I am looking for a helicopter kit, which has more endurance than my usual Electric Platforms (550 to 700 classes). Most probably this should be a nitro powered Helicopter…
It should also carry FPV equipment. I still have a Fatshark (standard first version) which could be reused.
if you could recommend:
RC Helicopter Kit ( maximum 2000 euro/USD)
FPV Equipment ( maximum 1000 euro/USD)
(preferably also available in europe)
– this would be fine.
Hi, I would recommend staying on the 700 size if you go for electric, or 800+ if you go for gasser (leave the nitro option in the drawer, it would be an expensive waste of time).
With the 700 electric you can achieve 40 mins of flight at average 70 km/h cruising speed. You won’t be able to perform any hard aerobatics but “aggressive” scale flight (through FPV) .
Currently the best option you would consider is the XLPower 700 (cheap but really nice and lightweight frame : http://www.xlpower-rc.com/prolist.asp?id=222), or a classic T-rex760.
I would not consider going beyond 700 class on the electric side, the mechanics are expensive, and so are large capacity batteries and motors.
On the gasser side, after Helibug shutdown, the choice left are rather expensive, but you will love filling up the tank(s) instead of charging batteries (and buying them, of course…) . Most probably you will have to do some research and DIY to build proper damping platform for the FPV camera, but I can assure you, it can be done and the results are as easy to fly and operate as the electric counterpart.
Here is a video of my 800Gasser FPV heli:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V1h767Vvmo&t=
Here a video of my old maxi joker electric FPV heli:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD85HQf56Ns
Regarding FPV equipment, if you want to stay on analog VTX I recommend the following TBS groundstation (you can hook it up to the goggles you already have, I assume they have A/V in port):
https://www.team-blacksheep.com/products/prod:tbs_gs_2g4
with one of their 2.4GHz VTX :
https://www.team-blacksheep.com/products/prod:2g4_unify_800mW
Finally, I strongly recommend this :
https://www.team-blacksheep.com/products/prod:corepro
It is mavlink compatible, so you get a nice bulletproof OSD (do not waste time with minimOSD things).
Regards
For electric, the Soxos 600 would be my choice. It’s damped tail provided extremely low vibrations,
I’m currently getting 40mins+ on mine, but that required some extensive modifications to fit a 13.500mAh 12S li-ion battery back!..but you can get a ~30 mins on a 8000mAh 2x6s Lipo.
FPV gear depends on how far you want to go.
I decrease HeadSpeed down to 1650 rpm on the 700 electric, 690mm blades symmetric blades which gives me a Vne of around 85km/h (which is fine for my needs) and a safe margin against LTE. Running at 8s 16000 LiPo I’m around 15/16A current draw at 65 km/h.
comparison with FPV aerobatic trainer (450class)
detail of day/night fpv payload bay:
I’d not recommend using Li-Ion on fpv helicopters, they barely meet minimum reqs on planes (even in this case, you can’t push much further out of leveled flight).When you fly FPV helicopters you need to have the best setup you can afford and you do not need any further distraction/possible source of troubles from voltage drops or governor not keeping RPM because the battery can’t cope if you pull a little bit more. Better stay on the safe side.
My li-ion pack is rated at 40A continious, 80A peak, which is more than enough.
I’m still testing where the limits are, but the governor on the HobbyWing ESC has been happy down to 40v.
The initial voltage sag is severe, but then it just stays there.
It’s not cheap, though. With BMS, li-ion cells, charger etc, it’s ~$400 for a pack.
