Comments

• Tim Wilkin September 17, 2014 at 9:28pm

  If you're wings fall off, you're going too fast...

  If you stall and hit the ground, you're going too slow...

  (sorry, I couldn't resist!)

  In all seriousness though, it will depend on the lift to drag ratio, which will depend somewhat on how you set up the aircraft and what bits are sticking out!

  My mini talon will fly comfortably at 13-14 m/s, but that's with a very high angle of attack... (and thus close to stall)... it cruises beautifully around 16 m/s, drawing only a few amps. I would suggest starting high and watch the tradeoff between current draw and angle of attack to maintain altitude.
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  John September 17, 2014 at 8:56pm

  HI, 
  
  I am a new member in the Talon Group and I just bought 2 Talons with the extension wing. I would like to know what the minimum speed the Talon should fly if I have a payload of 2KG including the batteries? 
  
  Regards

  Elios
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  Gustav Kuhn September 8, 2014 at 10:19am

  Hi Antonie,

  Yes, I hand launch in normal mode, with full up trim on the elevators.

  Standing still.

  I can only extrapolate flight time, I have 12000 mAh, and Talon draws 7 - 8 Amp @ 60 Km/h airspeed.

  Weight would be standard airframe, 3548 motor, 3 X 4000 mAh 3S, APM and GoPro out of it's case
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  Antonie Kruger September 7, 2014 at 11:31am

  Hi Gustav, good to hear. A few question, if I may.

  Do you hand launch? What's your flight time with 12Ah?

  Did you perhaps check the birds weight?

  Thanks,

  Antonie
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  Gustav Kuhn September 7, 2014 at 9:32am

  Just to say, had another perfect test mission with my big Talon today, 60km/h airspeed, 7.5 to 8Amp draw, 12000 mA/h of "fuel" in the nose. :-)
• Scott Pritchett August 18, 2014 at 1:51pm

  I suggest you go take a look at the Talon thread over on rcgroups.  There are a few config files posted.

  I also suggest you look at the mod I did to convert the talon to a conventional tail instead of a V (I'm Noircogi over there).  The conventional tail has better efficiency, aerobatics, stability and if you fly from tall grass like I do, the skeg on the bottom of the V-Tail is a real liability. I've built two Talons with APM (one V-Tail and one conventional).

  I really like the Talon a lot and I've just gathered everything to build a third, this time with Pixhawk to use the terrain following feature.
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  David White August 18, 2014 at 10:17am

  Ok folks, I've read through all the comments etc and after having just purchased the Talon (1720mm wing) and currently getting it setup for its first flight I am looking for anyone to share (gracefully) their param setup. I see A post a few down tha Scott has param for a mini Talon, is this a similar setup that would suit the big Talon? I have Pixhawk, airpseed sensor, 3DR radio fitted. Much obliged for any assistance. I will be using mainly for auto flight missions.
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  Gustav Kuhn August 17, 2014 at 6:16am

  @ Antonie, Haven't really tested for stall speed as such, but here at the coast it seems to be in the 20 - 30 Km/h range. If you are straight and level, stall is a non event anyway.

  I haven't tried stalling it in a bank, yet !!!

  And I've moved the CG back 1 CM.

  I'll do a full kit weight tomorrow, and let you know what my Talon weighs in at.
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  Antonie Kruger August 17, 2014 at 5:23am

  Hi Gustav, I'm unpacking my Talon as I'm writing this.:)) I do not need looonnggg flight times...sun tan on the ceiling of your mouth:/, sorry - the point being that she will run on a 5Ah battery = light setup with no FPV gear, just down facing Canon and APM2.5. Have you tested for stall speed on your bird?

  Thanks, Antonie
• Scott Pritchett May 16, 2014 at 2:18pm

  Has anyone else had problems with their talon massively losing altitude in sharp auto turns?

  I already had a well-tuned Skyhunter (similar size, weight and speed) when I set up the talon, so I started with the config file for from the Skyhunter.  My Talon is set up to use v-tail mixing and that's working well.  I also set the rudder coordination gain to zero.  I have noticed that just using the v-tail rudder mix while in level flight causes the nose to drop significantly. I've tried moving the CG around (significantly) and it didn't help, but of course had other effects.

  Changing PTCH2SRV_RLL does help, but I'm currently up to 1.8 and need even more.

  At least now it's not doing a power-dive towards the ground when I try to loiter with some wind.

  I have a calibrated and working airspeed sensor.  Everything else works fine, including full auto missions, I just have to keep at least 50 feet of altitude margin because it will lose that much in a tight turn.

  Given the way TECs works, as it starts to lose altitude, it applies more power.  I have the normal cruise speed set at 40 MPH, and with the default 1.0 value in PTCH2SRV_RLL it would get up to like 65 MPH at the low point, then once headed back into the wind, it would balloon way up and slow way down to get back on track.

  Should I just keep cranking PTCH2SRV_RLL higher?