DTFB R/C Airplane Build

You will need to finish centering control surfaces (Karl knows how to do this) connect the TX and RX (I will leave you guys the spektrum stuff as it won’t require any extra programming). After that we need to load the pixhawk with ardupilot and setup the A-tail within the pixhawk (and the transmitter should NOT be outputting an A-tail mix) after that run the setup wizard and do the calibrations in mission planner and verify that all components are working. Then, set up your flight modes and switch it to stabilize to verify that the control surfaces respond correctly to pitch, yaw and roll changes properly (ie: yaw plane right, rudder turns left).

After this, the plane should be ready for a maiden. Please keep me informed of progress and issues that arise trough my absence! I will still attempt to assist in any way that I can. I will still be in civilization and have internet access! :grin:

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S7 active, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

Most likely issue is a maiden endirtenning.

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I am hoping to drop by as well Sat morning. My personal DTFB plane had some scaling issues so I may be up early to re-cut all 4 sheets :frowning:

PS: I will also be doing a racing quad build at some point, may do it up at the space when all the parts arrive.

Sorry, I had some family stuff come up yesterday/today and this slipped my mind. I don’t think I can realistically make it.

No worries we got the rest of the centering done, stopped because neither of us are pixhawk pros.

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https://karlockhart.eu/index.php/s/vHeR1lywPUe5kZu got the Flying Penguin RC DTFB Zero converted to SVG, it was painful but done now.

Not until a web search did I make the connection that DTFB means Dollar Tree Foam Board.

I would still like a class/series on not only building a plane, but installing, tuning and troubleshooting the electronics and perhaps most importantly, how to learn to fly it.

I would suggest the simulator before flying the real thing. I am doing this now for FPV racing drones, the suggestions I got there were get the first few hundred crashes out of the way in the sim where they are free and skip level mode and go straight to acro.

If you haven’t flown RC before the hardest thing will most likely be translating the model’s point of view to your own. Luckily the simulator will help with this a lot. Most of the RC transmitters now come with a training cable that works as a USB interface device on the computer so you can fly the sim with your actual controller. I have no idea what your actual experience level is though, so this may not apply to you but might be good for others getting into the hobby.

I am also looking forward to some DTFB classes.

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I have tried simulators and can land without crashing, but nowhere near the “runway.” I suppose that comes with experience actually flying.

Harold was talking about a trainer design, but he never finished it. The foam planes are cheap enough that I can afford plenty of stick time.

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TBH being able to land on the runway is a very useful skill to develop in the simulator as it will save you many long walks and in the worst cases, lost vehicles (these are the worst sort as 100% of the parts are lost)

The trainer design is either done or near completed. I’ll see if I can get in touch with him to get the files. There are also a lot of really good trainer plans available online (like the FT Tiny Trainer or the FT Explorer).

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Has there been any progress on the plane at all? Next week is my last weekend out of town then I’ll be back the following Saturday (17th)

I haven’t been able to make it in the last two Saturdays, I am not sure if it has progressed past centered up and waiting for FC setup. I have a little more experience with those now from working with Cleanflight/Betaflight on my quad builds :slight_smile: Maybe we could do a race quad build sometime :slight_smile: mine is based on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avp8MurmeEY

I will be out of town the upcoming weekend as well.

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Running behind but I’ll be there today. Is anyone else going to be there?

… BRUH I’VE BEEN HERE SINCE LIKE 10:30.

YES DISCOURSE THIS IS A COMPLETE SENTENCE.

lowercase?
edit: apparently so
edit den zwitten: not discord, forgot name of software though
edit mehr: habe mich erinnert

I was there from 10 to 11 and did not see anyone. I was unable to get Mission planner working on the PC at DMS so I went home to get it up and running on a laptop. I never made it back to DMS so that’s where it stands. I have a laptop for us to use next week

Driver issue?

Are we using one of those single-wire receivers … PPM, is it?

No, it seemed like a validation thing requiring admin access. Either way, just seemed easier to bring a laptop. And yeah we are, I don’t have a PPM encoder, and they are a pain to hook up.

Hey guys, I’m not gonna be able to make it. This storm has exposed some flaws in our flashing and I need to do damage control on our atrium.

:frowning: New team at work working on trying to move the career ball forward = time mostly gone sigh sorry I have been absent

No worries, I’ve just been dealing with security(?) issues or something at the space. Everything works fine on my machines at home, but cant seem to get it to work there.