Cheating on my Quad with a Tricopter......its LOVE

I found myself with the urge to build a new quad from scratch but I was short one ESC.  I had four motors but only three ESC's and a whole day to myself in the shop.  I could have built another quad and ordered an ESC but I wanted to fly sooner than that.  

I remember seeing Davids Tricopter (http://flitetest.com/articles/tricopter-scratch-build) and it seemed simple enough to build.  All I had to do was print out the body template (https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.flitetest.com/article_files/Tricopter_1365353510.pdf), buy some 1/2 x 1/2 inch stock for the arms and a few bits of hardware.  

 The Build process by Brett Hays

 Here is a flite of my Tri copter with my Ducks!!

The problem was I had never built let alone flown a tricopter.  Luckily David's build article that I linked to above is clear and easy to follow!  The build was soooooo easy!  I had some trouble with getting it wired up but Carbon from FPVLab helped me out with a few PM's.  One feature I wanted to have on this was that it would be realitivly weather proof so I could fly it while there is snow on the ground and I wouldn't have to worry about the expensive parts getting wet.  The ESC's are still ''hanging out there'' but they are shrink wrapped and taped to protect them.  My solution was to use a food storage container on the top to house the KK2 board, the IMRC RX and the 2.4 TX.  The flight cam has been dipped in plastidip so I mounted it out side on the frame.  

Davids article is pretty well written and easy to understand.  He makes it very easy to build this.  That said, here are some of my construction pics.........

Printed off the body template and checked the dimentions

Traced and stack cut and drilled two body panels out of scrap 3/32 ply I had laying around.

Cut, drilled and notched the 18'' x 1/2'' x 1/2'' arms.

Then it was just easy assembly........

I wasn,t (untill now) really sure how a tricopter controlled yaw but again Davids article makes it stoooooopid proof.

So now I mounted the other two motors and the ESC's.  To this point in the picture below the total build time is under an hour!!!  Unbeleivable......such a simple build, even with the complexity of the yaw system!  It really didnt take much longer than building and mounting a motor on a fourth arm.  The zip ties really hurry the assembly along and are plenty secure.

Now for my ''all weather'' touch.........This is just a food container I bought at the grocery store.  They come in a pack of 4 or so and are only a couple of bucks!  Basically I can make a mistake and start over if I screw up the first one.

First I had to replace these four bolts with longer ones. 

Then ad spacers and the container lid upside down with the KK2 board already mounted...........for the love of all thats Holly about building a tricopter make sur that you mount the KK2 board facing the right way.  Ask me how I know this.  I did it twice.........in a row.........within 5 minutes of each other.  

Three lids later it should look like this!...........grumble!

So now all I had to do was disassemble the dome so I could drill holes and route wires....

I mounted the IMRC RX in the container with velcro with the antennas facing forward to give it kind of a ''bug'' look.........no other reason than that.

See.......looks exactly like a bug flying at you......LOL......not really......but kinda!

I mounted the VTX behind the RX.  I know, I know......kind of tight quarters for all the e-tronics but at least I shieled my TBS core which sits under the KK2 board.  I havent really had any problem yet......knock on wood.....so I will leave it for now.  

I am using a 2650mah 3s battery strapped under the frame at the CG.  I am getting every bit of 12 minutes with the DT-750 look-a-likes-whaterer-they-ares-ma-call-emms.  20 amp ESC and some metal geard servo I had bouncing around in my field box.  

I am so flipping happy with the way this thing flys.  I am using whatever the stock factory settings are for the KK2 and they seem to be perfect!.........but then I am no expert.  It flies so much better than a quad in my opinion and I am totally in love with this.  I want to fly t from my Cockpit Ground Station and will soon.  Link here....... (http://flitetest.com/articles/fpv-full-scale-cockpit-ground-station-w-42-tv.  

I dont know about all Tricopters but this one seems to fly with a grooooooove that quads lack and is quite relaxing to fly.  It kinda flys with a bank and yank feel like an airplane but it hovers to......lol.  I fly quads like Bambi on the frozen pond but not this.  

Big thanks to David for this design and his article.  Also to the rest of the FT crew for their great forum!  My Kid and I love you guys!!  Keep it up!

I found myself with the urge to build a new quad from scratch but I was short one ESC.  I had four motors but only three ESC's and a whole day to myself in the shop.  I could have built another quad and ordered an ESC but I wanted to fly sooner than that.  

I remember seeing Davids Tricopter (http://flitetest.com/articles/tricopter-scratch-build) and it seemed simple enough to build.  All I had to do was print out the body template (https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.flitetest.com/article_files/Tricopter_1365353510.pdf), buy some 1/2 x 1/2 inch stock for the arms and a few bits of hardware.  

 The Build process by Brett Hays

 Here is a flite of my Tri copter with my Ducks!!

http://youtu.be/OhE9chRZyXE

The problem was I had never built let alone flown a tricopter.  Luckily David's build article that I linked to above is clear and easy to follow!  The build was soooooo easy!  I had some trouble with getting it wired up but Carbon from FPVLab helped me out with a few PM's.  One feature I wanted to have on this was that it would be realitivly weather proof so I could fly it while there is snow on the ground and I wouldn't have to worry about the expensive parts getting wet.  The ESC's are still ''hanging out there'' but they are shrink wrapped and taped to protect them.  My solution was to use a food storage container on the top to house the KK2 board, the IMRC RX and the 2.4 TX.  The flight cam has been dipped in plastidip so I mounted it out side on the frame.  

Davids article is pretty well written and easy to understand.  He makes it very easy to build this.  That said, here are some of my construction pics.........

Printed off the body template and checked the dimentions

Traced and stack cut and drilled two body panels out of scrap 3/32 ply I had laying around.

Cut, drilled and notched the 18'' x 1/2'' x 1/2'' arms.

Then it was just easy assembly........

I wasn,t (untill now) really sure how a tricopter controlled yaw but again Davids article makes it stoooooopid proof.

So now I mounted the other two motors and the ESC's.  To this point in the picture below the total build time is under an hour!!!  Unbeleivable......such a simple build, even with the complexity of the yaw system!  It really didnt take much longer than building and mounting a motor on a fourth arm.  The zip ties really hurry the assembly along and are plenty secure.

Now for my ''all weather'' touch.........This is just a food container I bought at the grocery store.  They come in a pack of 4 or so and are only a couple of bucks!  Basically I can make a mistake and start over if I screw up the first one.

First I had to replace these four bolts with longer ones. 

Then ad spacers and the container lid upside down with the KK2 board already mounted...........for the love of all thats Holly about building a tricopter make sur that you mount the KK2 board facing the right way.  Ask me how I know this.  I did it twice.........in a row.........within 5 minutes of each other.  

Three lids later it should look like this!...........grumble!

So now all I had to do was disassemble the dome so I could drill holes and route wires....

I mounted the IMRC RX in the container with velcro with the antennas facing forward to give it kind of a ''bug'' look.........no other reason than that.

See.......looks exactly like a bug flying at you......LOL......not really......but kinda!

I mounted the VTX behind the RX.  I know, I know......kind of tight quarters for all the e-tronics but at least I shieled my TBS core which sits under the KK2 board.  I havent really had any problem yet......knock on wood.....so I will leave it for now.  

I am using a 2650mah 3s battery strapped under the frame at the CG.  I am getting every bit of 12 minutes with the DT-750 look-a-likes-whaterer-they-ares-ma-call-emms.  20 amp ESC and some metal geard servo I had bouncing around in my field box.  

I am so flipping happy with the way this thing flys.  I am using whatever the stock factory settings are for the KK2 and they seem to be perfect!.........but then I am no expert.  It flies so much better than a quad in my opinion and I am totally in love with this.  I want to fly t from my Cockpit Ground Station and will soon.  Link here....... (http://flitetest.com/articles/fpv-full-scale-cockpit-ground-station-w-42-tv.  

I dont know about all Tricopters but this one seems to fly with a grooooooove that quads lack and is quite relaxing to fly.  It kinda flys with a bank and yank feel like an airplane but it hovers to......lol.  I fly quads like Bambi on the frozen pond but not this.  

Big thanks to David for this design and his article.  Also to the rest of the FT crew for their great forum!  My Kid and I love you guys!!  Keep it up!