RC Aircraft
I’ve been building and flying RC aircraft for several years. It’s a great activity, offering a chance to get outdoors and the excitement of flying something you’ve built yourself.
Flying RC aircraft challenges your problem-solving skills as you work to get a plane in the air, push the boundary of your flying skills, and inevitably perform impromptu repairs to fix the plane after crashing.
In addition to the recreational value, The RC hobby has provided an opportunity to build my skill and knowledge of PID controls, aerodynamics, radio communication, and autonomous systems.
I’m continually experimenting with autopilot software stacks including iNav and Ardupilot. I’ve built up a collection of flight controllers and sensor equipment for RC planes that I also use on other projects.
My Equipment
- Transmitter: Jumper T16 with Crossfire TX
- RX: Crossfire RX, Spektrum
- Cameras: GoPro Hero 6 Black
Planes I’ve Built/Flown
I most often build and fly FliteTest’s designs, which are built using foamboard and have a wide range of flight characteristics. Andrew Gutierrez built a CNC foam cutter based on a popular open-source design, which we’ve used to build (and rebuild) many of the FliteTest models:
- FT Explorer
- FT Tiny Trainer
- FT Bloody Wonder
- FT-22
- FT Versa Wing
- FT Mini Arrow
- FT Simple Soarer
