I started investigating quadcopters several years ago and came across a website and company by the name of FliteTest.com. This group of guys is relatable, down to earth and appear to be creating what we call in the business world "disruptive innovation". I love it and I hope they are successful in their endeavor.
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| Bat Bone copyright flitetest.com |
During my brief addiction to all the FliteTest video's, I also did a significant amount of research on Flight controllers, GPS and OSD. While I did come across OpenPilot's CC3D at that time, a clear contender in this market space was DJI. To those who fly DJI equipment you can clearly attest to the quality and ease of use. In fact I was so convinced that when my father needed to test the potential use of a quadcopter in his business, I immediately pointed him to the DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus which at the time was their most current Phantom offering.
This proved to be a spot on recommendation (thankfully since it was $1400). I graciously accepted the assignment of unboxing and maiden voyage. You can see my review and first flights here. I'll refrain from restating my initial post, but I was so thoroughly impressed by the ease of flight and quality of the software. It truly was a product that someone without extensive programming or RC experience could use with a little practice.
So I set my sights on a DJI Naza M flight controller and accessories. It was priced higher than what I had wanted to spend initially, but I was so very impressed with my first DJI encounter that I just wanted to have the best. Then I read the fine print...It will do just about anything BUT it doesn't support tricopters. Even though I was sitting alone, I verbally exclaimed "What!!!" That just didn't make sense to me and I probably spent the next 2 hours scouring the web for someone who just may have found a way to make it work. I couldn't believe I had just been talked out of a purchase by reading the manual. Okay that sounds a bit silly but I really thought this thing could walk on water so to speak.
This is where my friends will say "just get a quad and forget about that tri". Well I REALLY like the look of the Bat Bone and I'm sort of cheap skate. Now that I owned the kit, I didn't want to just let it sit on the shelf waiting for some tender loving.
Several months have now passed...
My dad received a new plane for fathers day and it was fully loaded with a flight controller that my brother said would make him the best pilot ever. This got me thinking that there was bound to be an inexpensive "fixed wing" flight controller out there and I started the hunt again. This time with a budget in mind and some different criteria.
Enter the OpenPilot CC3D
Having been a supporter of Open Source for some time now with my day job (tidbitsofit.com), I've kept my eye on the OpenPilot hardware. The CC3D has been of interest and now that it appears to have "fixed wing" capability and the fact that the price is at a point I can justify a, buy-to-try, I ordered one last week. At $18.00, including a hard case, I figured it was pretty hard to go wrong and I really still need to build that Bat Bone tricopter if the fixed wing solution is a bust.
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| CC3D copyright OpenPilot.org |
The CC3D arrived and it is just as pictured. Okay not exactly, mine was white but really just the same. The Ground Control Station (GCS) worked as designed. The documentation was well organized and I had a POC up and running quite quickly. My first attempt was simply to see if I could get it programmed and to take a stab at learning some new terms and technology. I still have much to learn but thanks to youtube and the excellent documentation, I figure it won't be long before I'm quite comfortable with the setup.
My first goal is to retrofit a GWS Slow Stick. Since it's cheap, I won't be afraid to experiment and it gives me a reason to cut in some ailerons like I've wanted from day one. Silly, I know, to mod a Slow Stick of all the planes but most everything else I have is considerably less stable as it is, or fly much faster. When it comes right down to it, this just seemed like a good option to cut my teeth on.
More to come...
