550 Pilot's lounge

[FangsCPO]

Oh yeah!!!! I'm back in the air after a few days of being grounded.

Nice. Great time of day (early morning I suspect) to fly that area. Shadows were good. I noticed you didn't try the golf course. So... with one flight under your belt, what are your thoughts on the e300 compared to the 2214s?

LOL!!!! I'll be over the golf course soon enough but I think I'll be avoiding one particular house. Yes, it was early morning after my moring work-out.

I honestly don't see much difference...maybe a little more lift on take-off. I didn't get any better flight times, they are exactly the same as before when I had the stock motors and ESCs. I was hoping for increased flight time. Maybe it's because I'm flying with 3s...I don't know. They do sound slightly different but that could mostly be because these props are different than the stock props. Had I gotten these just to upgrade the stock ones I would have been pretty ticked off. The only really nice feature that I like is the self-tightening props. Then again, I may just be too stupid to notice the difference. I'm curious to see what's the weight difference with these props and the stock props.

 

[SammyB]

Sweet, thanks for your input UM and Ladykate. Mine are preety snug at the moment; hopefully they stay that way lol.

Fangs are you noticing a flight time improvement with the E300's? Trying to figure out if it's an upgrade that's worth the 300 dollar pricetag.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Fangs are you noticing a flight time improvement with the E300's? Trying to figure out if it's an upgrade that's worth the 300 dollar pricetag.

He stated in an earlier post that he has not see any increase in flight times. Possibly because he is still flying with 3S batteries. Maybe the E300's are more efficient with 4S power?

U.M.

 

[FangsCPO]

Sweet, thanks for your input UM and Ladykate. Mine are preety snug at the moment; hopefully they stay that way lol.

Fangs are you noticing a flight time improvement with the E300's? Trying to figure out if it's an upgrade that's worth the 300 dollar pricetag.

No increase in time but I think a little more lift......the self tightening props is a really nice feature.

 

[FangsCPO]

Which one of you was going to order the ONYX 3S 8000 mAh 35 Lipo? Did you get it yet? I'm waiting for your report before I order mine.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Which one of you was going to order the ONYX 3S 8000 mAh 35 Lipo? Did you get it yet? I'm waiting for your report before I order mine.

Me.

Tower Hobbies says it's on its way and USPS tracking says it'll be waiting for me when I get home from work tonight. I just hope my Blue Beam Ultra antennas arrive before I leave this weekend on my trip to Hilton Head. Taking my hex with me and hoping for some cool stuff to shoot video of. The Harbor Town lighthouse perhaps?

I have a lot of stuff to do before I head out Saturday morning. If I can get everything done in time I'll try to make one last flight on Friday before I depart and test out the new battery & antennas posting the results here. Otherwise I'll report in from HH this weekend and let you know how it's working out.

U.M.

*EDIT* Just got home and the battery was waiting, but not my new antennas. Sure hope they come in tomorrow so I'll have them for my trip. Now as far as that 8000mAh Onyx LiPo... it honestly is almost the exact same size as the 6400's. Very little difference, maybe a mm or two bigger. It's way too windy to fly around here this afternoon, but as soon as I get some good weather I'll report back on the flight time.

 

[PJA]

Finally got my f550 in the air on it's Maiden Test Flight!

Slight wind and just an all around lousy day, but I really wanted to fly it...

SUCCESS! The flight was 8 minutes and 32 seconds,from the time it lifted off, til touchdown...
I used an ONYX 6400 mah battery. I added my GoPro Camera last minute on top of the f550, so please don't laugh at my efforts. I just wanted to get some recorded footage in the air and test out my GoPro because it was damaged in a Phantom crash.

Altogether, the weight of my f550 was pushing 2300+ grams. I still need to add my Gimbal and FPV set up. Then I would think my Hex would be too heavy for any kind of long range flight... (maybe a 4S system or the 8000 mah battery you guys are talking about on here will yield me near 10 minutes of flight time) I know all my weight is in the landing gear, but you have to admit, my Hex looks really cool flying as it does... (sorry for the cheesy music...)

For some reason, my 'YouTube' and 'Vimeo' videos don't post directly... Looks like my Browser is locked on those sites...

Here's a direct link: https://vimeo.com/95473597

 

[OI Photography]

Excellent PJ!! You're now officially a member of the "6 Axis of power" club

Your 550 does look like it handled that wind as well as any of ours could, I'm sure you know how a Phantom would behave in that same situation. 2300g isn't really that bad for a 550 even on 3S, I bet once you can test it in calmer air you'll get some better flight times from the same batt. Same for gains, it'll take some flights on calm days before you can judge if those need adjustment.

Man those retracts look absolutely gorgeous in action...did you do the modification yourself?? You may not have to ditch them, but I wouldn't stick with them unless they have some benefit beyond the pimp factor. Which they do nail perfectly

 

[PJA]

Man those retracts look absolutely gorgeous in action...did you do the modification yourself?? You may not have to ditch them, but I wouldn't stick with them unless they have some benefit beyond the pimp factor. Which they do nail perfectly

Thanks for the compliment, OI...

I got the idea for the retracts about a year ago from a guy on RCGroups. I think he went by the name HGT. He got suspended a while back... A renewed interest for me in the retracts were revived by someones video on YouTube a few months ago. Both built the retracts out of QuadFrame 200 landing Gear. I asked some questions and the YouTube guy spilled some secrets. So, I combined both ideas, and some of my own, to make it work for me...

As for the 'pimp factor,' I think I did pretty much 'pimped my f550 ride!'

Ahhhh! Reminds me what I did to my second car - a 1965 Chevy... My friends used to call it my 'pimp mobile'

The Memories!!! :lol:

 

[ladykate]

PJA - those are some serious retracts! Congrats!

 

[FangsCPO]

Which one of you was going to order the ONYX 3S 8000 mAh 35 Lipo? Did you get it yet? I'm waiting for your report before I order mine.

*EDIT* Just got home and the battery was waiting, but not my new antennas. Sure hope they come in tomorrow so I'll have them for my trip. Now as far as that 8000mAh Onyx LiPo... it honestly is almost the exact same size as the 6400's. Very little difference, maybe a mm or two bigger. It's way too windy to fly around here this afternoon, but as soon as I get some good weather I'll report back on the flight time.

You are correct...based on the measurements provided by Towerhobbies.......they seem pretty much the same. I wonder how they packed the additional 1400 mAh?

 

[havasuphoto]

seller went "south" on me-wouldn't answer anymore questions-so I'm moving on-probably not getting an F550

 

[ladykate]

That sounds in the ballpark. It sounds like it is almost new and the inclusion of the T8 and all the video gear (and retracts ;-}) make it reasonable imho.

The flight times (if he used both batteries) sound about right.

It will be more stable than the P1/P2 but it won't fly as long as the P2. It can lose a motor and still recover. It isn't faster than the P2 (I don't think - I have both and I think the P2 is quicker).

A new RTF with all the video gear but with a cheapo tx/rx costs 1700 delivered from Helipal (with two 3s batteries). It doesn't have retracts (tm) but it has nearly the same thing as that one (plus ground rx/monitor - a diversity). The T8 costs $400 so the cost is comparable.

You can use either 3s or 4s easily. Have to adjust in the administrator but not a biggy.

You can swap props but I've just been using the plastic ones from Helipal and they work fine.

You said it has a GP3 (GoPro 3?). I didn't see that in his advert. If it does, I would grab it.

 

[havasuphoto]

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[ladykate]

Does not come with GP3(I have 1 though). The T8J is only worth about $250+$50 for the receiver.
do you have iosd mini on yours? Show's speed.....I can get around 15m/sec with the P1 and the vision props. I imagine a P2 will be about the same.
What about handling? Easier to fly? More stable? What about in winds?

My bad... thought it was T8FG. Still.... not terrible.

FWIW - I have more than that in my 550 because I changed out many things - like the rx/tx - so his price doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

I have an iOSD but I truly haven't thought to see how fast it would go. I think it would be slower just because it is bigger.
Handling is much better than a P2/P1 imho. It is easier to fly and handles the wind better. I got caught at 600 m (height) in some VERY strong winds and it bucked them just fine.

It won't go as far as a P2 because of the shorter battery life. You are trading loiter/range for reliability and stability. The farthest I've had mine is 600 meters out (and high) and that was just once for each. It would go farther than that but I didn't have a need. As it was, it was out of sight and a carload of people stopped by just as I was turning it around - they couldn't figure out what I was doing and then they saw the monitor and then heard it come zooming back. Lots of questions - picture posing time with the kids, etc.

Oh.. and it will lift more than either of the Phantoms so you can screw around with it by adding and taking stuff off without killing your flight time. Great experimental platform.

 

[havasuphoto]

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[ladykate]

Cool, thanks for the info.
What kind of flight times are you getting, and what is the generally recommended "go to" battery for this rig?

I'm getting 9 minutes max with 3s Gen Ace 5000. They seem as good as the Storm 3s 5200s (which come with the Helipal rtf). Others are getting better with 4s and/or lighter setups or bigger 3s batteries. The Pulse batteries that come with that deal are pretty good. I use them on my 810 and they seem excellent (and have a good reputation elsewhere). There is a battery thread in the multi-rotor area that might be good to look over.

BTW: I'm running a fairly vanilla 550 - you can do better and the one you are getting is probably better for flight times.

BTW2: You can build that 550 he is selling for a few hundred less but you probably won't be able to find it assembled for much less than he is asking.

 

[havasuphoto]

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[OI Photography]

Thanks.
what about 1 of these? http://www.helidirect.com/plu35-660...-power-flat-pack-for-multi-rotors-p-27400.hdx
765grams though-that's a bit heavy......

That one is a 4S. If want that's the route you want to go, this is probably the best high-capacity battery when it comes to weight/capacity ratio (and a price under $100): http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index. ... ts_id=1664

 

[havasuphoto]

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