Beginners tribulation in his quest for the Gaui Grin

[PTcaflyer]

I found the larger tail blade helped overcome the inertia of those big 550 main blades...
And they look cool too! A Big Vert. tail will keep them out of the grass....

[Jerrymac]

Originally Posted by fiveflat

Is there any benefit to going with a bigger tail blade, particularly if I'm considering loading it down with some weight? (GoPro or EOS-M on forward mount)

I run a fairly low head speed on my 550, ( around 1800 rpm ) so it flys big and floaty like driving a school bus. Slightly longer tail blades gives the tail a little more authority when running lower head speeds.

I run my 425's at around 3000 rpm so the stock 70mm blades on them work just fine.

[fiveflat]

sounds good

I'll go with slightly bigger tails then. I think I read somewhere that a slower headspeed is ideal for AP as well.
I've been reading up on that Arducopter as well... I'm pretty excited about the affordable upgrades I've got planned now.

[fiveflat]

I've been reading a bit about autos so I figured I'd give one a shot. I was about 15' up and just hit throttle hold. That cuts the motor and gives it full negative pitch...

Well I didn't come down quite level. At least I got the 550 stretch kit on it's way from stark. I still need:
horizontal stab
tailboom support end pieces
another align 600 landing skids.

[PTcaflyer]

...Full Negative pitch...Why?
All TH should do is cut the motor...you would still have collective...
I'll send you a Horiz. Stab....
PT

[fiveflat]

I'm sorry, you're correct. I do still have collective control. I gave it full negative because that's what I thought I read somewhere. Is negative wrong when doing an auto?

Thanks for the hor. stab. !

[PTcaflyer]

Yep...cut your throttle and it will float down like a feather!
Once you get those 550 blades on there, it will float even more!
If you swing those 550's at about 2k...there will be times when you HAVE TO give it Neg. collective in order to land...It will want to stay in the air !!!

At Altitude, you give it Negative to get the blades spinning, then add positive when near the ground to slow your decent...moving forward of course to stay out of the vortex...

[fiveflat]

Originally Posted by PTcaflyer

At Altitude, you give it Negative to get the blades spinning, then add positive when near the ground to slow your decent...moving forward of course to stay out of the vortex...

Ah, makes so much more sense....