The Mantis V2 for FPV

by Carbon | March 28, 2013 | (7) Posted in Projects

The Mantis V2 employes building techniques from Experimental Airlines and RCtestflite. I chose to build a twin boom pusher due to the flying tendancies and load capacity. You may have seen my previous designs including the Carbon B1 and B2 which are much larger than this aircraft. 

Some specs: 

30" wing span
30.5" total length
Main body is a 1"x2" tube with no taper
8" chord with a 4" step for the KmF airfoil
Aileron dimensions: 2"x7"
Tail Dimensions: 13.5"x6" with 1" control surface
Body length of 15"
Vertical stabilizer is 6" tapered to 3"
Booms made of carbon fiber arrow shafts
8x4 prop 
2200mah 3 cell lipo 

For electronics I am using an AX 2308N 1100kv brushless outrunner from Hobbyking. It is decent but takes a lot of balancing of the motor itself. The ESC is an SS series 18-20amp esc from hobbyking
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=30664
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=26495

And some pictures of the aircraft:

Notice that the 2.4ghz antennas are mounted in coffee straws and at an angle. This should increase the chances of the craft receiving a strong signal, even in a bank. 

The inside is pretty empty, not a lot of wiring with only 3 servos. I plan on adding FPV gear to it and maybe some kind of bomb drop.

The motor is good but it has a lot of vibration to it. I'll be changing to a different motor in the future. 

I covered parts with a tape used on automobiles and mailboxes. It has tiny prisms that reflect light back at the source. This way if I crash I can find it from the air or on the ground by pointing a flashlight at it. 

 

If you have any questions feel free to ask! A flight video will be in a seperate article along with the bomb drop. Please rate and stay tuned!

-C

COMMENTS

ronnie.burchfield. on March 28, 2013
sorry didnt see the plans up there !! i think i will build this it looks like it would be good for beginners
Log In to reply
Carbon on March 28, 2013
It flew great! the 2200mah battery was a bit heavy. I think it will fly really well with a 1300mah 3 cell
Log In to reply
ronnie.burchfield. on March 29, 2013
ok thank you

Log In to reply
lonewolf on March 29, 2013
Did you balance your prop. that could be why your motor vibrates.
Log In to reply
Carbon on March 29, 2013
of course! I always balance them. The actual motor bell is wobbly. I can't tell if it is not balanced or if it is just not well constructed. It worked well enough and runs cool but vibrates a little too much for my liking.
Log In to reply
Zatoichi on March 28, 2013
Lookin good Carbon.

Log In to reply
Carbon on March 28, 2013
Thanks man!
Log In to reply
Frosty0_0 on March 31, 2013
silly idea but, what if you were to take some bike inner tube, cut to fit and affix behind the motor and the main body? The rubber might dissipate that vibration. Awesome build, and looks great, can't wait to see some video.
Log In to reply
Carbon on April 4, 2013
^I found that some extra foam was helping, but you gave me an idea for landing gear :D
Sadly you won't be seeing video as I crashed it after only 3 flights and it is not worth fixing. Because the Mantis is an ongoing project I tend to fly until I crash and then fix whatever caused the crash. Next version I just started on with a 60" glider wing to carry a 2200mah battery and my fpv gear. Cheers!
Log In to reply
ronnie.burchfield. on March 28, 2013
nice plane ... any measurements or plans fot it
Log In to reply
ronnie.burchfield. on March 28, 2013
how long is the tube length ?
Log In to reply
Carbon on March 28, 2013
It says up top body length 15"
I should have specified body vs overall
Log In to reply
mattplaneflyer on March 30, 2013
The vibration may be from the prop being unbalanced.
Log In to reply
PeterGregory on June 17, 2015
Great design, has me thinking about uses for this. Love the CF booms, I have a pack of arrows I bought and need designs to "soak them up." They don't do any good sitting on my shelf(!)

Great thought about the reflective tape - definitely a head slap on that - "Why didn't I think of that?"
Of course, the main goal is to fly so well you render the tape redundant.

"Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there."
Log In to reply

You need to log-in to comment on articles.


The Mantis V2 for FPV