V-Tail Quad - Build

by FliteTest | July 8, 2013 | (41) Posted in How To

 

The V-tail motor mounts are available in our web store. As is the single piece landing gear and the tab kit that transforms the Replacement Delrin - Straight 13-370 into a landing gear.

The original V-Tail quad featured in the Bat Bone episode.

The motor mounts were made from aluminium that were drilled and bent to 40°.

It was difficult to get the angles identical.

So we made this 40° V-Tail motor mount kit

Simply glue together

The motors used in this build are the SK3 - 2822 - 1275kV

The motor mounts simply squeeze onto the 1/2" booms

Perfect angles every time.

The Bat Bone frame needs to be modified to accomidate for the dual tail setup.

The Any Copter can also, very easily be made into a V-Tail Quad.

The two tail booms mounted. The frame can still be used as a normal tricopter after the modification.

Front arms in place.

The tab kit transforms the Replacement Delrin - Straight 13-370 into a landing gear. 

The Simple Delrin Landing Gear is really tough and can be used on both 1/2" and 10mm booms.

Electonics mounted.

David shows in the video how to set up the KK2 board.

He also shows how to do the first flight adjustments.

Settings used:

 Stick scaling:

  • Roll: 45
  • Pitch: 45
  • Taw: 60
  • Throttle:90

Gains:

  • Roll and pitch
  • P Gain: 42
  • P Limit: 100
  • I Gain: 23
  • I Limit: 20
  • Yaw:
  • P Gain: 50
  • P Limit: 20
  • I Gain: 50
  • I Limit: 10

Motor Mixer:

  • Channel 3 and 4
  • Throttle: 100
  • Aileron: 0
  • Elevator: -90 / 90
  • Rudder: 100 / - 100
  • Offset: 0

 

Gear used:

COMMENTS

jomo on July 23, 2013
Looks great, I'd really build one if it wasn't for the work of finding and ordering all of the stuff from HK.. I think their stuff is OK, but their deliveries to Sweden is very close to a lottery...
- If you would sell this stuff as a complete kit, containing motors and electronics too, I would order it from you in a heartbeat. I would pay an extra 50 bucks just for the service of getting all the stuff i needed from one place!

Keep up the good work!

Best regards from Sweden /Johan
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yeojalviz1981 on August 3, 2013
what is the recommended battery? it seems like it is 2S/3S 5000mah
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OutcastZeroOne on July 22, 2013
Very nice. I've never been a multi-rotor guy, but once I saw the "V"-tail quad David built, I've been wanting to make one! thanks for the set up info and everything you guys do. Now I just need more money for all this great stuff :p
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happyal on July 23, 2013
Nice work, and thank you for making the great video.

Any chance of making a complete V-tail Bat kit option to buy?
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RCbacon on July 24, 2013
I would be Awesome if they did, with the setup David used in this build :)
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TheRiteFlyer on July 30, 2013
I agree completely.
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Johan on July 24, 2013
@david: question: How are the front motors mounted to the G-10 plates?

Did you use longer (flathead) screws and mounted directly to the G-10 plate?
I noticed the screws that come with the motor are too short for the plates unless I make them recessed, but that would weaken the G-10.

Using zipties and the mounting cross that comes with the motor looks harder because the motor itself is almost as wide as the G-10 plate.

Before it arrived I thought I'd mount the motors below the plates, but that leaves very little clearance between the motor and the landing gear/boom

Could you shed some light on this?
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verticalspark on September 8, 2013
I see the recommended product list but I'm more curious about the 28-26 1200kv motors and what parts go with them. Mainly just the ESC size and the Lipo size. Can anyone help me out on these?

Adam
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Good Kebo on July 22, 2013
Cool machine. How about a Y-6 build using the APM and set up for aerial photography using a 2 axis brushless stabilized mount(RC Timer)? Mount the camera between the front arms like your tricopter. Also for hobbyists, I have never seen a brushless stabilized camera 3 axis mount on an airplane. Those are my 2 latest dream projects.... if I ever get the time. I would also like your guys opinions on higher KV vs lower KV on multicopters. I have found the I get better flight with lower KV motors and the draw is much kinder to my batteries. Keep up the good work, just built a couple of the swappables with my kids this weekend, had a great time.
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UltraPigeon on July 23, 2013
You guys should make a mini quad or a profile 3d plane

Keep up the good work
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Adventure rc on July 23, 2013
How about making the v-tail so it flies the other way, making it more like an.... I dunno, like a v-front.

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Brocknoviatch on July 24, 2013
Awesome video on building the v-tail bat bone! Here is a suggestion. How about building a variable pitch quad for flying upside down? Like this one
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVPvyhB00kA
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mipi on July 22, 2013
Did you reflash the ESCs?
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Cyberdactyl on July 23, 2013
Great build video David!

And it's always good to see someone go through the KK2. I've been messing with it for months and still find new ways to look at it and the interrelationship of the settings from other people explaining their methods.

My only hesitation with the v-tail batbone is the way the rear booms are mounted to the main plates. Two holes drilled close together is begging for split booms from the slightest sideways crash. I would suggest the bumper/stop screw method, much like your tricopter's front booms and using some sort of constant pressure device such as a rubber band or zip tie to hold them against their stops.

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?4822-Original-tricopter-body-modified-for-V-tail!&p=55294&viewfull=1#post55294





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greencardigan on July 23, 2013
I did just that on my v-tail. It also allows me to easily adjust the angle of the back booms to fit larger props if needed.
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UpSideDownRC on July 22, 2013
I have a Chalange : Fly Tricopter above the clouds !!! Great Build :)
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JasonEricAnderson on July 22, 2013
Love that you put all the settings and stats at the end, perfect!
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UltraPigeon on July 23, 2013
awsome
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Antheman54 on July 23, 2013
Kit looks great, great job
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alecjohnson723@yahoo.com on July 30, 2013
David could you do a video on how you to the electronics
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TheRiteFlyer on July 30, 2013
I agree completely.
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TheRiteFlyer on July 30, 2013
This may be quite ambitious. So, from nothing, I plan to build the V-Tail Quad. Also, set up an FPV system.Can anyone help me come up with a price? For the FPV system, I want something with range, but nothing too pricey. Do you think I can stay below $375.00? If you are feeling particularly helpful, maybe help me accrue a list of parts needed! :) Thank you!

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tramsgar on July 22, 2013
Thanks! So tricopter vs v-tail...?
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Randolph Torres on December 14, 2014
You were flying through the old warehouse that made the Hercules engine ??Is that the airplane motor or other. Could you elaborate on this history.
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RoyBro on July 22, 2013
Nice job having the new kits and parts in the store BEFORE telling about them in the video. It makes it much easier to throw money at the screen. ;)
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joeyhudack on July 23, 2013
David, are you using Mulitstar ESC's or are those the new AFRO ESC's from HobbyKing with the SimonK firmware?
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Bur_Lion on July 25, 2013
Tell me please. What batteries David uses on his tricopter and V-tail quad copter with gopro camera? 3S or 4S? I'm confused in choosing what is best. :(
By the way I'm interested in the 2826 engines version of the copters... THX.
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TheRiteFlyer on July 30, 2013
And for me, just the provided motors. THANK YOU!
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treb42 on August 12, 2013
after watching the video I'm wondering:

why shorten the front arms for the v-tail? (at 6:48)

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Jim Mullen on April 15, 2014
If you were to draw a circle from the kk board being the center. All the motor would line up on that plane. It make the kk programming little simpler. In the manual to input the motor mixer functions it the cos(angle) x H(if all motor at same arc of circle=1) x 100 . That where the 71 and -71 numbers actually come from. The stock settings work on kk vtail but the front motors are actually at a 60 degree angle. The complete setup up going by kk2 manual is more like motor 1 r= -86 p=50 motor 2 r=86 p=50 motor 3 r=26 p=-97 motor 4 r=-26 p=-97. Wow lot of bull rap there sorry but this is the math they show in the manual. I hovered with these value yesterday in self level mode and works good haven't flown it as of yet didn't have the time.
Have fun
Jim
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Lucius on August 6, 2013
Just want to say, I love this build. I currently have a custom built quad (Ecks frame) and tri-copter (simplecopter v2.0) and now I feel the need for a V-Tail. But first I need to build up this 2nd Ecks frame I have sitting here.

Also hope to see more review videos. I love your custom stuff, but I purchase quite a few boxed aircraft as well, and like to hear your thoughts.
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LetsFlyRC on September 18, 2013
I have a huge request. I have been using the aquacopter with the naza gps todo filming over lakes.
I really love the look of the v tail quad. It would be awesome if you could do a scratch build using PVC, multi Wii pro GPS, with the v tail config and make it waterproof, like the Aquacopters. Or, a video on simply setting up the multi Wii GPS for v tail config, because I can't find any videos on that. It is much cheaper than the dji naza. Please do one of those episodes. Dying for more heli stuff. Thanks for what u do. Keep up the awesome videos.
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zygote on July 22, 2013
You guys are doing a great job, thanks. You've done a few copter builds now, & I have learned a little more each time, but I'd love to see a detailed build that really covers every step of the process, especially the electronics, how the parts are matched up, how you test each part to make sure it works & functions correctly, & how everything is connected. Your videos are great, but sometimes you will describe a step, but not show it, & for a newbie it's easy to get lost. Maybe you could set up the whole harness in the correct configuration, but without attaching it to the copter, so it would be easier to see what you are doing. Again, thanks for all you guys do, great job.
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Buckeyegator on July 23, 2013
I will second that request. There are no truly comprehensive multi-rotor build videos out there. All assume the viewer is familiar with the process. This then requires the newbie to search all over the internet to gather 4-5 videos and try to assimilate information from each to put it al together into something that "may" fly.
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kah00na on July 23, 2013
Search youtube for "Building The Simple Tricopter from www.simplecopter.com". This is by far the most complete build video I've found. I used it to build my first tricopter successfully. HallStudio is a great tricopter pilot and he shows his version of a v-tail in another video of his.
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DeValk on July 23, 2013
Great video, thank you for making this, it makes it much simpler for all of us to build this very interesting multi rotor.

Now can you do the same kind of video building the Tricopter as well. I Feel it would be a huge help for everyone interested in these wonderful flying machine's

Thanks for all of your hard work
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jerimiah85 on July 24, 2013
Yaw seems to Throw the copter to the around not just a flat spin like the the tricopter
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earthsciteach on July 22, 2013
Great video, David. Thank you!
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coombs on July 22, 2013
Why did you list Tilt Motor Mount 13-370 as gear used? There are no tilting motors in this. Did you mean to list Straight Motor Mount 13-370 (Pair) instead?
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Ghost on July 25, 2013
Just a question about the ESC's-
Is it ok to leave the BEC wires attached when plugged into the KK2.0 board- or does all but one need to be disabled?
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panther3001 on July 23, 2013
What's the advantage of the V-tail? Just looks, or is there some performance advantage too?
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Sirglider on July 25, 2013
I think it's the yaw control as it can spin much faster than a quad, with the advantage on a tricopter that it doesn't have a mechanism in between.
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panther3001 on July 25, 2013
Ah, I see. Makes perfect sense now. Has the simplicity of no moving parts (other than motors), just like a quad, but has the flight characteristics and enhanced yaw control more like a tricopter! It also has all motor torque cancelled, like a quad, to remove any induced gyroscopic precession effects, like a quad, but has reduced efficiency (due to tilted motors fighting each other), as opposed to a tricopter. Trade-offs. Thanks for pointing that out to me.
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Boneshack on October 8, 2013
can you please put a complete wiring diagramm up with all your projects as well?
i think this would really help beginners out with the first couple of projects especially if starting in multirotors with gimbles and fpv and 8 motors etc...
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gt0guy on November 23, 2013
Can someone, please, tell me if I can use the Hobby King HK-T4 V2 transmitter with this quad?
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gh0st on October 23, 2014
What KK2 firmware is running that gives the V-Tail option?
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rcdrvr on November 23, 2014
With this being a V-tail can I still use the naza m lite control board?
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V-Tail Quad - Build