Replace shaft driven tail rotor with brushless direct drive

ArduCopter Traditional Helicopter
1

Hi,

I have a 450 size heli with a shaft driven variable pitch tail rotor, does
APM have an option for helicopters with using a brushless ESC in
combination with variable pitch tail rotors? Or just a brushless ESC
with a fixed pitch tail rotor?

cheers,
Jamie

2

It can do both direct drive variable pitch, and direct drive fixed pitch. The parameter is H_Tail_Type.

I personally have used DDVP and it works well.

3

Hi,

Thanks, does the ESC not need to be capable of governor mode if the APM2.6 electronics
are doing the DDVP signalling?

cheers,
Jamie

4

For DDVP, the ESC must be running in governor mode. For DDFP, the ESC must be in normal mode, and obviously should be a high-response type, similar to a multirotor.

5

Hi,

Can most ESC’s from ebay do governor mode or is there a way to tell which ESC can
do it and also how to switch into governor mode?

cheers,
Jamie

6

That type of question is outside the scope of this forum, but I’ll try to answer.

Generally, any ESC intended for helicopters will have a governor function, and you’d have to read it’s manual to find out how to use it. It usually requires a programming card.

Have a look at these:

hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor … i_ESC.html

I can recommend the Hobbyking YEP, K-Force, and Superbrain ESC’s.

The Hobbywing Platinum ESC’s should also be good, but I haven’t used them yet. But Hobbywing IMO are the most reliable low-cost ESC’s on the market. The K-Force ESC’s are rebranded HW’s.