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Skwalker X8 catapult

Posted by brett binnekade on February 1, 2013 at 5:00am

With the amount of equipment in my X8 is on the increase, so is the weight. Its becoming very difficult and somewhat dangerous to hand launch. 

Iv decided to build a catapult. I dont like the idea of a bungee launcher because of the amount of flat space required. some places I fly dont have this.(eg: off a cliff =) ) I really wanted something self-contained and foldable.

 

The APM flies the X8 really well BTW =)

 

If anyone wants to build one I have posted all the info and pics here

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Comments

  • eko rahardjo February 3, 2013 at 7:12am

    Very cool..I like this one.

  • brett binnekade February 2, 2013 at 6:44am
    Thanks Andrew. As far as I can remember I'm logging everything possible so I will have look at the logs. Else I will make sure it's logging next launch.
  • Developer
    Andrew Tridgell February 2, 2013 at 2:10am

    Nice work Brett!

    Do you happen to have a dataflash log with IMU logging enabled during a successful launch? I'd be very interested in looking at what acceleration figures you get.

    We've also built a catapult for our X8, although we've only tested it on a SkyFun so far. We've had a problem with friction between the carrier and the beam, and your idea of skateboard bearings looks great!

    Cheers, Tridge

  • OuBen February 1, 2013 at 6:23pm

    wow great！

  • Peter Meister February 1, 2013 at 1:51pm

    Will do Brett!

  • Martin Poller February 1, 2013 at 1:51pm

    Great piece of engineering Brett, I'm also going to build one once I've put together my X8, btw your X8 looks pretty neat too. Thanks for sharing.

  • Phil Gordon February 1, 2013 at 1:31pm

    Good work mate.

  • brett binnekade February 1, 2013 at 12:05pm

    Thanks guys. Peter, please post pics when you are done =)

  • Nick Arsov February 1, 2013 at 11:05am

    Well done Brett..well done!

  • Peter Meister February 1, 2013 at 10:57am

    Brett, that is one of the best and simplest catapults I have ever seen. Well done! I am going to attempt to build one from you pic's and thanks for sharing!

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