Howdy folks,
New hobbyist here and I'm looking for off the shelf airframe and motor suggestions to build a reasonably high-endurance drone.
My goals are:
1. Achieve at least 60 minutes of flying time.
2. Ability to carry at least 500 grams of camera/transmitter payload.
3. Reasonably stable flight (good enough for an arduino auto-pilot to handle).
4. Ability to handle 10-20knot winds.
I haven't found much out there yet in terms of vehicle flying time comparisons. Seems large winged glider-like airframes are probably my best shot -- but I still can't determine what kind of flight time I would be getting, even without a payload.
Any suggestions, sites or other info would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
Replies
Mr.Nobody,
Everyone is new to the hobby at some time so don't let questions stand in the way of learning.
One aspect that seems to have been overlooked in this community are designs based on endurance models of old, Free Flight. In fact, the original RC models were converted Free Flight models. By endurance, I assume you mean flight time. The ruling king of endurance flying for decades, even before his transatlantic flight, was Maynard Hill. You can learn much from reading about his planes and record setting flights. One of his final article before passing away is HERE. It is multipaged and reads like a narrative but is full of endurance history - serious endurance as in waaay over 12 hours endurance.
It is good to have flight/payload goals. At least you can determine your accomplishments rather than having an open-ended ideas.
I made reference in a sidebar discussion to these TOOLS from Mosquitobiteplanes.
The tools assume you have knowledge of aircraft design/flight parameters. If it is beyond your scope at this time, wear Wiki out learning.
Another planning point, and a very important one, is your budget. How much are you willing to sink into this project?
Good luck and plan well!
Hi, just a suggestion, there is a plane called the Ursus made by a Polish guy, it is mentioned on the DIYDRONES website here. I have just ordered one for very similar reasons you describe in your original question. i'm powering mine with a 1000kv motor, 2 x 5000mah 3s batteries, and a 10 x 6, or a 9 x 6 prop. I'm aiming for decent flight times as this plane is quite a floater, but can handle wind as well.
It is not off-the-shelf though, a considerable amount of building knowledge is required, but maybe something worth looking at nonetheless. reports of people getting 30-40 minutes with 5000mah. made of a fairly robust material called EPP.
R
Look at some of the specs listed for the ARF versions of the planes you're looking at. They often list a flight time.
Take that time and cut it by 25%. That's what you'll get typically IME, unless all you want is low altitude straight and level flight at minimal throttle.
Everything depends on your battery and motor. You should be able to get 60 min easily. Just get a design with good lift and throw in 3x the battery capacity. Gliders are not good lifters. Look for a Cesna model with a large wingspan or any of the other short take off planes as those have the lift you want.
More lift = more batteries = more flight time.