Recommendation for a "complete kit" to build an Ardupilot based autonomous fixed wing vehicle?

[Mister_Rob]

Hello,

Does anyone have a list of what someone should buy to get their feet wet in this hobby?

Sorry for the open ended question, asking for a friend…

[Tristan_Redish]

Really depends on what you want it to do.

Fly fast and acrobatics?

Deliver Large payloads?

Preform detailed Visual inspections?

No mater what the reason tho, its all far to fun. (some how I get paid to do it)

So pick a topic and try and make something.

[Mister_Rob]

The main thing I want is to follow pre-programmed waypoints, completely autonomously even without radio contact.

Leaning towards the " HAWK’S WORK F450 Drone Kit to build, Frame + Pixhawk + GPS + Power Module + ESC + Brushless Motor + Prop + Battery + RC Transmitter & Receiver" that is $400 on amazon at the moment. I think it will do that?

I don’t care about payload or FPV. Long duration would be nice though. Eventually telemetry, and the extra complexity of fixed-wing control. But I think this quadcopter route is a good start. Open to suggestions though. Thank you.

[Tristan_Redish]

So the Hawks Work stuff is interesting, at least it has some kind of support and in kit form its quite complete.

But its a complete kit of “Parts to avoid” as per this thread.

Hardware To Avoid When Building Your First Multirotor

Hobbyists new to Arducopter, or Ardupilot in general, often make the mistake of starting out with sub-par hardware which in the best case causes frustration and in the worst case actually costs them more in the long run when expectations are not met and the hardware has to be replaced. So, the following is a suggested list of hardware to avoid. I realize cost is often a driving factor or limitation but this is not considering that, simply performance. Flight Controllers: The APM flight control…

Could someone make it work? Sure but without previous experience you may encounter lots of growing pains.

Another option would be a inexpensive frame and a basic F405 controller.

[dkemxr (Dave)]

@Mister_Rob

Leaning towards the " HAWK’S WORK F450 Drone Kit

Didn’t you say Fixed wing? Anyway, avoid that kit and anything like it as I say in the other post. Holybro has a couple decent kits.

[Mister_Rob]

Thank you everyone, that is exactly the kind of information I was looking for!

Yes i want fixed wing eventually, but I am assuming that quads are a little easier to get started with? Or at least have a larger selection?

Holybro does seem to have some good kits. There is a QAV250 Kit that seems to include everything except lipos for $400. I will stay away from Hawks Work…

[menschel]

It may be blunt to write this but you should consider an alternative firmware for your first build just in case you don’t get it running directly.

There are alternatives like INAV for fixed wing and Betaflight for Copters and the effort to get a first glance at success is far less with these.

IMO ardupilot should never be used on the first build and only considered as a transition/level-up from INAV or Betaflight.

And for the batteries, consider Li-Ion 18650 cell based batteries for efficiency. I run a 18350 battery on a sub 250g plane and expected flight time is 40-50 minutes.

[LupusTheCanine]

Ardupilot can be employed on the first build with success. It just requires following getting started documentation or using Methodic Configurator (for copters).

Trying to rush things oftentimes leads to crashing or subpar performance.