work hours, Wife doesn't need the car and I've got the time to play out :)

Thought I'd make a little video showing you how I've set it up just in case the worst happens tomorrow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMIU1f3CoOQ

Brucey · June 09, 2015, 10:46:52 PM

Looks neat, good luck with the maiden!

BlueFlyer · June 09, 2015, 11:21:20 PM

thanks bud

Sheldon Holy · June 09, 2015, 11:21:27 PM

Looks great. Time to get in the air definitely :)

IMO, I've never seen the point of permanently attaching the winglets, or indeed using anything other than tape. Reason being is that they are always the first thing to suffer hangar rash (I'm totally retarded and I bash things into the walls all the time), so I like them to be easily replaceable. In case there are no for sale signs nearby, flyingwings do sell spares for a fiver or so for a pair, and mine on the Venturi are just sellotaped on so they can be replaced in 30 seconds.

BlueFlyer · June 09, 2015, 11:25:10 PM

Cheers Sheldon...

I use the rawplug and screw method so I can remove/replace them easily. the bead of hotglue peels away easily when you apply a bit of warmth to the area. The winglets aren't glued onto the surface of the end of the wing, they're only attached with the screws and hotglue beads.

Sheldon Holy · June 10, 2015, 12:26:21 AM

OK, that's a good method. Probably a bit more secure than sellotape too.

BlueFlyer · June 10, 2015, 10:48:03 PM

Maiden went very well, took me a whole 2200mah 3S to get it trimmed and expo'd up..... weights are all at 50, expo is 45% and it's still a bit twitchy lol

here are some pictures from today, courtesy of Rappy Freak. Just reviewing video now...

Brucey · June 10, 2015, 11:00:11 PM

Cool, glad it went well, always a bit daunting the first flight!

BlueFlyer · June 12, 2015, 08:27:31 PM

WOW! just been watching back the footage from Wednesday, and I can't believe how efficient this wing is.... I did a 21 minute flight on a single 2200mah 3S..... however I think I killed that LiPo as the OSD was telling me the voltage was 10.9v one second, then the next it said it was 6.3v oops

I'm yet to check the LiPo... I think I'll go do that now.

BlueFlyer · June 12, 2015, 08:35:49 PM

Just checked all the LiPos from the other day, and the lowest one was 10.1v, all the rest were over 11.5v so I'm assuming the 10.1v one is the one that I squeezed all the life out of and it's had time off load to recover some voltage... happy days.

now, off to buy some more LiPos for it

Sheldon Holy · June 12, 2015, 09:16:46 PM

Great, finally got it flying! :)

That is indeed very efficient. Only thing with such a light wing though (and which is why I bought the Venturi) is how well it handles wind? The old Falcon didn't seem very good in wind but hopefully the centre section and increased weight/span helps with this. Also that big aerofoil shaped centre section must be providing a good deal of lifts and keeps everything clean, which is probably why it's so efficient.

20 mins on a 2200 is seriously impressive though, I might have to get a Falcon too at some point and build it so it breaks down for transport. If Rob is looking at this, that wouldn't be a bad thing to look at doing IMO. The way Flyingwings do the spars already lends itself to making the wings removable. I noticed when building the Venturi that it would be a very easy job to have removable wings.