Fixing Tail Wag

Archive
1

Hey all,

I have a Parkzone Icon A5 that I’ve outfitted with a PixHawk, and I have to admit it makes an awesome little drone platform.

One of the known issues with the PZ IA5 is excessive tail wag/oscillations at high speed and low prop RPM (very evident when coming in for a hot landing). I suspect it has to do with the wide body of the airframe disturbing laminar airflow over the tail when the prop isn’t pushing air over it. Anyway, I know others have fixed this by installing a tail gyro (like on heli’s) but I’m wondering if this could be solved with the APM:Plane?

I’ve noticed in FBW modes that roll and pitch seem to be stabilized, but I’ve never noticed the APM use the rudder to cancel out yaw movement. Is there a way to enable this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

2

Look up Yaw Damper in the wiki.

3

Thanks iskess. I’ve seen that discussed before in the wiki, but it seemed like what I was reading said it was only useful or active when the plane was in a bank/turning situation. I guess I’ll just have to try it. Will let you know if it solves the problem.

4

Read through it again. Yaw Damper and Rudder Mix are different.
You will find instructions in the tuning guide under yaw.