[vaalleon]

I have started this EasyVTOL project about one year ago to harness the lift from high attack angle wings, on an easy to control VTOL setup. The project started as EDF and I have put the link to that thread, showing the last successful videos of the EDF unit (https://www.rccanada.ca/rccforum/sho...d.php?t=574681). Even though I was able to extend the flight time significantly via transitioning to horizontal flight, EDFs are by definition inefficient compared to props and the best flight time that I will get will be around 8 minutes. This is pretty good for EDFs but I wanted to create unit that lasts longer in the air so I can do longer FPV runs.

Loving how the EDF unit flies, I revised my plans to utilize a large prop in place of the EDF, using the same principles of the EDF unit. Still working progress, but after many failures I was able get a proper stabilized and controllable hover. This last hover test is about 1.1 minute and used approximately 330mah of my 2600mah capacity on board, which gives it a theoretical hover time of +8 minutes, which is pleasantly surprising (almost double the EDF hover time).

I believe I can get the unit a little lighter and improve the air flow to push it a little further, not to mention the newer and higher capacity (and same weight) battery that I will get for it. I believe I will be pushing 10 minutes hover time, which will be quite awesome. With 10 minutes hover time I can probably get +15 minutes horizontal flight.

Now the challenge is to get it to fly horizontally. The unit drops the head too fast, risking to stall. But Haven’t really pushed it to see what it can do. That will be coming soon

https://youtu.be/Bq0u13MWirw

[vaalleon]

Another short test, getting closer to the full transition.

You Tube

You Tube

[vaalleon]

The effort to achieve horizontal flight capability in progress. Videos of 4 test flights with crashes due to hardware issues. I think I will need to do some aerodynamic changes to go with the tuning. The balance is still not there. After the second flight I took of everything that I believed not to be needed to reduce weight and get a better understanding of the issues.

https://youtu.be/r4wHHFBkNJA

[vaalleon]

A better flight. It got into trouble 2 times but other than that it was pretty good. I started with a higher attack angle but after a minute or so switched over to a lower attack angle and got a better result. It is favoring left a little but so I need to re-tune the wings to fix that.

The problems and the solutions that I tried:
- The unit is too slow in transition and thrust vectoring and lift from the wings not in balance. Solutions tried: reduced from surface area, retuned the wings to balance a little better.
- Unit drifting when transitioning, resulting from counter torque from the prop. Solution tried: favored the left wing over the left one to balance.
- Attack angle not stable: I have not resolved this yet but I think I am in the right direction. I added a stabilizer wing to the top and will extend it a little more.

My initial flight time calculation was not correct. This flight used about 1367 MAH and is about 4 minutes. So, with the new battery I will probably break 10 minute level but not sure if it will do 15 minutes. May be if I hand launch, fly really slow and not hover at all…

You Tube

You Tube

[vaalleon]

A muuuuch better flight. Extended the rear stabilizer and a slight tune-up and we are there. This is 3 minutes flight that I used close to 1000mah. Which should give me about 9 minutes max on a full charge. The unit drifts a little bit in different attack angles but I can live with that. Everything works fine. I am almost full roll + a little but of yaw from time to time to keep it on the park. When I apply a little more yaw it makes super tight turns. The neutral hover has a little forward built into it for added hover stability and easier turns. Will get the new battery ready and test the flight time. Interestingly, the unit doesn’t seem to have a significantly longer flight time over the same size EDF unit…. Am I doing something wrong here? Props supposed to be way more efficient. Anyways, happy with the result. Very fun to fly. Time to install the cam.

You Tube

You Tube

[vaalleon]

Re-balanced the wings. A better flight. Ready for the cam.

https://youtu.be/5jSWDVPlo2I

[vaalleon]

Below is a new +5 Minutes flight (onboard + ground cam) that used 1950MAH of the 3000MAH on board. I messed up the transition back to horizontal and crash landed the unit. Minor damage. The thrust is significantly lower at the end of the flight which also contributed to unsuccessful landing. I want to test a 3 blade prop to see if I can get some more kick...





Onboard cam:


https://youtu.be/Sn2vtckBaHM



Ground cam:


https://youtu.be/aCZhNNb3qgI

[vaalleon]

I extended the wings and did get a better flight time. This flight is about 4 minutes and used up 1341mah, which points to an estimated flight time of 9 minutes. I did get into trouble once, so need to re-tune some other parameters to accommodate the new wing angle. However, overall good flight and I had enough juice to land. I will see if I can somehow push 10 minutes with some other adjustments. Meanwhile waiting for the 3 blade prop to see if it can give me a little more kick so I have enough juice to land after a 7-8 minute flight.



https://youtu.be/-hAW7UAE1EA

[vaalleon]

The latest flight after further tuning. The unit is pretty stable. Did a couple of stop and go's to practice the transition. The unit is consistently pointing to a 9 min max flight time. However, that would mean slowly laying it down on the belly at the end of the flight as it wouldn't have enough juice for vertical landing. This this make MonoProp a VTO? lol

I got the 3 blade air screw props. Haven't air tested yet but they sound completely different. I am very curious how the unit will perform with the new prop.

https://youtu.be/IuUWKuiLKmQ

[vaalleon]

Installed the 3 blade props. Much better sound and less noise, better thrust and the unit felt a little more controllable, except a wobble started when hovering. It is very weird that the prop chance impacted the hover characteristics... I'll need to do PID again to see if I can fix it.
The flight time shows between 8-9 minutes, a little less than 2 blade prop but 3 blade test was promising enough for me to pursue this setup further...

https://youtu.be/zmxjeYuq_zM