The v1.0 manual appears to be in both Chinese and English. It is meant for both the VTOL and non-VTOL versions. It is more of a parts list and configuration guide than a building guide. An experienced builder should not have a problem assembling this highly integrated design.
One thing I found interesting is that by combining the APM Automatic Takeoff feature with a parachute landing, you can start to get some of the benefits of VTOL. Although I am a VTOL enthusiast, I can see an opportunity for folks that want maximum flight efficiency and do not have a flat area to land. The pads on the bottom of the MFE designs also offer optional landings on a road as seen in the videos.
It appears that the PNP version was removed due to stricter customs rules from the pandemic. Iām not sure why motors or magnets are included in the new rules or how much longer the restrictions will last. They seem to be able to ship them separately, but not with the plane. You can see this in the Fighter aerial survey parts section.
The 12s power system is designed for lower current, better endurance in commercial use. It does, however, make the setup more costly for hobby use as it limits the number of manufacturers and vendors to choose from.
So far, the main places I see to order the parts are from AliExpress, Hobbywing, and Mauch. For just the motors, ESCs, and props, the estimated cost is around $1100 plus shipping. Other major components are a flight controller system, 12s Power Module, regulators, and batteries.
Yes, you are right.The purpose of the Fighter design is mainly for aerial survey purpose, so the selection of accessories is mainly based on stability, efficiency and convenience for maintenance.
I donāt know why the express delivery company we cooperate with canāt transport the motor.I have asked a lot of express companies, but there is no news.
If we donāt pursue efficiency, we can use Fight VTOL 6S PNP configuration, front pull cruise motor 4125 KV420 propeller APC1612, vertical motor 5210 KV300 with 2070 propeller.(motor and propeller with familiar parameters are used)
I like the form fit for the new 12s 40A ESC and the price is excellent! I agree that a 12s configuration is more efficient so it can support longer flights. A higher cost is not as much an issue for the commercial market as it is for the hobby market. The Fighter is properly designed for the commercial market. Thank you for the alternate 6s power system components.
It looks like MFE is expanding their vendor list to Banggood for the Fighter 4+1 VTOL Kit. Itās $599 with free ocean shipping or add another $11-$15 for Express or Priority mail.
Compare this to the Fighter 4+1 VTOL Kit at AliExpress for $535 plus $70 Priority shipping or $605. Very close in price but it is nice to now have several International vendors selling the product.
Iāve decided to build the Fighter 4+1 VTOL kit. It will use a 6s power system for hobby use instead of the 12s commercial power system. The 4+1 QuadPlane design has always been my favorite performer in wind and has nice safety features built into APM like Q_VFWD_GAIN and Q_ASSIST_SPEED. No servos in the quad power chain.
My 6s power system is also chosen for lower cost for hobby use and for leveraging a lighter flying weight. By reducing the battery weight, it will shorten my flight times but still allow for a reasonable 600g load.
If we work backwards from the 10kg (22lbs) flying weight when using s 12s 16AH LiPo configuration that weighs 4kg (8.8lbs), we can reduce the battery weight by half (or more) by using a 6s pack.
Some Typical LiPo Pack Weights:
12s 16AH is 4kg (8.8lbs)
6s 16AH is 2kg (4.4lbs)
6s 12AH is 1.6kg (3.5lbs)
6s 10AH is 1.2kg (2.6lbs)
So I can reduce my flying weight from 10kg by 4kg or more. This allows for a much less expensive and less powerful quad motor system.
Full throttle on this quad power system will draw 20amps per motor and provide 3kg thrust per motor for a total of 12kg thrust on my 6kg Fighter. This allows for plenty of headroom and will keep the ESCs cool inside the motor mount boxes.
Iāll start posting building photos when my model arrivesā¦
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The pricing seems to have changed in only 6 weeks at these stores. I donāt have an explanation for it.
AliExpress: Fighter VTOL kit is now $619 plus $183 for Standard Shipping to New York or $382 via EMS.
Banggood: Fighter VTOL kit is $599 plus $0.54 for USPS Shipping to New York or $12 via Priority Mail. The āOcean Shippingā option appears to be gone.
Thatās about a $200 difference in favor of Banggood. They are not yet in stock, but it might be worth the wait.
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My quad power system arrived from FoxTechFPV via DHL in about a week. Iām still waiting for the Fighter VTOL kit from AliExpress.
I was happy with the quality of the Tarot motors and 18" carbon t-style props. I have used the Hobbywing XRotor ESCs before and they work great! They should fit fine inside the motor mount boxes and stay reasonably cool with around a 10amp hover current.
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My forward flight power system is comprised of parts from previous projects. The AXI 4120/18 (515kv) motor will use an APC 15x8 e-prop. I also had an older Turnigy AE-100A ESC available which was a re-labeled HobbyWing ESC. It will be overkill for the 1500 watt capable power system as the Fighter will only be using partial throttle for cruising around while mapping.
Here are some images from the videos that I found interesting. The new Fighter comes with rubber channels to keep out the water from light rain or snow during flight. The wires are also pre-assembled on the wing and tail connectors. This saves a lot of time! It appears that MFE has their own interface board for the Fighter when using their PixSurvey Cube V3. I am not certain that this is for sale outside of China.
The top side cable eyelets make it easy to verify proper CG without lifting the plane from below the wing. You can swap or remove payloads then adjust the battery packs to compensate while easily testing the CG using a clip-on cable.
I have been waiting on my MFE Fighter kit since June 2. I originally tried to order the PNP kit but was told MFE could not ship the electronics and motors so I ordered the airframe kit instead. It seems the shipment did not leave China until sometime in July. It was shipped via airline. The shipment still does not show up on Aliexpress tracking but can be found on 17Tracking. It did not show up on USPS tracking until August 14. As of August 18, there are no more updates. USPS only shows āIn transit to next facilityā. Time has run out. Aliexpress is now requesting that I confirm receipt of the order or file a dispute. I donāt want to reject the shipment, but it looks like I donāt have much choice. I am in the 15 day dispute window so I am going to wait the end of this week to see if it arrives. If it doesnāt, sadly, I will have to cancel the order and request a refund. I was looking forward to getting it in the air with the 12S system. Please give us a report if anyone receives their order. I still want one. If impressions of quality and reasonable shipping times are found, I will reorder a PNP version when available.
Great news! I finally received an update from USPS that the Fighter has arrived at the USPS regional distribution center 200 miles from my home. Hopefully it will be delivered this week. Iāll let everyone know when I receive it and give first impressions.
In the video, MFE uses two 6s 16AH packs in series. After thinking about it, I realized that a single 6s 10AH LiPo pack may not allow the Fighter VTOL to balance properly, so I will likely use either two 6s 10AH packs in parallel or one of my three 6s 21AH packs from my DJI S900 hexacopter. These packs weigh 5.3lbs (2.4kg) so Iāll be adding about 2.6lbs (1.2kg) to my setup, if needed. This would make my all-up flying weight around 6kg + 1.2kg = 7.2kg (16lbs) with 12kg (26lbs) of hover thrust.
The platform looks super interesting. We are looking for a good test bed VTOL that is reasonably priced, and this might fit the bill. Has anyone gotten a Fighter built up yet? I was also reading through the extensive Freeman thread. We are planning to run some custom coding for advanced operations. Thanks for all the follow up and hopefully everybody receives their airframe from AliExpress.
Thanks for the suggestion. I will take a look. We are happy to spec out our own electronics, this and the other MFE platform seemed to have the most support on the forum. We are really wanting a simple 4+1 that we will be ok with for testing some of the riskier software implementations while not having to use our main birds.
I am a newbie at this, so I would appreciate specific answers wherever possible.
I have ordered a MFE Freeman 2300 with 6s power system plug and play.
I also have ordered a MFE Fighter VTOL that I am setting up with 12S power system kit.
I need recommendations on which batteries and chargers to get for both. I want battery chargers that work on 12V.
I want to get maximum range out of both so I want to use the maximum sized batteries. If I can, I would like to use 6s batteries for both so that I only have to keep multiples of one size of batteries on hand.
Two in series on the Fighter and one by itself on the Freeman 2300.
Lastly, for the MFE Fighter VTOL, I want to make sure I have ordered the right Power Module. I am using Pixhawk 4 controller with Ardupilot. This is the highest amperage Power ModuleI could find, but I am concerned because the ESCs for the vertical motors are 60A and the horizontal is 40A. That totals to a lot more than 120A. This is the Power Module: https://shop.holybro.com/power-modulepm02-v3_p1185.html
I appreciate any feedback regarding any of this as I know I have a lot to learn.
Thank you,
Tim
Iāve been following the threads on the MFE fixed wings from the Believer benchmark tests by Nate to the Freeman VTOL and now the Fighter VTOL. I appreciate all the time and effort youāve put into this. It has all been very helpful as I configure my next sUAS, so a big thank you to you as well as other contributors!
I am leaning towards the MFE Fighter as it is a 4+1 VTOL, I prefer having less moving parts to fail (tilt-rotors), and like the simplicity of the single prop for FF. I assume the 4 motors for hovering would all be the same spec which is also nice.
I will be building a mapping plane primarily for aerial photog, though with plans to sling a sensor hanging on a 2 meter line. The sensor package is about 1 kg with 0.45 kg outside of the airframe (cable and sensor).
Iām wondering if there are any special considerations with this sling setup that need to be accounted for and how they are addressed (motor, prop, esc, etc.)? Iām ready to purchase the fighter as well as my FC system parts so I thought it would be worth checking in for advice.
Welcome to the MFE Fighter thread! Thanks! I think these new MFE models are very well designed. The easy disconnecting wings and tail really add to the portability and quick field setup. The Fighter is meant for some serious mapping surveys and is the result of learning from the Believer/Freeman.
I would expect that the connectors are included. The new expectation is that they are also pre-wired. Weāll see if Dennis received his yet and can confirm it. @Dennis_Lott
I agree with preferring the 4+1 design. My existing 4+1 designs (my own projects) have performed well over time and have some very beneficial APM features.
Welcome to the APM VTOL forum! You definitely have some challenging projects for a so-called ānewbieā. Hopefully, we can help when possible.
Your LiPo packs can be purchased in many places. For charging these large packs, I use the CellPro PowerLab 8 chargers. These chargers were originally designed by FMA Direct and now sell worldwide by Revolectrix. Many places in the U.S. sell them for commercial use.
That battery looks fine. I use either the XT90 or DJI-style bullet connectors (far right).
Your current draw will be much less than the combined ESC ratings. For larger, more expensive models like the Freeman and Fighter, I would recommend using a Mauch Power Module. These modules are calibrated and use hall-effect sensors so that they will not burn out if the current draw exceeds the rating.
