Arduplane setup steps for flying wing

[TomPittenger]

Hi @iforce2d, great vidoe. thank you for sharing! I'm one of the maintainers of ArduPlane so if you have any questions about flying ArduPlane let me know!

ARMING_RUDDER=2 to allow ARM and DISARM via rudder

FBWA mode is manual throttle. If you set throttle to zero, it falls out of the sky. If you use FBWB then it's speed/height based. throttle in middle means maintain current altitude. The flight controller figures out whatever it takes to do that. throttle all the way up/down means raise/lower altitude, speed will be maintained automatically to be within ARSPD_FBW_MIN/MAX and will cruise at TRIM_ARSPD_CM (in cm/s).

General rule: if it flies good in FBWB, it will fly good in AUTO and RTL.

As far as the funny pitch reverse. It was probably that you reversed the wrong aileron and then reversed the pitch in two places to make up for it. Keep in mind that "MANUAL" is a passthrough and there's 3 places to apply reverse (for better or for worse). Transmitter output, ArduPilot RCxREVERSED (the input) and SERVOx_REVERSED (the output).

Your hardware problems are related to "you get what you pay for". There is a huge variety of hardware available and you've selected pretty much the absolute cheapest option. I highly suggest getting quality hardware. Faulty hardware is a huge time sink. What is your time worth? The cost is not that much different compared to the whole cost, not to mention if it fails in the sky and you scrap the aircraft too.

If you get pretty much any other hardware you'll be able to use normal latest-release versions of Mission Planner instead of their Chinese version.

MANUAL mode is not required, it's just forced in the GUI for people new to it. You can override it by setting FLTMODE6.

[azul]

This is the most practical setup video I found! 👍🏻👍🏻

[walachaviation]

Thank you! This is very helpful! I am setting up my first airplane with a pixhawk and your videos have been helpful. I have not flown it yet, but I think i am getting close.

[atw]

Thankyou Chris your first video got me off my butt to configure mine 1 year after purchase. Now with this, exactly what new users need.

[peterdlynes]

Thank you for this video. I'm struggling with all these issues right now.

[BrainDeadEngineering]

Wow was best AP set up video for a noob like myself . New to this . Have a H743 . It's been hard for me this will help me !

[reyniersnyman]

Yes thank you man, it helps, greetings from South Africa

[philhunter]

Great video, thanks for sharing. Just going through final stages of build using Pixhawk in a Mini-Talon airframe. The Mini-Talon can be difficult to launch so was planning to do an initial launch in Stablise mode to help with the hand launch to get in in the air before switching to AUTOTUNE. I hope this is the right decision!

[owenkilleen]

I've received mine, haven't flown anything yet, but i really like how the UI is on this system

[dashofawesome]

I wonder could you make a new video for the tracking object with the new support he has for the storm32

[carldaniels]

Thank you. Your vid literally saved me from getting checked into the Cuckoo's nest institution. Thank you.

[andrewjamez]

Will be interested to see what range you get out of the telemetry radios. You can get 500mwatt versions but the standard 100mwatt versions should be ok to out over a km

[davidrattee]

Hi Chris, after meeting you in Tokoroa at Easter I already ordered one :)

[lasersbee]

Exactly what I needed for my FX-79 Build to conform my setup.. Seems I missed a few things... Thanks Chris. Would have loved to see you do a RTL..;)
21:30... which of the 2 compasses is in the GPS puck ?? Wouldn't the other would then be internal ??
30:33.. Did you finally figure out why your wing randomly pitched down when you were turning ??
33:52... You need to set the ARMING_RUDDER to (2) to be able to Arm and Disarm...

[dano]

Thank you for the videos about the radiolink mini pix, after seeing these I decided to get one. I'm going to install it into a mini talon, just hoping vtail mixing is available in the software. I'm also going to try to install a micro minimosd by flashing it with the mavlink version of the available software. (did that a few years ago with the full minimosd witch was connected to a cirrus megapirateng board :-) ) Also going to try it with a crossfire rx, not sure arduplane is supporting crsf protocol. Thanks again !

EDIT: I just noticed you covered the minimosd part in a different video

EDIT2: think i bought the last one :->

[lesjack]

Helpful video, but why are you using a compass for fixed wing, rather than disable it and reply on the GPS which is normal practice?

[philbx]

Great informative stuff Chris and nice documentation. Thanks much!
Still waiting for a (larger) Pixhawk module + bits from BG and I'm hoping they broke the database because all of these parts are currently missing from my orders.
Hey, is that a Mayatech folding prop? I have a 10 x 6 which may be a bit too large for a 'gold' Turnigy motor.

[derivas]

best video to tune arduplane i really love it! could you make more video for example how to tune voltage divider

[bypbop]

Thanks for your video. Can tell me if need to configure mixer in the radio or let like a drone with arducopter ?

[nileshmundphan]

Make one more video to show how setup quadcopter in mission planner .That will be very helpful.